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Kodak Black narrowly escaped jail on Tuesday when he appeared in court following a warrant being issued for his arrest over a failed drug test. The rapper
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Beenie Man says it’s high time he gets awarded the title of Order of Jamaica.
Being one of the most recognized names in Jamaican music with four decades under his belt, Beenie Man says he is done waiting for his national honor. The deejay is gunning for Jamaica’s fifth highest honor, above some other big names in the genre who have, over the years, received national honors.
The dancehall legend was in his element last weekend during a well-received performance at the 2023 Reggae Month Celebration concert. Several government officials were in attendance at the event that saw artists like Beenie Man and Sizzla Kalonji gracing the stage. Among the government representatives was Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, who herself has been a strong supporter of reggae and dancehall over the years.
“Babsy a when you ready fi gimme mine?” Beenie deejays towards the end of his set as he cued his classic “I’m OK/Rum and Redbull” single. “My awards me a talk bout dis time. Mi nuh want no OD. A OJ yuh fi give mi. Order of Jamaica, a me run di country. King of di Dancehall.”
Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange and Koffee
Clearly, Beenie Man was not okay with not getting a national award despite his legendary career and contribution to Jamaican music. Beenie also regularly tribute to Babsy Grange during his set and commends her for spearheading the show to mark Reggae Day and Reggae Month.
“This is reggae month, but this is dancehall,” The Doc said. “Everybody who love dancehall mek me see unnu hands so in a the air. We a bad people we no business bout things. Respect to the Minister, thank you for this star.”
If Beenie Man gets his wish to be honored with the Order of Jamaica, he would join an exclusive rank of people to have the title of “Honorable,” including the Honorable Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange and former athlete Usain Bolt, late reggae legend Bunny Wailer, and actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, who was awarded the national honor of OJ in 2022.
Over the years, other Jamaican musicians have been awarded other national honors like Order of Distinction (OD), which is a level below the title of Order of Jamaica. Among the recipients of OD in the dancehall community includes Sean Paul, Shabba Ranks, Shaggy, Usain Bolt, King Yellowman, Lt. Stitchie, and Agent Sasco, who received the honor last year. Several members of the reggae community also has the honor of OD, iuncludes Bob Andy, Marcia Griffiths, Tommy Cowan, John Holt, Dennis Brown, Millie Small, Gregory Isaacs, Burning Spear, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Derrick Morgan, Rita Marley, Mighty Diamonds, among others
Perhaps Beenie Man will still accept the honor if he is awarded the Order of Jamaica, but still, the Honorable Moses ‘Beenie Man’ Davis does sound good.
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Rapper Latto is reflecting on the surprise feud with Nicki Minaj that saw the artists going at each other on Twitter and trading insults.
In a new interview with Billboard, Latto says she was disappointed with how the incident played out as she moved from being a fan to a ‘rival’ with the Queen of rap.
“It’s difficult navigating through situations like that because there’s a disconnect,” she began. “I will look at myself as a fan of someone and they will view [me] in a whole different light. It’s disappointing. You just got to take it to the chin and keep pushing,” she continued.
The argument stemmed from Nicki Minaj making a comparison between her song “Super Freaky Girl” and Latto’s “Big Energy” after the former was removed from the rap category by the Grammy nominations committee and placed in the Pop category while Latto’s song remained.
Many felt that Nicki Minaj was shading Latto, and the “Lottery” artist responded to Minaj, which led to fans stoking their beef, and both erupted with insults disrespecting each other.
Latto had tweeted, “it’s still giving coke,” which many felt was directed to Minaj.
Latto
Latto also said that Minaj using her song as an example was shady to her since their last conversation did not end on good terms.
“[You] being funny bringing me up to defend [you’re] case knowing our last convo didn’t end on good terms. literally told me I’m not ‘flourishing’ and no one cares about my ‘little song’ [on the phone] lol @NICKIMINAJ,” Latto had tweeted.
Latto also shared a recorded conversation between her and Minaj after she reached out to clear the air.
Minaj also insulted Latto’s Caucasian heritage calling her a “Karen.”
“This Karen has probably mentioned my name in over 100 interviews,” Nicki tweeted. “Says she waited in line for Pink Friday wher Barbie chain on, bangs, pink hair…but today, scratch off decides to be silent; rather than speak up for the black woman she called her biggest inspiration.”
Fans also fanned the flames as they dug up old videos of Latto talking about how Minaj inspired her, although she never denied it.
