Lord Creator, Original ‘Kingston Town’ Singer, Dead At 87

The content originally appeared on: Dance Hall Mag

Calypsonian, ska, and rocksteady artist Lord Creator, best known for his hit song Kingston Town, later covered by UB40, died today (June 30). Born Kenrick Patrick, he was 87.

“He died at 11 a.m, he hadn’t been feeling well for some time,” Mrs. Neseline Patrick, Lord Creator’s wife of 23 years, told DancehallMag.

“He had suffered two strokes, the last one in 2005, he had prostate problems, diabetes and high blood pressure , and he also had done surgery on his back in 2013. He was walking a bit until 2019 when he stopped walking altogether.”

Mrs. Patrick said that Lord Creator did not let his litany of ailments define the quality of his life. Until the end of his life, he remained a convivial, joyful soul.

“He didn’t let his illnesses bother him, he was humorous, he gave jokes, you wouldn’t believe he was a sick person, he was a real joy,” Mrs. Patrick said.

Lord Creator sired 15 kids, 8 of whom are still alive. He had been in a relationship with Neseline for 31 years, 23 of which they were legally married.

The singer, who resided with his wife in Golden Grove, received the Order of Distinction (Officer Rank) from the Jamaican Government, for his “contribution to the development of Jamaican music and community service,” on National Heroes Day in 2022.

“I will miss him,” she said.

Minister of Entertainment Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange said she was “saddened by his passing” and expressed her condolences to his widow and his relatives.

“We gave him a national honour last year,” the Minister added.

Hailed as one ska’s pioneers, he was known for hits such as Don’t Stay Out Late, Big Bamboo, Little Princess and Jamaica Farewell.

Lord Creator was born in San Fernando, Trinidad, on August 21, 1935.

He started as a calypso singer in Trinidad and recorded his first hits, “The Cockhead” and “Evening News”, in Trinidad in 1958 and 1959 respectively with Fitz Vaughan Bryan’s big band.

He moved to Jamaica in late 1959 to perform and record and decided to settle on the island.

In 1962, he recorded “Independent Jamaica” with producer Vincent “Randy” Chin, which became the official song marking Jamaica’s independence from the British Empire on August 6, 1962. That song was also the first record on Chris Blackwell’s newly founded Island Records label in the United Kingdom. In 1963, “Don’t Stay Out Late”, produced by Chin, became a hit in Jamaica.

In 1964, he scored a further hit with “Big Bamboo”, produced by Coxsone Dodd with Tommy McCook on saxophone.

Creator had another big hit with “Kingston Town”, a tune he recorded for producer Clancy Eccles in 1970.

Lord Creator had also said Kingston Town was an interpolation of Babylon, which he had composed as a teenager in Trinidad and later recorded for Randys, back in 1963, on a Ska beat.

He explained said that while performing in Montego Bay at a club, enterprising producer Clancy Eccles, had asked him to record a song for him which resulted in the track Molly Is A Big Girl Now. Enamoured with his singing style, Eccles reportedly requested “a song on the flip side” and the result was Kingston Town.

Lord Creator, in interviews, said he inserted the words Kingston Town and removed the word “Babylon” and reworked the track.

That song would become his most enduring hit.

However, it became the subject of controversy between Lord Creator and Clancy Eccles over ownership of the song after UB-40’s version sold millions in Europe, “generating enormous royalties to the writer of the song.”

According to the author, Lord Creator, who was struggling financially in Jamaica, after 22 years had returned to his homeland,  Trinidad, “almost against his will in 1984”.

It was there that after suffering a stroke which saw him being hospitalised for 19 days, Creator got the news that UB-40, after being given permission by him to record Kingston Town, had “made it into a big hit all over Europe by 1989, and generated enormous royalties for the composer of the song”.

The following year, Lord Creator returned to Jamaica and built houses for himself and his children, “and out of goodwill”, gave Clancy $250,000 “but when he returned for more, I refused and contacted my lawyers,” the article stated.

According to the article, in an interview, the now-deceased Eccles had claimed that “fifty per cent of the record is owned by me, because I wrote some of the words. I made the music for this particular song, and I don’t get a penny royalty yet”, while Lord Creator had claimed he wrote the entire song, and that the publishers came to that decision after extensive investigations.

