Black Immigrant Daily News

BY NAN ET EDITOR

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Aug. 15, 2022: It’s been 40 years already since Trinidad and Tobago’s soca star, Machel Montano, has been making music. Come September 9th, the ‘King of Soca,’ a biography of Montano, will be unveiled in New York City by his mother, Elizabeth ‘Lady’ Montano.

As “the ultimate insider,” Lady Montano reveals the making of the soca icon in her debut publication as Machel Montano gears up to celebrate his 40th anniversary in the music industry.

A first-time author, businesswoman and king maker, ‘Lady’ Montano covers the evolution of Machel – the man and artist – over four decades in her very own EESM Publishers imprint. From her extraordinary vantage point, the mother of the Soca king details the characteristics and stories of the various eras of Machel’s artistry as she shares the highs and lows of her son’s journey against the back drop of the soca legend’s ever-evolving interior world shaping his outer expression.

The book is based on Lady’s 2018 MPhil dissertation titled “The making of Monk Monte: Creativity and Commodification in Trinidad and Tobago Popular Culture”. At first, Lady Montano said she was tempted to build on it for a PhD but decided against the academic route when she understood that her intention was to make it accessible to everyone.

First-time author, businesswoman and king maker, ‘Lady’ Montano covers the evolution of Machel – the man and artist – over four decades in her very own EESM Publishers imprint.

An educator by training, she views storytelling as a vital part of knowledge sharing, which she deems essential to growth and development. The King of Soca therefore embodies a comprehensive record of the 40-year history of the 47-year-old Machel which, according to his former ‘momager,’ is not well known, and much less so among T&T’s youth.

Forty years in any industry is no small feat, but it is a particularly remarkable milestone in the music business, and more so in the context of the Caribbean and Trinidad and Tobago, specifically. Quite apart from Lady Montano’s unquestionable attentiveness to legacy-building, there is, for her, a sense of urgency in sharing the first 40 years of Machel’s story now. She sees this 40th year marking “the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one; one that is still taking form.”

“Celebrating 40 years in music is unbelievable for me and to have a book chronicling this journey was something I didn’t imagine in my wildest dreams”, says Machel about the book’s 2022 release. In recognition of Lady’s unique place in this project he adds, “I am honored that it’s happening and truly excited for this story to be told by the one person who knows me best. My mother and I have been so closely connected on every twist and turn of this remarkable ride that I know her account will be quite vivid and be an inspiration to all. Thank you my ‘Lady,’ – the best mother, manager and friend.”

A very young Machel Montano performing at The FANN Club in Brooklyn, NY in 1987. (Hayden Roger Celestin image)

Even with the solid foundation of her 2018 thesis, it has taken Lady Montano two years to bring the work to fruition. Commenting on the process, she said: “I started writing the book itself in 2020, at the start of the pandemic when everything was shut down and I was in Toco – (a remote, sparsely populated area on Trinidad’s northeast coast.) I thought I would finish it quickly because it was all in my head and I simply had to adapt my master’s dissertation, however, once it ceased to be an academic project, the possibilities for what I could include were now suddenly endless.”

The Montano matriarch’s enduring desire to document her son’s story is manifested in her compulsive collection of Machel memorabilia, which in 2015, constituted a full exhibition at the historic Boissiere House in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago’s capital city. She admits to her relentless pursuit to preserve evidence of all aspects of his life since what she describes as “his miracle birth” in 1974, and more so from 1982 when he officially entered the entertainment arena.

Her vision for the project was clear: “I was always able to see what the book would be like. I was disappointed when I could not include all the pictures, anecdotes, imagery and other special things I wanted in my dissertation. So, seeing the book actually taking shape really created a renewed vision of what it would be like. I’m really thankful to the various teams working with me to bring my words to life.”

Lady Montano believes this biography will resonate with anyone interested in knowing more about Machel. “I am very conscious of Machel’s continuous transformation and the extent to which he has opened my mind about inclusion,” she says. “So, while it is said that you must work with a set target audience, or a specific niche or population in mind for your product, I am satisfied that this work will deliver an authentic, revelatory, impactful account of my son’s life in music to anyone open to receiving it.”