In the meantime, Latto also spoke about getting support from other rappers who helped pave the way before her and how she pays it forward and doesn’t charge female rappers for a verse.
“Real recognize real,” she said and noted that she’s a “girl’s girl” who “utilizes [her] power in uplifting others,” and this means not charging upcoming rappers for features.
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Drake’s style of name-dropping women in his songs has been far from unproblematic, as he shared in his Moody Conversation interview that some of the women
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British singer Adele is reportedly engaged to sports superstar agent Rich Paul. News of the engagement was shared on Sunday by a celebrity gossip blog,
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Retired dancehall artist Mr. Lexx says Beenie Man didn’t just bite his style but also came for his head back in the day.
Mr. Lexx claims that Beenie Man was not a big fan of him coming into the game, changing things up, and even opening doors for younger artists, and he also tried to start a feud that he decided to squash.
While speaking on the Tongue Talk Podcast with Razor B, the artist shared that there was a lot of gatekeeping before he had his “buss” in music, but he decided to change things up after finding success. This did not come across well with others, he said.
“It was a lot of first in the industry. First of all, before me buss, ah one artist them use to buss a year. Thru the impact that him (Bounty Killer) and Beenie Man dem have on the industry, them level one artist a year. Before me buss, it was zebra, before Zebra buss it was Vegas, before Vegas buss it was Red Rat, before Red Rat buss it was Goofy…when me buss mi come change that. Me come say ‘yow, eh eh, seven or eight ah we can be hot at the same time’… me start par wid artist Chaka Diamond, Danny English, Kiprich,” Mr. Lexx says.
Mr. Lexx added, “me come in and change da whole thing deh weh dem feel that one artist can buss… it cause three big artists [to] come at me. Three of the biggest artists. Two of them, me go back to them and say ‘yow bredda you ah mi don and suh.’”
The artist revealed that Beenie Man also started a feud with him over the changes he made and even directed a diss song at him, “World Gone Mad,” released in 1999.
Mr. Lexx says Beenie Man stole his style of using “the God voice” by deejaying like him and even recorded a song that sounded like him.
“Beenie Man shoot at me and ah deejay like me… Beenie Man yuh ah my Gad but me and you can’t have that problem there bad man,” Mr. Lexx says was his response to Beenie Man, which quickly fizzled the beef.
The other artist who came at him was Mad Cobra, he revealed, but he quickly quashed any tensions from becoming a feud.
“You see this thing when them say when you get to a certain level your idols become your rivals, that’s true. I lived that,” the dancehall veteran said.
Mr. Lexx did not name the other artist, whom he referred to only as ‘such man.’
Dancehall artist Mr. Lexx, formerly known as Lexxus, is one of the most recognized names in the dancehall genre from the late 1990s to the early 2000s era. The veteran deejay, whose real name is Christopher George Palmer, was one of the most prolific deejays to rise out of Kingston in the late 90s when dancehall was at its peak. His sudden emergence on the scene at the time earned him a lot of enemies, including his famous feud with Bounty Killer.
Lexx is best known for songs like “Full Hundred,” “Ring Mi Cellie,” “Cook,” and “Good Hole.” Over the years since the peak of his career, the artist has transitioned into acting, modeling, and TV, among other segments of the entertainment industry.
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Yaksta taps Usain Bolt for his new tropical feel single “Whine.”
The track is featured on the reggae/dancehall artist’s new album, 22. The party anthem features the retired athlete showcasing his vocals over a bouncy beat produced by his label A-Team Lifestyle. “Whine” sets the mood ahead of the summer party season in Jamaica, with the two artists plotting a music video to further push the single.
“We no need no Hennessy to rave/ All I need is a cup of lemonade/ A pack of rowdy wrap around my brains/ Defy gravity and levitate for days/ I can make you call me babes/ Slow strokes while I whisper in your ears,” the deejay rhymes.
22 is the debut album for Yaksta, who has been steadily making a name for himself in Jamaican music over the past few years with a catalog of conscious music. The album packs 20 singles with guest appearances from Chronic Law, Rygin King, Marlon Easy, Demarco, Monifa, and Usain Bolt. The deejay held a star-studded album release party in Kingston last week with performances from some of his musical friends, including Kranium, 10Tik, Beenie Man, Shane O, Turbulence, Munga Honorable, and Grammy winner Kabaka Pyramid.
