World A Reggae Music singer Anthony B has cautioned that Jamaica’s seeming penchant for elevating foreign music over that of its own Reggae artists can ultimately result in the decimation of the culture.

“There is a lot of goodwill out there for the music, but if we are not careful we will be faced with a dying culture,” Anthony B said in a Gleaner interview, in response to a question as to whether Reggae music gets the respect that it deserves.

“We play more Drake songs in Jamaica than we play our own music. Just ask JACAP (Jamaica Association of Composers Authors and Publishers) how much royalty money they have to send overseas annually,” the Trelawny native added.

According to Spotify Wrapped, Drake was the most-streamed artist in Jamaica for the years 2021 and 2022.

Data provided to DancehallMag from the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers Limited (JACAP) confirms the statements made by Anthony B.  In March last year, JACAP reported that overseas copyright holders were still collecting the majority of royalties paid over by Jamaican radio stations for playing music.

Their data also showed that as recent as 2020, of the $106,602,998 in royalties collected by JACAP, only 35 percent—a total of $37,385,556—was paid to local interests while $69,217,442 was paid to foreigners, while in 2013, as much as 85 percent of royalties collected by JACAP was paid over to overseas copyright holders.

Ethnomusicologist Dr. Dennis Howard had described the state of affairs as “absolutely a problem” as Jamaica, a country with eight music genres, was not playing enough Jamaican music, and happens to be “the net importers of copyrighted material”.

“There is a trade imbalance in other areas, and it is a similar situation which exists in music but we never look at music as a viable trade commodities, we don’t encourage it,” he had told DancehallMag in an interview last year.

In February this year, Minister of Entertainment Olivia “Babsy” Grange, in her address at the Negril Entertainment Association’s inaugural conference, had said the Government might have to consider the establishment of minimum quotas to get Jamaica’s radio stations to play majority local music, similar to its Canadian counterparts.

“We pay out more to foreigners than we pay to our local creatives.  And we really need to do something about it,” the Minister had said.

“I know the radio stations love to play foreign music, and I also know that we have to work on improving our productions and our output in order to balance.  And, of course, Government has a role to play.  In Canada, there is a minimum quota for playing local content.  And this is something that we also need to look at,” she added.

In December 2020, Dancehall megastar Shaggy had called for the Jamaican government to establish a quota system to ensure that at least 60 percent of the music played on Jamaican radio stations is from the island, as opposed to overseas.

The Oh Carolina singer had pointed out that in other jurisdictions, such as Canada and France, only a small amount of foreign music can be played on their local radio, as opposed to Jamaica, where there is a free-for-all.

He had also posited that having local music being played on the radio at least 60 percent of the time would help the island’s streaming numbers.

Grammy-nominated deejay Devin Di Dakta had also decried the fact that there was still too much foreign music being played on Jamaican radio stations, to the detriment of the island’s artists.

The St Mary native had also argued that young entertainers who are focusing on using Trap and Hip Hop beats, ought not to be blamed or condemned, as many of the island’s radio stations, over the years, had bombarded the airwaves with foreign music.

This, he said, has resulted in many being under the impression that genres like Hip Hop and Trap are superior to Dancehall, Reggae and Jamaica’s other music genres.

During the International Reggae Day conference in 2015, Veteran music producer Danny Browne who serves as chairman of the Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS), had lobbied the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ) for the introduction of a content quota system, arguing that limiting the amount of foreign music being aired on local media was the key to strengthening the country’s creative industry.

The Filthy riddim producer had argued that in addition to boosting the local recording industry, the quota system would support the development of local culture and national identity. 

Browne had also contended that whilst he was not against foreign content, he did not believe it should be at the peril of the local music industry. 

Browne had also pointed out that Canada, Australia, France, and Nigeria as countries that had imposed local content quotas, even though none of them had given the world even at least three distinct genres of music, unlike Jamaica, with eight.

BCJ Executive Director Cordell Green however, had rejected the music stakeholders’ proposal, claiming that it was payola that was the root cause of the problems facing the music fraternity and was also the reason why there is very little variety in the music being played on radio.

