Rapper "Heavy D" has died

Rapper Heavy D has died aged just 44.

The hip-hop star, who was most famous in Britain for his 1991 hit 'Now That We've Found Love', passed away at 1pm yesterday after being found unconscious at his LA home.

The Jamaican-born musician was rushed to hospital but pronounced dead shortly after arriving there.

Heavy D (real Name Dwight Arrington Myers) appeared on Michael Jackson's song 'Jam' and recently performed at the tribute concert for the late star in Wales.

Michael's sister La Toya tweeted: "My heart goes out to the family and [loved] ones of Heavy D."

Heavy D had often referred to himself as the "overweight lover of hip-hop".

Three of his albums - 'Big Tyme' (1989), 'Peaceful Journey' (1991) and 'Nuttin' but Love' (1994) - went platinum in the US.

In the early 1990s, he duetted with the likes of Notorious BIG and Janet Jackson.

According to Lt Mark Rosen of the Beverly Hills police, the rapper experienced breathing difficulties while returning home from shopping.

After collapsing in an exterior hallway, he was transported to Cedars Sinai Medical Center where he later died.

Tréson & Khago - "Jah Seh"

Kingston, Jamaica. 3th August 2011

The hot new single “Jah seh” comes from two of Jamaica most promising young reggae acts. Singer, song-writer and instrumentalist Treson joined forces with breakout artiste Khago for a powerful message in their latest collaboration. This is the third time that the two have worked together, their previous tracks being “Mama Don’t Cry” and “Light It Up”. 
After experiencing international success in 2005 with his first single “Moments”, Treson has really been making strides in his career with airplay all over the international scene especially in Europe. Thereafter his followed up tracks like "Jen-ee-Rocka" and "Dust, Dirt and Sand" which were also well received. He’s performed along -side highly reputed reggae artistes in the likes of Morgan Heritage, Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffith, Sly and Robbie, Collie Buddz, Third World, Beenie Man, Ken Boothe and BabyCham to name a few.  
In the meantime singjay Khago has been rising to stardom since the release of his debut single ‘Caan Cool’. He went on to record ‘Nah Sell Out Me Friend Dem’ in 2010 which was a summer anthem for many. The response to this song was so auspicious he produced a part 2 which quickly attained favor among fans as well. Both songs have held the number one spot on charts all over in the dancehall circuit both locally and internationally. Since his arrival onto the scene, he has booked on some of the biggest shows of Dancehall/ Reggae such as Reggae Sumfest where he shared the stage with some of the industry’s heavy weight artistes. Khago was acclaimed the Best New Artiste for 2010 by Jamaica’s Youth View Award and the Jamaica Observer, an indicator of his promising future career. 
Individually, both artistes are known for the positive vibrations in their music, it’s with no doubt then that the two’s collaboration would bare such likeness. ‘Jah Seh’ is a roots song that inspires youths to keep progressing through “Jah” guidance despite nay sayers.  Between Khago’s culture flow and Treson’s strong vocals, their unique sounds combine to create a true reggae classic. It is a timeless and articulate song that can be appreciated by all.  
The track, which was produce by Kos Dillon of PhaReal Entertainment, will be released on the 5th August 2011 by Goldcup Records, an Italian based label that produces Jamaican roots reggae and dancehall music since 2006. It will be available on Itunes, Sounquake.com, Amazon, Juno download/ Juno records and Napster among several other places.

 

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Music: Shaggy and long time manager Robert Livingston par...

Music: Shaggy and long time manager Robert Livingston par...: " Scikron/Big Yard CEO Robert Livingston has confirmed that he and reggae/dancehall icon Shaggy are moving on after almost two decades dur..."

