February 2012 Archives

The entertainment community in New York is bracing for the arrival of prominent rising reggae artist Konshens whose diverse, hard hitting, lyrical content have ignited the audiences in the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and sparked a demand for his presence in the United States.

Konshens will be heading to New York on Sunday, March 4th for a whirlwind press junket and host of album release parties, which will begin in Brooklyn, NY at Buzz Night Club with Hot97 Bobby Konders and Jabba. On Tuesday, March 5th Konshens will countdown the in store release of his worldwide debut album, Mental Maintenance, with his fans, press and media at the monthly Rice and Peas event to be held at Drom NYC. Then he gears up for Mystic Night Club in Bronx, NY on Wednesday, March 7th with Platinum Kids.

During this promotional run in New York to promote his album Konshens will conduct radio, print and television interviews, make appearances and do a few performances in the Tri-state area. Konshens is slated to appear on radio stations such as Sirius Satellite Radio, WBLS 107.5FM, Irie Jam Radio 93.5FM, Hot 97 (NYC), Hot 97 (Boston) RoadBlock Radio (New Jersey) and others.

Immediately leaving New York, Konshens kicks off the West Coast portion of his Mental Maintenance Tour. Additional dates will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

March 9th, Fairfax, CA
March 10th, Los Angeles, CA
March 11th, San Diego, CA
March 16th, Humboldt, CA
March 17th, Oakland CA
March 20th, Seattle, WA
March 23rd, Tinidad and Tobago
March 24th, Minnnesota, MN

Costa Rica: The 2012 installment of "Carnival Puntarenas," the third of the three "major" festivals of the season in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, proved to be another spectacular affair for the more than 40,000 music lovers who converged for the beach side concert in the capital city to see Jamaican reggae star Ky-mani Marley set the day to music.

When the young Marley, son of reggae icon Bob Marley, hit the stage backed the band Konfrontation, excitement and pandemonium broke out in anticipation of the tasty musical treat that was to follow. Marley blazed the stage for well over 120 minutes, delivering a dynamic litany of songs, from his father's repertoire as well as some from his own catalogue. The multi talented singer proved his relevance with favourites like 'Iron Lion Zion,' 'Is This Love,' 'One Love,' 'Get up Stand Up,' 'No Woman No Cry,' 'I Shot the Sheriff' and originals like 'Who We Are,' 'Rasta Love,' 'Ska-Ba-Dar' and 'Dear Dad' - a song that pulls at the heartstrings of anybody who has lost a loved one.

Ky-mani's humble yet high-energy style of delivery demonstrated that it was really about the music and exceeding fans' expectations. He was inundated with requests for autographs and how he managed to sign them while performing is baffling. Pocketbooks and shirts were only a few of the articles patrons threw on stage for signatures.

Jamaican dancehall reggae outfit Voicemail recently completed work on its latest album Next Level which is to be released by Captive Music.

The album which is set for release later this year is led by the first single I Got Love which has now gone into rotation on Germany's Big FM pop radio station.

Voicemail members Kevin Blair and Craig Jackson recently did the promotional rounds in New York City which was completed by a photo shoot and recording sessions. They also did a number of interviews to promote the upcoming project.

Early response to the I Got Love single has been positive. A popular blog compared the track to the style of international artiste Sean Kingston and described it as a summer smash.

Voicemail received great feedback from underground blogs as well as from mass media for their latest release.

Rising gospel act, Kereen Gregory, aka KG, is eagerly anticipating the opportunity to perform alongside one of her favourite female singers, Carlene Davis.

The two are among a set of gospel acts scheduled to thrill fans at a concert entitled Ash Wednesday Praise, scheduled for February 22 in Kitson Town, St Catherine.

KG, who declares that Carlene Davis has been an inspiration to her, also noted that she welcomed the opportunity to get up close with fans in that section of Jamaica.

"Minister Carlene Davis' story is such a wonderful one; how she moved from secular to gospel with such grace and I am particularly impressed with how Sister Carlene handled the testing of her faith in God when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has always been one of my heroes and it is a joy to share stage with such a powerful woman of God," KG said emotionally.

She added that it would be her first time performing in Kitson Town and, as such, "it will definitely be a night to remember".

Breakthrough Dancehall superstar, Popcaan continues to build his international status as he's unveiled the official remix of his number one hit, Only Man She Want featuring Jamaican-American hip-hop superstar, Busta Rhymes.

The Portmore Empire deejay, who has enjoyed mass chart success within the last year, released the remix for Only Man She Want on Friday; landing his first major collaboration with a foreign artiste. Busta adds his natural, 'yardie' flare to the single; joining forces with the 'Gaza' deejay nearly a year and a half after recording a yet unreleased track with Popcaan's long-time mentor and internationally-acclaimed superstar, Vybz Kartel.

Busta Rhymes displays a hybrid style of deejaying and rapping during his 12-bar contribution on the record. In Only Man She Want, Busta Rhymes deejays, "Yuh nuh hear how di girl a bellow 'Busta!' yuh nuh hear how she a deaf him? Dem a cry now, from di way how she a lef' him, your shorty want me and you know it and when I'm left alone with her, sir, ending up with her any time she get up on it."

Busta continues his showcase of lyrical dexterity by rapping, "Some think it's inappropriate, baby I must propose it, let us f***, the juices get to spilling like a water faucet in the truck till the sweat will accumulate and drip up off it, laying back the Jimmy, let you kiss up on it."

New York Classifieds: Veteran reggae hit maker and "Pot Of Gold" label head Richie Stephens will be honored with a "Lifetime Achievement Award at the third annual Linkage Awards slated to take place on Sunday, March 11 at the Macedonia Center in Mt. Vernon, NY.

The announcement comes less than a month after he was presented with an 'Achievement Award' at the 16th annual Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival in Trelawny for his twenty seven year contribution to the reggae industry.

Stephens has had a whirlwind year since he and Gentleman released "Live Your Life" last summer. The song topped charts in Florida, Atlanta, Canada, Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean and was voted "Song of the Year" on New York's Irie Jam Radio 'Top 100 Songs for 2011,' ahead of Vybz Kartel (Summer Time); Mavado elilah); Popcaan (Ravin); Shabba (None A Dem); Popcaan (Only Man She Want); I-Octane (Ramp Wid ); Laza Morgan featuring Mavado (One by One); Beres Hammond (No Goodbye) and Sean Paul/Alexis Jordan (Got To Love Ya).

"I'm excited about the success that I have enjoyed since the release of 'Live Your Life.' Fans have embraced it all over the world and I am just thankful for the outpouring of love" the singer said.

International reggae artiste Tarrus Riley has once again joined forces with radio station Irie FM to present the Tarrus Riley/Irie FM Freedom Writer Competition.

The competition seeks to unearth the creativity of teenagers and their knowledge about Black History.

In a release to the media, Riley said the feedback and response from the competition last year was overwhelming hence the decision to make it an annual one.

"Last year we had the competition and we got a lot of entries and most were quite impressive. We want to use this competition to create awareness about Black History", Riley explained.

The competition is open to students between the ages of 12 and 17 years old. They are required to write a poem or essay no more than 200 words and explain why black history is important and relevant to them.

Entries must be creative, original, and dynamic and can be emailed to trileyfreedomwriter@iriefm.net Entries can also be dropped off at Irie FM Kingston or Ocho Rios offices.

The deadline for entries is February 29.

First prize is an I Pad and second prize is a book voucher valued at $20,000. There will also be consolation prizes.