In March 2023, UB40’s cover version of the song was certified Platinum in the UK.

After UB40 recorded the cover version of Kingston Town in 1989, Lord Creator experienced a career revival, and he did several oldies shows in Jamaica and, later Japan.

He returned to Jamaica, living in Montego Bay and then later Hanover before moving to Golden Grove.

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‘Bob Marley: One Love’ Biopic’s Success Hinges On Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Performance, Says Cedella Marley

The content originally appeared on: Dance Hall Mag

Cedella Marley has admitted that the success of the upcoming Bob Marley: One Love biopic, which covers the life of her father spanning 1976 and 1978, rests heavily on lead actor Kingsley Ben Adir’s portrayal of the late Reggae icon.

During an interview with veteran entertainment journalist Anthony Miller about the film, Cedella was asked “how much in terms of make or break, hinges on the performance” of the British national.

“All of it,” she replied, laughing. 

The Tomorrow People singer also pointed to Ben-Adir’s many ‘wow’ moments during filming and added that: “But you know what, he is gonna surprise you.  He did that to me.”

Kingsley Ben-Adir in character as the late Reggae legend Bob Marley, while filming the ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ biopic in London, England, earlier this year.

In implicitly addressing the outrage expressed by many Jamaicans last year, after Ben-Adir was announced as the pick to be the lead actor, Cedella pointed out that the majority of the biopic’s cast is Jamaican.

“But overall the cast is very diverse.  We have a lot of Jamaicans in there.  We have a lot of children of some of the icons in there, like Family Man Junior, who plays Family Man.  Junior Marvin Jr plays Junior Marvin; Naomi Cowan plays Marcia Griffiths.  And so we were very happy that we were able to have at least 98 percent of the cast being Jamaican,” she said.

The film will be released via Paramount Pictures on January 12, 2024. 

In the meantime, Ben-Adir, who previously made a name for himself in Netflix’s Peaky Blinders and in the film Malcolm X, is currently playing the role of an alien villain in the Marvel Studios’ TV series Secret Invasion, which premiered on June 21, 2023.

Kingsley Ben-Adir in ‘Secret Invasion’. Photo: Gareth Gatrell/Marvel Studios

In April this year, executive producer Ziggy Marley shared a first-look trailer for the Bob Marley biopic at CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners, inside the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.  However, Cedella said she had not yet viewed any of the footage.

“I haven’t seen anything yet. I have just been dealing with the poster artwork right now.  Because I think the directors are the nervous ones,” she said, chuckling.  “We’re cool.”

“Bob Marley has several moments so its not gonna be the only one…part one two, three, four, five.  There is a lot more to come,” she added.

According to Variety Magazine, the trailer of the film includes scenes of Marley “performing in cavernous stadiums in front of adoring crowds, as well as scenes of him with his family and relaxing while playing soccer,” as well as “a recreation of the 1976 assassination attempt that Marley survived”.

In providing details of the biopic on April 2, in an interview on The Running African program on Irie FM, Ziggy had hinted that two of Jamaica’s foremost political enforcers of the 1970s era, Aston “Bucky” Marshall and Claudius Massop were also included, as well as the two leaders of the two major political parties at the time: the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Edward Seaga and Michael Manley of the Peoples National Party (PNP).

He had also said that Ben-Adir and his compatriot Lashana Lynch had done “a good job” as Bob Marley and Rita Marley, respectively.

British actor Kingsley Ben Adir on set of the Bob Marley biopic in London.

Bob Marley: One Love surrounds the life story of Rita and Bob, with the foundation being the years 1976 to 1978, spanning the assassination attempt on the couple on December 3, 1976, when Bob was shot at his home at 56 Hope Road, and Rita seriously injured to the Reggae legend’s subsequent self-imposed exile in London and his later return to Jamaica.

The shooting occurred two days before a Smile Jamaica Concert, which Marley was billed to perform for free, at the National Heroes Park in Kingston.    That concert had been arranged to ease political tensions and gang warfare that had gripped Jamaica in the months leading up to the December 1976 General Election.