Green had said he was unconvinced that by setting a local content quota Jamaica would be protecting its music, claiming that Jamaica’s music ought not to be mandated but instead played out of respect and love and “not because there are laws forcing us to.”

Follow us for daily Dancehall news on Facebook, Twitter and Google News.

Long before some new-gen acts were being accused of pandering to Americans by adjusting their sound and style, Mr. Lexx was facing that criticism. 

Keeping it Full Hundred, the entertainer, formerly known as Lexxus, said the backlash started following his big break in 1997. The song, Make Some Money, was one of several that bears his signature rap-deejay style, which he popularised in digital dancehall. 

“The jealous part of the industry used to cuss me seh mi gwaan like one foreign artist,” Mr Lexx said on Instagram Live on Thursday.

It wasn’t merely how he made his records, but his plans for revolutionizing how Jamaican artists represented themselves on stage. Being a fan of music, and further exposed to the stagecraft of mainstream artists while living in the States, Mr. Lexx was inspired to bring grandiose visuals and props to his sets.

Observing peers Busta Rhymes and Diddy, he felt, “A deh so my music fi deh dawg. So, when me buss and had the opportunity to do that, that’s what I was doing. Go a Sumfest, blow up the stage, bagga thing. When mi a come a Sting, crane, the whole star thing.”

But he said music gatekeepers were displeased with his vision. 

“Pretty much, I was way ahead of my time… I wanted to expand our music,” he said. “I had the music in my (best) interest. Mi did waan deejay, yes, but it wasn’t really about me… I wanted to stand up and say, ‘Yes, we did this’…but you have some people, when time dem in control and when a particular thing is going one way for some people and they’re in control and they’re benefiting from the way it is going, if you come along now and want to change that thing, they’re gonna make you the villain and the majority a go mek you look like you wrong, all when yuh right.”

Beyond his career, Mr. Lexx believes these big wigs – some artists – have contributed to the decrease of dancehall’s global competitiveness. 

“When we compare our music to the rest of the music, it doesn’t feel like it’s the biggest music on the planet because a lot of people who we have at the realm, at the top of the industry, don’t really have the dancehall industry in their best interest…” he argued.

“A lot of the artists that we push to the forefront of our industry, sadly, mi haffi say it…dem no have no vision fi dem music because one man vision fi dem music is 15 man behind him, three bottle of Hennessy pon the table, and fi him music a play di whole night. Next man, him nuh even have a vision, him just all over the place and just a do fi him owna thing and into him owna self… The moral of the story is, if you keep taking apples out of the basket, it ago done. Somebody haffi put apples back inna the basket.”

The deejay is currently in the US, hoping to score heavy collaborations. His latest releases include Hot Gyal, produced by Nanimus Music, and Brawlin, produced by AJP Music.  

Follow us for daily Dancehall news on Facebook, Twitter and Google News.

Former Scare Dem crew member Boom Dandimite, known for songs like Many Many and Pure Gal, will be buried this morning after a thanksgiving service at the Penwood Road Seventh Day Adventist church.

The artist’s body will be interred at Meadowrest Memorial Gardens. 

“The body will leave from Brite Lite (funeral home) to Penwood Road church for the funeral at 11. After that buses will be available at Seaview to take people to Meadowrest, his final resting place,” Christine Grant, a member of the family, told DancehallMag.

Tommy Thompson, funeral director of Brite Lite Funeral Services, said that the Bounty Killer, Richie Stephens and Harry Toddler are all expected to perform during the Thanksgiving service.

“The casket, the decorations, everything is going to be top notch,” Thompson said.

Boom Dandimite died due to complications arising from serious injuries he had sustained in a tragic car accident in late April. 

The accident occurred on Half Way Tree road near a popular bakery. Another rising deejay, Wilful Skilful, was also injured in the accident. Dandimite was hospitalised while Wilful Skilful was discharged and sent home. Days later, Boom Dandimite, whose real name is Donovan Stewart, later recovered and was discharged from the Kingston Public Hospital.He died on May 21 after he had travelled to the United States to access treatment for his injuries.   