Shaggy and long time manager Robert Livingston part ways

  Scikron/Big Yard CEO Robert Livingston has confirmed that he and reggae/dancehall icon Shaggy are moving on after almost two decades during which they produced one of the best-selling albums of all time. On the split, Livingston said he was unaware of any specific reason why he and Shaggy have parted ways but revealed that it was a long time coming. "I don't know exactly," he said in response to queries about why he and Shaggy were no longer a team. "To give you a specific reason, I can't. I think we just grew apart and Shaggy just got tired of hearing my voice, whether positive or negative. I think Shaggy has decided that he wants to do something different. It has been happening for a long time. Most people didn't know, but we don't see eye to eye on many things."   He also suggested that the fact that Shaggy hadn't been with a major label for a while may have had something to do with what has come to pass. Shaggy was last signed to MCA Records in the early part of the last decade. Livingston told The Sunday Gleaner that the entertainer didn't call and tell him that their 18-year musical relationship was over. It was, he said, more about the way the entertainer went about things. "Shaggy was just vibsing. He would say things and do things ... . He started to do things that I wasn't aware of, including seeking new management," Livingston confided. "If there was no tension in the camp, he would have said it to me because we talk about everything." Not opposed to change The Big Yard CEO said he doesn't have a problem accepting that things change because, in the grand scheme of things, people do change but he wished Shaggy had handled the situation better. "Maybe he had his reasons. Maybe he is looking for better in his career or wants to move up the ladder, but I think the respect I should have got from him, his approach to everything, should have been much different." It is an unfortunate end to one of the most successful partnerships in reggae/dancehall.

Music: Buju gets 10 years

Music: Buju gets 10 years: "REGGAE artiste Buju Banton was today sentenced to 10 years by United States magistrate Jim Moody in the Sam M Gibbons US Court in Tampa Fl..."

Buju gets 10 years

REGGAE artiste Buju Banton was today sentenced to 10 years by United

States magistrate Jim Moody in the Sam M Gibbons US Court in Tampa Florida. He will be incarcerated at the FCI prison facility in Miami.

The artiste – real name Mark Myrie – was found guilty in February of conspiring to negotiate a drug deal in a police controlled warehouse in Florida.

BANTON… convicted in February  1/1

The charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug offense was dropped however.

The artiste was slapped with the heavy sentence despite pleas for leniency by his attorney, his children, movie star Danny Glover and other character witnesses.

Banton, whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie, seemed resigned to accept his fate and calmy accepted the verdict.

His attorney David Oscar Markus has signalled his intent to appeal Banton's guilty verdict and indicated that he would move with alacrity to secure the artiste's release.

The sentence was handed down in front of a packed courthouse which included members of the artiste's family, his close friend Wayne Wonder, his manager Traci McGregor and reporters.

Many persons, including artistes and Banton's close friends Gramps Morgan and Delly Ranks who came to hear the verdict were turned back after court officials indicated that the courtroom was packed and Moody had already been seated at minutes to 9:00 am.

The sentencing hearing lasted just over an hour and many of Myrie's supporters and family members cried openly.

The artiste will serve his time at the penal facility in the state of Florida.

Myrie underwent two trials after the first trial ended in a mistrial in 2010. He was however found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilogrammes of cocaine, using the wires to facilitate a drug offense and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offence.

Banton's two co-conspirators, Ian Thomas and James Mack both plead guilty after they were held in a sting operation attempting to purchase cocaine from federal agents in a police controlled warehouse in Tampa.

The US government built their case around wiretap and video evidence which caught Banton tasting cocaine and making several statements of the purchasee and sale of large amounts of contraband.

Is dancehall music killing people?

Is dancehall music killing people? Research suggests that Jamaica's popular music is constructed in a depressed pattern and, in effect, influences society negatively.

According to the research, Jamaican popular music could be influencing teenage violence and suicidal tendencies, especially among men.

In an article on Music Entertainment and Performance Health, Joy Fairclough explains how the melancholy air of a song is transferred to its listeners.

The instructor at Joy Music Ltd and performance-health training centre, uses information from a London research paper on Crossmodal Transferof Emotion by Music, which surmised that music influences emotion.

Fairclough then describes how the mood of a song may be interpreted by both performer and listener.

That mood, Fairclough explains, emits texture and feelings to the listener and performer.

That emission is represented by visual imprints on the individual's brain and leads to action. The entire process is described as the crossmodal transfer of emotion by music.

Examples of this may be found in the way a person dances or physically reacts to a song.

"Because we have not studied in Jamaica how music affects brain development, as a specialist area of training, we realise amongst the Performance Advocacy Team Members that people are doing whatever to follow the hype, without realising the correlation of music and human development," said Fairclough.

Jamaican slangs harsh

In the article, the educator went on to state that Jamaican slang has become increasingly more harsh and reflects the sadness and irritability of the population.

When asked if dancehall music reflects the state of mind of this generation, Dr Donna Hope Marquis, noted lecturer at The University of the West Indies, author and dancehall expert, agreed. "Melancholy is one aspect of these facets which is manifested in the music as well as in the fashion and costumes and even in the type of dance styles, but it is not the only facet in the music."

