EURweb |
REGGAE UPDATES FROM JAMAICA: 50 Cent and G-Unit members Olivia and Lloyd Banks set for Reggae Sumfest in Jamaica
It was in 2003 that 50 Cent and members of his G-Unit crew performed in Kingston, Jamaica. Now almost three years later, the G-Unit crew and their main man, 50 Cent are set to unleash their chart topping hits once again on Jamaican soil. They headline the final day of Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest, easily Jamaica’s current number one reggae music festival.
Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest runs from July 16 to 22 in Montego Bay. Among the major reggae and dancehall stars billed for the festival are Lady Saw, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Buju Banton, Spice, Capleton and Rihanna.
· Dem Franchize Boys for Absolute Temptation Isle’s Temptation Live stage show
Hot rap group Dem Franchize Boyz headline the performance segment of Absolute Temptation Isle’s Temptation Live stage show. This takes place on July 31 at the Long Bay Beach football field in Westmoreland. Dem Franchize Boyz have topped the Billboard Rap Singles charts with tunes including Lean With It Rock With It and I Think They like Me.
At the launch of the 5 day Absolute Temptation Isle event last week, promoter Alex Chin confirmed that the group will be taking the stage. He also hinted at the possibility of another overseas act to be added to the lineup.
13 events comprise Absolute Temptation Isle’s 5 day package, which runs from July 28 to August 1.
* Mavado’s rise from the ghetto to instant fame
Rising singer Mavado has hit the big times with two enterprising singles, Weh Dem a Do and Real McCoy. The once virtual unknown has now been thrust into the spotlight, but he is taking the new found attention in stride.
‘Things kinda step up still. It change the game. But I am still the same Mavado. Whole heap of people know mi before mi get the break. A long time mi a roll with nuff people round mi’, Mavado said in a recent interview.
Madvao whose real name is David Constantine Brooks says his lyrics are testimony to the experiences that he has been through, and that critics shouldn’t hold it against him. ‘A real gangster thing mi a talk bout. Mi do music fi di people them. I used to be out on the streets dealing with it the real way. We nuh really plan fi tek people tings fi life. Things that used to happen to me back then are what I am talking about in the songs that I record. My family is a struggling family. Is poor people me come from’, Mavado revealed.
Formerly known as Singing Blacks, Mavado said he got his new stage name from one of his friends called Flex. ‘A bredrin of mine name Flex gave me a watch with the word Mavado marked on the inside. Mi did like the name. When we link up with the producer Mario C, him say the name Singing Blacks sound too normal, so I decided to change the name to Mavado. Most people say Movado, but is actually Mavado’, he explained.
Mavado grew up in various communities in the Kingston. ‘Mi born and grew up in a place name Cuba in Cassava Piece. Ambrook Lane, Cassia Park, dem place deh mi used to rest. I went to Charlie Smith Comprehensive’, said Mavado. He once worked as a barber before getting his break in the music business. Deejay Bucanneer, who doubles as a producer, gave Mavado his first recording opportunity. ‘Buccaneer first record me professionally’, he said.
Mavado’s recording opportunities have increased since he began to make waves. He is working with the Daseca outfit (which is responsible for his Real McCoy single), Donovan “Don Corleon’ Bennett, and Christopher Birch among others. ‘Mi just a try tek the business pon another level. The business it corrupt, but mi a gwaan work hard and record songs’, said Mavado.
He cites Bounty Killer and Vybz Kartel among his musical influences. ‘Killer a di real dupes. Kartel come in like mi bredda. Killer has had a great influence on mi career’, Mavado pointed out.
His forthcoming projects include songs with the group Voice Mail, Busy Signal and Vybz Kartel.
· Chart Updates
Jamaican born disco singer Claudja Barry who was a founding member of the 1970’s disco group Boney M, and who later hit the Billboard charts with solo hits including Dancing Fever and Boogie Woogie Dancing Shoes, is back on the charts this week. Her single I Will Stand moves up to number 41 on Billboard’s Dance Music Club Play chart.
Busy Signal’s Step Out is bubbling under the Billboard R&B Hip Hop Singles & tracks chart. The song has been released in the US on the Sugar Free label.
Ghetto Story by Baby Cham looses some steam as it falls from 36 to 46 on the R&B singles chart, while Beenie Man’s Hmm Humm rises from 63 to 56. Sean Paul’s Give It Up to Me debuts at number 74 on the R&B chart giving him his third chart hit from his latest album The Trinity.
.jpg)