Boom Dandimite, along with his friends Nitty Kutchie, Harry Toddler and Elephant Man formed the Scare Dem Crew back in the 1990s. The crew was closely aligned to Bounty Killer, who would take them on tours to ensure they gained exposure.They scored hits with songs such as Pure Gal and Many Many.

He was also slated to perform on Reggae Sumfest on July 21 as a part of the Boombox 90’s Badness along with the likes of General B, Harry Toddler, Jigsy King, Mega Banton, Nitty Kutchie, Silver Cat, and Tony Curtis.

Follow us for daily Dancehall news on Facebook, Twitter and Google News.

The first trailer for Paramount Pictures’ highly anticipated Bob Marley biopic, Bob Marley: One Love, has been released.

The film, which stars British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley and Lashana Lynch as Rita Marley, is expected to make its theatrical debut on Friday, January 12, 2024.

The trailer serves up an enchanting preview of the biopic, which has been, according to producer Ziggy Marley, “four or five years in the making”. It opens with an aerial shot of a massive crowd clamoring for the Reggae legend, before an instantaneous pan takes the viewer to a much calmer scene backstage with I-Threes member Rita and The Wailers.

“How yuh waan’ start it?” Bob is asked by a bandmate, to which Ben-Adir offers up a convincingly mellow, easy-going Marley-esque response: “From di beginning.” The trailer then cascades into waves of highlights from Bob Marley’s life, showcasing pivotal moments in his legendary career.

Director Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard) confirmed that the film will primarily cover the periods 1976 to 1978, which will include the infamous attempted assassination of Bob Marley and wife Rita, the making of his iconic Exodus album, and his eventual return to Jamaica for the historic One Love Peace Concert.

Marcus Green reasoned that: “You really need to understand that period of time to understand Bob the man, and what he was going through spiritually and emotionally as a father, as a husband, and as a musician.”

He continued: “From the very beginning, we were not interested in doing sort of a cradle-to-grave story. We didn’t feel like we needed to do that, to capture the essence of what Bob was going through at that time. This is a very rich period of Bob’s life in terms of his maturation process, of his becoming a man, of his leaving a legacy to the world. And I think it’s important to know that particular period of time.”

Ziggy, who is joined by his sister Cedella Marley and mother, Rita Marley, as producers on the film, shares that distinction with co-producers Brad Pitt, Robert Teitel, Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner.

The film will be executive-produced Orly Marley, Richard Hewitt and Matt Solodky.

According to Ziggy, this latest attempt to capture the life and legend of his father has been a deliberate and long-running process.

He explained to Shadow and Act that, “… Since I was a little boy, I think many have been trying to make this movie.” 

He added that since the biopic’s inception, they have been working with Paramount Pictures to ensure the best representation possible. “We’ve been on it from the beginning of the discussion with Paramount [Pictures] to find great writers and stuff like that,” he explained.

While concerns about authenticity flooded the film’s production since it was announced that Ben-Adir would be playing the Jamaican icon, Ziggy moved to vouch for the British actor, telling the online publication that Ben-Adir “did a great job.”

“He was very adamant about being emotionally aware of what Bob was going through,” Ziggy explained of the One Night In Miami actor. “We know that we can never replace Bob, so don’t expect that.” 

He further added that Ben-Adir tapped deeply into the spirit and essence of his father. “There’s an emotional thing that Bob was going through that Kingsley wa able to capture and understand for himself even help us to go into the direction that he wanted to go. He was adamant about creating not just the superficial Bob Marley, but a deeper emotional Bob Marley for the people to experience in this film.”

It was also revealed by director Marcus Green that Ben-Adir lost weight for the role, learned to play the guitar, learned to sing, and learned the Jamaican dialect. “We were looking for the best actor for the role, and we found that in Kingsley Ben-Adir from his very first audition tape–and we went through several hundred. It was a lot. We scoured every island in the Caribbean that we could. And when I saw that tape, I know Ziggy and I, we looked at each other and were like, ‘The foundation is there.’ He just had he had the ability to tap into the essence.”