According to a Gleaner report, a flyer that advertised the event had said, “Bob Marley, in association with the Cultural Section, Prime Minister’s (Michael Manley) office, presents Smile Jamaica, a public concert featuring Bob Marley and the Wailers and I Three”.

“Marley’s popularity was looming large in Europe and parts of the USA. He was revered by many and seen as a symbol of freedom. The attack, some say, was to send a strong message that he should not meddle in politics… The question that still lingers is whether Marley was attacked by assailants aligned to the political parties or was it the work of the CIA?” the Gleaner article stated.

After the assassination attempt, Bob had flown to Nassau, Bahamas, and later to England, where he recorded his Exodus and Kaya albums in 1977 and 1978, respectively. 

Two years later, he returned to Jamaica for the legendary One Love Peace concert, where he had Manley and Seaga join hands in a symbolic show of solidarity.

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Jahshii’s Family Calls For An End To ‘False Rumors’ Surrounding Murder Case

The content originally appeared on: Dance Hall Mag

The family of Jahshii is speaking out on the rumors that the Dancehall artist was connected to the murder of businessman Omar ‘Romie’ Wright.

According to them, these rumors have not only affected Jahshii’s career but have also taken a toll on the entire family, resulting in show cancellations and distress.

“The vloggers are setting up my family’s life and Romie’s family’s life. They need to do their research before they take up things on their head and spread it,” Jahshii’s mother, Lorna Henry, told the Observer.

“The only people who know about the rumour are the people spreading it and the vloggers. What they are running with, I don’t know anything about and Jahshii don’t know anything about it either. They take this thing to an extreme and I am scared because of the vloggers who tell lies and hoist it like how you hoist a kite.”

Jahshii’s father Mervin Clarke, and his mother Lorna Henry (Observer photo)

She added: “Both families are very close. Romie’s mother is Jahshii’s Godmother. If Jahshii is passing Romie on the street, they hail up each other. Romie’s mother and I grew up in the community. We played together and we never had any problems. Romie calls me ‘Mumma’. He used to use one mop to clean up my place and then he would clean up his businessplace where he used to sell fried food. Him also used to sell June plum and oranges. He was very clean.”

“I just want the people to cut out the nonsense and stop bait up my life and Jashii life. It is not good. Some a dem seh mi pack up and run weh, but I don’t have anywhere to run to. We are tired of it now,” she continued.

Reports are that Wright was killed on Shortwood Road at about 10:40pm on June 7 by armed men. There were allegations that Henry, who operates a wholesale business in the area, had an altercation with Wright during which he threw water in her face.

Jahshii

It was rumored that Jahshii, whose real name is Mluleki Tafari Clarke, then allegedly argued with Wright about the incident.

Wright was gunned down hours later by persons unknown.

Jahshii’s attorneys King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie and Richard Lynch accompanied him to an interview session with the police last Wednesday (June 21). Chanpagnie confirmed with DancehallMag that the entertainer was subsequently released as investigations continue.

Meanwhile, Jahshii’s father, Mervin Clarke, also chastised vloggers for the role they have played in spreading propaganda.

“All these vloggers who keep mixing up the youth don’t know the true story. Talk the good things weh di youth do. We want to clear him name. They want to carry down the youth career. Dem want to get to the youth, suh dem start with the mother and the youth mother is a loving parent. She shares and everyone loves her. She is no trouble maker. Dem a frustrate the youth. He is a young youth and when all these things a reach him, if him nuh firm, he will get off him head. We have to make sure we be a rock around him,” Clarke told the Observer.

His cousin, Rochelle Gilzene, said that some promoters and corporate brands have started to give the entertainer the cold shoulder since the allegations began swirling.

“Shows have been cancelled. He has a show in August and the people are saying they can’t have him on the show because of these matters and it is unfair. Corporate entities have wrongfully tried him and this is his means of living. It is wrong. There are a lot of people who use it as an opportunity to jump on it to try and destroy him. Jashii is a born fighter and he is going to rise above this and is going to represent for all the young people in the inner city who want better. The vloggers need to be held accountable. The Government needs to do something to regulate the online platform. People should not be allowed to just say anything and not be held accountable. It affects lives,” she said.