The initial launch of the King of Soca biography took place in Trinidad on July 26th, 2022 while the New York City launch will be held in Brooklyn on September 9th as part of a number of initiatives planned to commemorate Machel Montano’s 40th year in music.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Dancehall artiste Bounty Killer is suing a British publisher in the High Court of Justice in London, United Kingdom, for millions of dollars the publisher collected on behalf of the artist in the UK from 2002 to 2021.

The dancehall legend is suing Othman Mukhlis, and his company Jamdown Limited and a third company owned by Mukhlis named Abood Music Limited, which he appointed to collect royalties on behalf of the deejay. According to the artist’s lawsuit, around 2001, Mukhlis contacted Bounty Killer, whose real name is Rodney Price, to collect agreed-upon royalties on his behalf in exchange for a percentage of the royalties.

The lawsuit claims that Mukhlis falsely misrepresented Bounty Killer and convinced him that it would be better if he were to collect the artist’s publishing royalties in the UK as withholding tax would take a significant sum- 30 percent of the monies he earns.

This information is implied to have induced Bounty into signing the agreement for Mukhlis to collect public performance royalties from the Phonographic Performance Limited (PPS) and the Performing Performing Rights Society (PRS) in exchange for a 15% collection fee of the overall sums collected.

However, Bounty Killer claims that Mukhlis’ companies Jamdown and Abood, over the period, collected more than £325,000 (J$60 million) in unpaid royalties from PPS and PRS.

That sum might also be more as Mukhlis also collected the publisher’s share of royalties on behalf of the King of Kingston artist.

According to the lawsuit, Mukhlis also collected the publisher’s share of royalties in which he would retain 10% of overall sums as agreed by Bounty Killer. Mukhlis registered Abood as the publisher for Mr. Price with PRS and later outsourced the collection with Perfect Songs Limited, but there has not been any account of monies for this set of royalties.

“Pending further investigations and the provision of further information, Mr Price does not know how much Abood and/or PSL, acting on behalf of Abood, have collected from PRS in respect of the publisher’s share of works written and/or co-written by Mr Price which are registered with PRS.”

The artiste also claims that Mukhlis has fraudulently collected the label share of the royalties in respect of the masters. The masters are not owned by Bounty Killer, and the artist has not named the owner.

“Further and additionally, in or around late 2001 Mr Mukhlis also registered Abood with PPL to collect the label share in respect of the master recordings of works performed by Mr Price. Mr Price does not own those rights so could not authorise Mr Mukhlis or Abood to collect them whether on his behalf or at all. At some point thereafter, Abood also outsourced collection of the label share to PSL,” the lawsuit said.

It’s unclear who owns the masters to Bounty’s songs and whether legal action is being taken by the label against Mukhlis in respect of the label’s share of master royalties.

Bounty Killer’s lawsuit says that in 2020, Mukhlis “acknowledged that sums were due to Mr Price,” but only transferred him the sum of £8,477.

As for what Bounty Killer is seeking from the court, the artiste claims royalties owed since 2002 and interest over the last 20 years. The artist has also asked the court to declare that all sums collected by Mr. Mukhlis, Jamdown, and/or Abood belong to him and are held in trust for him by Mr. Mukhlis, Jamdown, and/or Abood.

Bounty Killer is also seeking to rescind the contract he has with Mukhlis and his companies due to the fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation made by Mukhlis pertaining to the withholding tax.

The lawsuit was filed on June 14, 2022.

The artist has not publicly spoken about the lawsuit, but it is reported that his former manager had discovered the anomalies in his royalties.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

50 Cent says he was bothered by fat-shamers after his Super Bowl performance and shared some details about a running he had with Beyonce who confronted him about his beef with Jay-Z.

Beyoncé is often thought to be calm and private with her personal life, but Queen Bey’s Virgo side jumped out to defend her husband during his intense beef with 50 Cent. On Friday, the G-Unit rapper shared that Beyoncé was ready to put hands on him while they were out in public, and he approached her now husband to talk.

According to the “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” rapper, he was in Vegas for an event when Beyoncé hopped over a window ledge to get him and was “ready” to fight him over the beef with Jay-Z.

“She was on, like, a window sill. We was in Vegas,” he said, laughing. “She jumped out, she was like [pulls confrontational face]. And I’m like, Wait, what is you doing? That’s me and JAY-Z’s stuff, this ain’t got nothing to do with you, girl,” 50 says.