As for the show’s other central figure, Rita Marley, Lashana Lynch has apparently pulled out all the stops to deliver a most convincing portrayal, so much so that Ziggy has described her performance as “powerful”.

The movie was filmed in the UK and in Jamaica, and is reported to have a predominantly Jamaican cast working behind the scenes and on camera.

Watch the trailer above.

Follow us for daily Dancehall news on Facebook, Twitter and Google News.

Reggae and Dancehall star Buju Banton is preparing to release his 12th studio album – Born For Greatness.

His last album came three years ago in the form of the intuitively named Upside Down 2020, which summed up Banton’s perception of the world at that tumultuous juncture. Born For Greatness seems to have followed that example, reflecting the star’s confidence and prevailing mindset in light of the times.

Describing the project as a musical documentation of his experiences, Banton told Reggaeville that taking a ‘personal approach’ to music has always been his not-so-secret ingredient to connect with his audiences.

“That is what music is. If you have no personal stories, it’s going to be fictitious and bubble gum music. I don’t make bubble gum music. All of my music is personal. Not An Easy Road, personal. Buried Alive, personal. I Rise, personal. Innocent, personal.”

He shared that the 17-track album was crafted over “various periods” because “music is something that flows.”

Among those featured on the album are Stephen Marley (on Feel A Way), Snoop Dogg (on High Life), DJ Khaled (on We Find A Way), and Victoria Monét on the album’s sixth track, Body Touching Body.

Banton said he was “moved” to have Monét on his album after the American singer approached him on Instagram for her Dancehall-infused R&B track Party Girls, released in May.

“Victoria Monét reached out to me via Instagram and I responded to her,” Banton said. “I didn’t know who she was or anything like that but I said to her ‘Send me your track.’ I took a listen and she was elated… we did a little fixing up here and there, and we sent it back to her and she was happy with what we did. And I said to her ‘Ok, well send me something from you for myself, for my record’, and she sent that and we did the same thing… It was total chemistry.”

He summarized that the collaboration was “something the universe wanted and when I’m moved to do something, I act. As simple as that.”

“I’m never that reachable,” he added, “but this [the collaboration with Monét] is something that the universe put together and I never question it.”

Banton, who turns 50 on July 15, said he continues to find joy in music and knows, most importantly, when it’ll be time to walk away.

“I’m excited whenever I enter the studio and go around a microphone,” he said. “The very thought of making music has always been a thrill and when that spirit leaves me, then I know it’s time for me to step away from it.”

Much has changed for the Reggae icon, who first recorded music on August 18, 1986, at Robert French’s Penthouse Records on 56 Slipe Pen Road. He was only 16 years old then. Now on the cusp of 50, he took some time to reflect on that journey.

“It’s a turning point again musically or me because I’m here and I’m seeing the direction the music is going,” he shared. “I’m seeing what’s happening in the global community geopolitically, as well as how the music from various other enclaves has somehow put ours aside. Now, it’s not any fault of those music why ours is not on the forefront like it should be. It’s more so a fault of ours because our production somehow stepped back from what it ought to be.”

“So, this record you have and you listen to, that’s what I was trying to convey to bring back those Reggae music lovers and to attract new adherence to the culture because it’s necessary,” he added.

Banton’s Upside Down 2020 peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart and later became his sixth album to be nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.

He has one win for Best Reggae Album with Before the Dawn in 2010.

His other nominations were for Rasta Got Soul in 2009; Too Bad in 2006; Friends for Life in 2003, and Inna Heights in 1998.

Banton’s first album ever was Stamina Daddy, which was released in 1992. This was followed by Mr. Mention, which was also released that same year. 

The highly-acclaimed Til Shiloh, which is regarded as Buju’s best album yet, has spent 104 weeks on the Billboard Reggae chart, where it peaked at No. 2 in 1995.

It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on its 25th anniversary, on July 18, 2020.

His other studio albums were Voice of Jamaica in 1993; and Unchained Spirit in 2000.

Follow us for daily Dancehall news on Facebook, Twitter and Google News.