“When you put misinformation out there, you cannot take it back. Romie and I were very close, from childhood up to the time of his passing. This has traumatised Jashii to the core. He is holding on and trusting God. I spoke to him and I heard the frustration in his voice. He said every minute is another thing, from one extreme to the next. Mi hear him ask him mother, ‘wah dem want mi fi do, kill myself?’ When mi hear Jashii seh dat, water drop out a mi eye. At 21, so much different things are on his head. Leave him alone and allow him to bloom and grow.”

In the meantime, the Cream of the Crop deejay took to Instagram Live recently to preview a track that addressed the ordeal. In the video, he sang a few bars.

“Want unuh want mi guh jail or wah? P—sy dem want mi aguh graveyard/ Human being too fake dawg, two face dawg/ Haffi skill pon di battle field…Mummy still a tell mi yuh ears hard yute/ Ah inna di mountain mi deh ah try escape…” he freestyled.

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Jada Kingdom Leaves Republic Records: “I Felt So Out Of Place”

The content originally appeared on: Dance Hall Mag

Just two years after signing with Republic Records, Dancehall songstress Jada Kingdom is stepping out on her own as an independent artist.

“Now I’m a fully independent artist, no longer with a label,” the WiN singer told TEEN VOGUE.

Signed in 2021, the record deal, in partnership with Money Well Spent, was described at the time as “the biggest deal for a Caribbean female artist ever.” Spearheaded by Kingdom’s former boyfriend, Verse Simmonds, it positioned her on the same New York-based label as A-listers such as Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, and Ariana Grande.

However, it appears the partnership ended in 2022, with Kingdom now expressing a desire for greater independence and control over her music.

“I felt so out of place, things weren’t feeling right. I want to take some of my career and keep some of me for me. It’s going to be hectic because there’s no longer a machine behind me, but I always want to be me,” she admitted.

The singer said there are several new recording deals on the table for consideration, but, for now, she’s holding off on signing again with another label.

In June 2021, Kingdom had also revealed that she had a new manager, Marc Jordan, and a management team at Wide Eye Entertainment. But it’s unclear whether that remains so.

Before Republic, Jada had a tumultuous split from former manager Pop Style Music, with whom she had a dispute that resulted in a defamation lawsuit. In early 2021, she told fans not to expect any new music from her that year, as she did not have a supportive team behind her.

Although her decision to part ways with Republic Records, a division of Universal Music Group, is surprising, the star seems unfazed. According to Kingdom, it’s all part of her journey to maintain her authentic voice and to grow as an artist.

“It’s unfortunate that in my music journey, I’ve had people who crossed me and made my business harder than what it should be. It feels like I’m yet to show my true potential. I’m a wonderful person,” shared Kingdom, whose real name is Jada Ashanti Murphy.

Jada Kingdom

During her time under Republic Records, Jada’s debut was Jungle, released in October 2021. Then came her New Motion EP in 2022, featuring Dickmatized, Last Night, Fling It Back, and Next Time.

She released GPP in the summer of 2022, her final song under Republic, which has amassed nearly 9 million views on YouTube.

She also collaborated with Scrptiid for On My Way (OMW), which entered the Billboard World Digital Singles Chart, and with John Legend on Speak In Tongues, which appeared on his self-titled album, Legend.

Her latest song, a collab with 9nine titled Turn Me On, was produced by Rvssian and released under his Rich Immigrants imprint.

Amidst all this, Kingdom says there are still plans to publish her debut album—TWINKLE.

While she remains tight-lipped about the details, she teased TEEN VOGUE, describing it as a “beautiful compilation of work” that truly embodies her essence.

She also hailed Nina Simone, Amy Winehouse, The Manhattans, The Temptations, Diana King, Spice, and Vybz Kartel as musical inspirations. But despite the plethora of foreign influences, the singer is determined to retain her authenticity.

“I always try to find a way to bring all of my inspirations into one thing. Yes, I might explore a jazzy-type beat, but the message I’m sending is conscious while the dialect I’m speaking is still Jamaican and representing the Caribbean.”

When asked about aspirations for collaborations, Jada Kingdom named, Rihanna, Tiwa Savage, and Nicki Minaj. On the male front, she mentioned Drake and Dexta Daps, noting that her musical bond with the latter has already materialized into four unreleased songs.

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