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Dancehall artiste Tony Matterhorn to make first visit to the US in three year……Dutty Wine still getting spins on mainstream stations

      *Selector-turned- dancehall deejay Tony Matterhorn describes himself as a big kid at heart.  However its his four children including his latest offspring, a sixth month old boy named Rich, who keep him grounded. The man, who shook the dancehall by storm last year with the sizeable hits Dutty Wine and Goodas Fi Dem, enjoys watching cartoons and playing his PST games. ‘I love the PST games. I have six of them since they came out’, Matterhorn confided in an interview with this writer recently. Matterhorn who is currently in London, recently obtained a work permit to re-enter the United States.

      It was in 2003 that he last visited the US and in another week’s time, his fans, specially invited guests, top hip hop and R&B stars and the media, will get a chance to meet and greet the man, who has dubbed himself ‘The Man From Mars’. A big celebration is being planned for MARS 2112, a trendy hot spot in Times Square, New York to host a welcome back party for him.

      ‘I didn’t get to travel the US for three years. I went in to the US embassy in Jamaica and they cancelled my visa. I have never had a police record in Jamaica or in any other country for that matter’, Matterhorn explained. He said contrary to rumors, he was never involved in any illegal or criminal activity that resulted in the cancellation of his US visa in 2003.

      Mattehorn says that the opportunity to travel to the US again will give him the opportunity to rekindle with fans from his sound system days on the Addies disco. New fans will now get to see and hear him perform his hit songs. ‘I can now reach out to my extended fans. The real Matterhorn fans. It feels good to be able to reunite with them. But in some ways I have been interacting with them on my space a lot’, said Matterhorn. He added ‘Having your own page on myspace.com has given me the ability to link with my fans. They post messages and its really good to kick back be interactive with them sometimes’.

      Matterhorn pointed out that since the success of the Dutty Wine single, a number of young fans have reached out to him. “They are always emailing and making a link. From Fully Loaded days and RAS parties, I realized that the younger fans were into what I was doing. On New Years Day I was in Canada and I couldn’t get my hair cut because the barber shops were closed. I went to a barber’s house and his children started to demonstrate the Dutty Wine song when I came in. It was really surprising’, said Matterhorn. Julie Lexy Brooks, CEO of VIP Connected Entertainment, the agency that handles management, bookings and promotions for Matterhorn, was very instrumental in helping him regain his travel/working privileges to the US. She commented ‘ First let me say how really excited I am that Tony now can travel and work in the USA again. I know it was a very, very long wait but fans stateside will soon be graced with his presence and the opportunity to see him perform live. I know the United States; specifically New York is one of Tony's favorite places’.

      Asked how difficult it was to secure his US visa, Ms Brooks said ‘It was quite a long and at times tedious task to secure his visa. At times it seemed almost impossible but we kept the faith. My company first started working with his immigration case a little over 3 years ago. Although the hopes of him getting his visa looked bleak, we really believed that there was no legal reason to keep him from coming and working in the states .So we kept working on it, believing that one day he would once again return to the US. After all, there are thousands of adoring fans who are anxiously waiting to see and enjoy his live performances. We brought the attorney's office of Spar and Bernstein on board to assist us. They worked hard and for this we would like to thank them for their kind assistance. We would also like to thank the office of Congressman Gary L. Ackerman and the Jamaican Consulate for the role they played as well. But just to be clear at the end of the day the reality of what Tony has been preaching all this time came to pass and that is he has done nothing wrong and he stuck to his argument’. After his celebratory party in New York, Matterhorn will head back to London to fulfill performance obligations. He returns to the island in time for a guest shot on the Jim Brown Memorial dance. March will see him marking his birthday celebrations with parties planned for several Caribbean countries. In April he will commence a tour of Europe. The trek will culminate with several dates in the US in May.

      Asked what became of the publicized interest that Atlantic Records had shown in signing him during the height of the Dutty Wine craze, Matterhorn (real name Dufton Taylor) said ‘It was pure politics when it came to my career. I was supposed to do an album but someone foiled the attempt. The delay in Atlantic Records working with me as basically because I didn’t have a US visa. But for now I am only concerned about making hit singles’.

      Mattehorn recently hit the charts with Man from Mars and Wickedest Ride (featuring Mr. Easy). He is currently working on a slate of singles. He predicts collaboration with singer Alaine titled On Your Knees will be a big hit over the summer. “the song is like a man and woman fuss. It was produced by Daseca. I also have a song on the pepper spray rhythm from DJ Karim.  I have always thought about things in a futuristic way. Look at the song Man from Mars. Everything that I said in that song is coming to pass’, Matterhorn concluded.

Driver steers its way onto the Billboard R&B Singles chart

      Driver A, the smash single from Buju Banton, has debuted at number 75 on this week’s issue of the Billboard Hot R&B Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The track has given Banton his third entry on this particular Billboard chart.

      Banton’s previous Billboard chart entries were Make My Day (which stalled at number 81 in 1993), and Champion which fared better at number 67 in 1995.

      Taken from Banton’s Grammy nominated set Too Bad released on the independent  Gargamel label, Driver A has already clocked multiple weeks at number one here in Jamaica.

Richie Spice’s Brown Skin video is hot

      Fifth Element recording artiste Richie Spice recently completed the shoot for his latest video Brown Skin which is taken from his forthcoming VP Records set In the Streets to Africa. 

      The video clip was recently shot at the Brooklyn Daylight Studio in New York and directed by Nadia Simpson and Timothy Naylor. The theme of the video surrounds the Rastafarian singer serenading his brown skin girl, as depicted in the video by at least six different beautiful brown skin ladies.

      The Brown Skin single was produced by Donovan 'Don Corleon' Bennett. The song hit the charts late last year. With the video now in circulation, the song’s popularity is expected to be revived.

      Brown Skin has encountered a bit of controversy in its perceived preference for lighter skin shades. Richie has dispelled the notion.  "People say I should have said black skin or white skin but nobody is black, man, and no one is white, we have brown skin people and chocolate skin people. The colour white is a totally different than what they call a white person. Look at a person who is black and look at a piece of black material and it is a totally different thing," the singer said.

      The album In The Streets to Africa is scheduled for release on February 6. It will be a joint effort between Fifth Element Records and VP Records. The title of the album highlights the struggles as well as the business options that are available within the African continent. "We are trying to help the situation in Africa more than anything else and let the people know that they can make investments and turn over any type of business to help the youths there’, said Richie.