In speaking about the project, Yaksta says he simply do music for his fans, and so far, he hasn’t missed a step.
“I do music for the people,” he told the Star. “My music aims to entertain and to educate, so I wanted to host a launch that would place me closer to my fans. My only expectations are to interact with the fans themselves, and show them the work that has gone into my album. It comes at a significant time of the year, in Reggae Month, and the plan is to let persons see how there is consciousness in dancehall.”
Yaksta is best known for songs like “Ambition,” “See and Know,” “Hype & Bruk,” and “Alchemist.”
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Adidas has reportedly patched things up with Kanye West just a few months after the company ended its relationship with the controversial rapper. On
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The presiding judge in the murder trial of Florida rapper XXXTentacion, Judge Michael Usan, has denied a motion by a defense attorney to have rapper Drake sit for a deposition.
On Friday, the jury was excused early to allow the judge to hear arguments from Drake’s lawyer, Brad Cohen, and Mauricio Padilla, who is representing defendant Deidrick Williams, the alleged mastermind behind XXXTentacion’s murder.
Williams’ lawyer had applied to the court to force Drake to respond to a Show Cause motion as to why he should not be forced to sit for a deposition in the trial. The lawyer had argued that following X’s death, his fans had made reports that Drake might be responsible since XXXTentacion, real name Jahseh Onfroy, made statements to that effect just before he was killed.
However, on Friday, Cohen pointed out that while XXX did indeed claim that Drake wanted to harm him, he later used the same mediums on social media to state that his account was hacked and that his statements should be disregarded.
Judge Usan rejected the submission from Williams, which would essentially implicate the rapper as a suspect in the trial. The judge noted that the application to force Drake to sit for the deposition amounted to a “fishing expedition,” and he also referred to it as a “Chewbacca” defense that is harassing in nature.
“The same degree of reliability or authenticity, there’s also a tweet or Instagram saying I didn’t post that, that’s a hack. Those are the only things we have up there and if that’s the only thing you have, then this is a fishing expedition that the court is not going to sustain any further,” the judge firmly said.
He added, “We’re getting outside of the realm of what is a colourable legitimate defense and just turning into harassment. It’s like a Chewbacca defense.”
Drake had to hire counsel to represent him in court after Padilla was successful in getting a motion granted to allow him to serve Drake to sit for a deposition to support Williams’s case that he was not one of the four men on trial for the murder of XXXTentacion.
At a hearing on February 13, the rapper’s attorney said that the deposition request was “harassing,” especially since there was no other supporting evidence that showed sufficient reason.
The attorney also said that Drake had an alibi to corroborate that he was not in Florida when the murder took place and that he had “nothing to do with this case, Mr. Graham is not listed in any report, I don’t believe it has been discussed whatsoever in this case to my knowledge other than rumour and innuendo.”
“There needs to be some good faith showing at least – his phone was in the area, he was in the state of Florida at the time, there’s some sort of communication, something. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever,” Cohen said.
In the meantime, the prosecution claims that defendant Williams is the mastermind behind XXXTentacion’s murder as he was the one who allegedly came up with the plot to block the driver’s car so they could ambush and rob him. He was caught on camera at Riva Motorsports, showing him spotting the rapper and his car in the parking lot and later in the store, and he is accused of driving the getaway car that was used to rob and kill the rapper.
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Mavado is back on the music scene with a new song featuring Dexta Daps and Jay-A.
The Gully Gad has been going through a lot in his personal life, which may have affected his career, so it’s good to see him back in his element doing what he loves, music. For his new song, Mavado enlists Dexta Daps and Jay-A for a gritty street anthem produced by Sponge Music and Mansions Records. As usual, the singjay didn’t disappoint with this new banger released with an accompanying music video.
“We a come from real bad life/ Some Jeepers Creepers life/ Where the dogs them no sleep at night/ If yo f–k around then a real drive by/ Me play me part yes./ Now a Dudus badness man a talk,” Vado sings. Daps handled the cook singing, “The world full a haters the streets no have no love, no love/ Cyan lef your thing them make shot sing like chorus, chorus/ Me see friend a kill friend a get famous, no love, no love.”
Mavado, Jay-A, and Dexta Daps all appeared in the music video, which was recently shot in South Florida, with Starr Dawkins making a cameo.
At the top of the year, Mavado released his new single, “21 Psalm.” Last year he also released a handful of new music, including “Location,” “Thunderclap,” and “Feelings.”
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