“She jumped off the ledge. I was like, ‘Oh, shit!’ I didn’t really know what to do. It was one of those situations where you were like, ‘Woah!’ If you say this to Jay, he’ll look at you and go, ‘Nah, that happened.’”

50 Cent has the hosts of the Breakfast Show cracking up as Charlamagne references the famous incident where Solange beats up Jay-Z for allegedly cheating on Beyoncé while they were all in an elevator as he tells 50 Cent to be grateful Solange was not there.

Beyonce, Jay-Z / IG

“She came like she was ready! Like something was gonna happen! And I’m like, ‘Woah, woah, woah.’ She throwing me off now ’cause I don’t know exactly how to respond to this. You are still Beyoncé. She brought all of the sexy over with that energy jumping off,” 50 Cent added.

“I look at Jay and he go [laughs]. Nah, he’ll tell you … I said, ‘Yo, alright. Whatever.’ ‘Cause really I’m just saying what’s up. But she’s feeling my energy come over because we do say things about each other — it’s a competitive nature, that’s it!” he added.

50 Cent also jokes about the elevator incident with Solange.

“If Solange was there, I would’ve had to reboot! Solange was popping in that elevator like it was nothing. With some gangsta shit going on. Jay couldn’t do nothing, huh?”

50 Cent and Jay-Z’s intense beef lasted in the early 2000s after he threatened the New York rapper in his 1999 song “How to Rob”. Hov also responded on “It’s Hot (Some Like It Hot),” rapping: “Go against Jigga? Your ass is dense/I’m about a dollar; what the fuck is 50 cents?”

Despite him taking shots at Jay-Z over the years, 50 Cent says that the two men are now on good terms, but he did not say whether he is on Beyoncé’s good side as well.

On the other hand, 50 Cent has gotten a taste of his own medicine, and he says that the fat-shaming comments made about him during his Super Bowl Half-Time performance bothered him.

“That sh*t bothers me, man…Yeah ‘I’m like what you talking bout I’m not fat’…. I’ve fluctuated a lot throughout my run you know what I’m saying and it’s just my body type,” he explained as he shared that he is back in the gym and getting his workout in every morning since being trolled.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Joycelyn Savage dropped a bomb on Friday afternoon, noting that she is carrying a child for embattled R&B singer R. Kelly. The R&B singer was recently sentenced to 30 years in jail for racketeering, sex trafficking, and other offenses.

On Friday, Savage released her new tell-all book, Love and Joy of Robert, in which she revealed that she is pregnant with the singer’s baby.

Savage recently revealed that R. Kelly proposed to her on the day of his sentencing by sending an engagement ring to her house even though he was heading to jail for 30 years, where he is likely to spend the rest of his life.

In the 11-page book (back and front 24 pages) released on Amazon on Friday, Savage, who is one of Kelly’s alleged victims, claims that she is months along with the pregnancy.

Joycelyn Savage said she knew a few months after 55-year-old Kelly sent her an engagement ring.

“Months later, I began expecting severe morning sickness and was unsure what was wrong with my body. I thought I had contracted COVID-19, but the most amazing news of all was that I was expecting,” she said. “It was a happy day but an incomplete time in my life. Today I am grateful to God for giving me the most precious gift. Robert is extremely excited about the news that I am having a baby and feels sad that Robert will not be able to be here with us,” the book read, according to the NY Post.

Joycelyn Savage Instagram

The book does not say when or how R. Kelly could have impregnated Joycelyn Savage as he has been locked away for more than a year. Savage, who has denied any allegations that she is a victim of Kelly, also shared a sonogram of the pregnancy.

Savage also said that R. Kelly had some input in the book as he was the one who approved the image of the sonogram.

The 26-year-old says she is “hoping for him to be released and prepare for new beginnings,” in the book.

Last month before his sentencing, Savage wrote a letter to the judge pleading for leniency from the court. In the letter, she revealed that they were engaged. She also said that she is not a victim of the music icon.

Online, social media users speculated about the pregnancy as they questioned the veracity of the claim. Some questioned whether Savage had been allowed conjugal visits, and some have even surmised that if she is truly pregnant, she might be married to the singer.

There were speculations before that Kelly might have married Savage in the same way he married an underaged Aaliyah to prevent her from testifying against him decades ago.

His Attorneys have not responded to the claims.

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