Hope Marquis went on to say that in dancehall music, there is joy and celebration and hype and excitement in the same space as melancholy and plaintive longing.

However, Dr Hope Marquis contends with the suggestion that dancehall influences suicide.

"Suicide? Not at all. If anything, dancehall music provides an outlet for many tensions and frustrations that our men currently face. It is a place where many of them can actually escape the melancholy state of affairs of their real lives and fantasise about being a 'heavy man', 'big man', dads," said Hope Marquis.

The article went on to compare earlier songs like Lang time gyal mi neva see you and Sammy Dead, to recent hits such as Straight Jeans and Fitted by Vybz Kartel and Rum and Red Bull by Beenie Man.

The earlier songs are said to be more hopeful and sometimes light-hearted, while dancehall, a relatively new genre of Jamaican music, is written along 'descending lines'.

The 'descending lines' Fairclough explains, speaks to where the artiste places stresses. Those stresses (the lengthening of pronunciation in one instance and the shortening in others) follows the rhythm the tracks are laid on, and, in fact, implicitly underscores the message of that rhythm.

According to the paper, the negative nature of the music, created by these 'descending lines' and depressing tone, can be directly impacting the actions of Jamaicans.

The article concludes that, "We must request serious input from our artistes and psychoanalysts and guidance counsellors to work together in order to stem the depression and melancholy now being displayed in the daily lives of our people."

Joy Fairclough is also a vocal and instrumental coach and performance-health advocate.

Jamaican popular music depressing?

 

 Writer  Olivea Hayles.

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2010: A YEAR OF DRAMA

BY Howard Campbell

Drama outweighed substance as far as the local music scene went in 2010.

 

There was not much to write home about musically, but, true to form, dancehall performers provided endless incidents.

 

A reggae icon got the ultimate honour from the rock community, while one of contemporary reggae's biggest stars languished in jail for nearly one year. Entertainment also bade a final farewell to several stalwarts.

Here is a look back at some key moments in Jamaican popular music 2010.

 

Newsmakers

 

Jimmy Cliff was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March. The star of the classic 1972 film, The Harder They Come, became only the second reggae act to be recognised with this award, Bob Marley being the first in 1994. The Harder They Come and its soundtrack, which featured several of Cliff's biggest hit songs, have had a major impact on rock music.

 

Buju Banton: Freedom or a lengthy prison sentence still hangs in the balance for the 37-year-old singjay who was arrested and charged by Federal agents for drug possession in South Florida in December 2009. His initial trial ended in a hung jury, and a new trial has been set for February. Banton, who is out on bail, released a new album in the summer, which has been nominated for a Grammy Award.

 

Gyptian: He was the silver lining in a cloudy year. His song, Hold Yuh, with Trinidad-born rapper Nicki Minaj made the Billboard pop and R&B chart and earned him Best Reggae Artist at the Soul Train Awards. Gyptian toured consistently on the strength of Hold Yuh and could be the Jamaican artiste to watch in 2011.

 

Endurance

 

Again went to Bob Marley. The reggae superstar's legend continued to grow with Legend - the compilation album released in 1984 - remaining one of Billboard's top catalogue performers with worldwide sales of over 25 million units. Three books looking at different aspects of his life were also released.

 

Dancehall

 

There were no new albums by any of the genre's heavyweights, namely Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Vybz Kartel and Mavado. Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and Mavado's biggest headlines came after it was announced their United States visas had been taken away, but there were hits aplenty from the quartet and their younger counterparts. While North American record companies avoided erratic dancehall acts like the plague, local media and corporate Jamaica continued to embrace them. Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley had the largest profile of any dancehall performer through Distant Relatives, his much-publicised album with rapper Nas.

 

Comeback kids

 

Cham (Stronger) and Mr G (Swagarific), dancehall veterans who showed the importance of the hook to pop music.

 

Encouraging

 

The number of live shows, especially in Kingston, increased and got musicians in tune again. Trombonist Nambo Robinson, the Uprising and Dubtonic bands and guitarist Earl 'Chinna' Smith's Inna The Yard, all maintained a steady schedule of dates at intimate venues.

 

Deaths

Lynn Taitt, the prolific Trinidadian guitarist of the rocksteady era; singers Lincoln 'Sugar Minott' Minott, Gregory Isaacs and Keith Stewart, music producer Sonia Pottinger and musician Glen Adams.