Issential Knowledge

Greetings Reggae Massive,

I wanted to check in with you since i haven’t touched base in a few weeks.  Here’s  wanted to keep you in the know about the Reggae news that is exciting me these days.  The first news I have is great news for the World of Reggae but does make me eat my words from my post claiming that the Damian Marley and Nas album would never manifest.  Honestly, I’ve never been happier to be wrong.  The duo will be debuting their new African themed project titled “Distant Relatives” while headlining the famed “Rock The Bells” tour this summer.  Though there is plenty to read about the project, they have yet to release any audio from the album due to drop in just a few weeks (June 23rd).  I haven’t even seen any camera videos from the exclusive listening party they had in LA.  I am very excited to hear that Damian has done the bulk of the production with help from brother Stephen of course and maybe even guests such as Alchemist.  I’m not sure how much longer I can wait.. There is no doubt that this is going to take the music world by storm.  Click here for more information on this project.

The other big new is the long awaited release of Reggae’s newest star, Alborosie with his Greensleeves debut.  His album is scheduled to drop next Monday June, 15th.  We have come to expect a few things from Alborosie since he dropped Herbalist several years ago:  1)  He is consistent and never lets you down if you are looking for the hard hitting one drop Rub a dub style 2)  There is always an Alborosie track that you have never heard.  This project is no different and doesn’t feature any of the tracks that have made him famous.

Check out the track listing:
01. America
02. No Cocaine
03. Mama She Don’t Like You Feat. I.Eye
04. Global War
05. Money
06. Irusalem
07. I Can’t Stand It Feat. Dennis Brown
08. Real Story
09. Good Woman
10. Dung A Babylon
11. One Sound Feat. Gramps Morgan
12. Humbleness
13. Promise Land
14. Mr. President
15. Operation Uppsala
16. Likkle Africa 

Jah Bless – One Lovell

I got to Big Up Itation Records out of the Bay Area in California. Itation started in Vermont as a Sound System and transformed into a record label in 2007 and moved to my home town of Oakland CA. As a record label they debuted with the “Higher Meditation” Riddim which features cuts from Sizzla, Jah Mason, Freddie McGregor and more, and recently released the “Show Love” riddim which features Lutan Fyah, Natty King, and the Bay Area’s own Nyorah. Both of these releases are available at iTunes.com, ebreggae.com, and the Itation Records site. Make sure you check out ItationRecords.com and find out about their events, artists, and releases. Respect

The next few posts will highlight the best the Internet has to offer in Reggae services. GreenLionCrew.com is a production team and sound system offering mixtapes, show production and more. Based out of New Hampshire, GLC has a weekly radio show on WUNH Durham 91.3 called the Green Lion Reggae Show as well as a weekly Reggae night (Stormy Wednesdays) at the Red Door music venue. Check out GreenLionCrew.com and support the movment.

Music is all about sharing. It’s about the artist sharing with their fans who then are compelled to share it with their friends. I have always been the type of person that loves to share good music with friends and family, and hopefully connect with people on a deeper level because of it. That is the basis for HipHop-Reggae.com. These are the two genres that I am enthusiastic about and I want to organize it and share it with you. The latest advancement in music sharing is the free streaming music that is available on imeem.com. Imeem allows you to browse a large library of music that has been uploaded by fans and allow you to stream the song in it’s entirety. In addition to that, you are also able to add songs to customized playlists and embed them into your own site. This allows me to share music with you easily and effectivley. Here is a playlist that I put together of all of the Bost & Bim Reggae remixes that were available. This playlist is also available on the Reggae Remixes page. I encourage you to make playlists that are relevent to the site, and I will link to them. Get involved in Jah Movement

As you can see I have added loads of content that highlights my inspiration for the Hiphop-Reggae.com movement. These tracks are some of these artist’s best work and it is evident that when the opportunity is there, great music can be produced. The French production team of Bost & Bim aka Bombist is responsible for the bulk of the remixes on the Reggae Remixes video page. The following is a interview with the masterminds behind these mash-ups. I should disclose that the interview is in French but I thought it is still interesting to see them in their element.

The spot has just officially been blown. I stumbled across some gems while putting together video content for the site. Make sure you check out all the new features on the site including the video playlists on the Reggae Remix page, as well as the HipHop Collaboration Page which are blazing if I do say so myself. Make sure you leave a comment and let me know which videos are your favorites. The movement is beginning… join me.

One Lovell

What up Reggae heads,

I’ve been working diligently on the development of the company and the site. Before I go and spend thousands of dollars paying someone to build the site I thought I would give it a shot at filling it out with some more content. Browse through the pages and leave some comments to help me improve the site. I appreciate your input and I look forward to serving you and the community in the coming years.

In the video section I started to sift through the sea that is YouTube, and find the best and coolest stuff. I put together a collection of live acoustic performances, as well as started a HipHop collaboration video page. The best thing I found was this Timbaland Reggae remix by Bost and Bim. These guys spread up the original song and set it to a classic Black Uhuru dub. Phenomenal work, nuff respect. If you like this, then make sure you don’t miss the Bost and Bim remix of Wyclef’s latest release feat Akon and Lil’ Wayne. This video can be seen in the Hiphop collaborations video section.

One Lovell

Greetings Reggae Family,

So I finished the first promotional mixtape from Hiphop-Reggae.com titled Salute The King Vol. 1. It contains a continuous mix some of the latest releases from the Reggae world. If you want a copy, email me at marley.lovell@gmail.com with an address, and ill get one out to you asap. If you already got one, make sure you write a comment on the blog, or hit me up, I would love to hear your feedback. Each copy will be hand numbered, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to be the start of the Righteous Youth Revolution. Thank you for the continued support, Jah Bless

-One Lovell

Blessings Reggae Massive,

I have a lot of things in motion right now, and I think that there is bright future for this website. In the context of a final project for my degree in Music Industry Studies I have been granted limited funding to build and start promoting the site. As another element to the project I am doing a Reggae Community Profile on the city of New Orleans, which I hope will be the first in a series of similar city specific profiles. These will be on city homepages, where people will be able to find out about the Reggae community in that city including Restaurants, Clothing Stores, Clubs & DJs , and a message board where people are able to communicate or promote. I am very excited about this development, and I think it can be a very effective tool to unite the Reggae communities locally and eventually globally.

As another promotional tool, I am releasing a promotional mixtape of some of my favorite current Reggae mixed by yours truly. Its a 70 minute CD titled Salute The King Vol. 1. It will be released from the Righteous Youth Sound System, so I will definitely let you know as soon as it is done. Here is the Cover and tentative track listing. This will be available as a free gift for donations to the Hiphop-Reggae site of 5 or more dollars. Thank you for the support. Jah Guidence

-One Lovell

Greetings Reggae heads, I wanted to follow up my post on my my visit to Tuff Gong Studios by highlighting some artists that I discovered while in Jamaica. At Tuff Gong I was mostly on the hunt for Italian Reggae artist Alborosie, who does some fantastic remixes of classic Reggae anthems such as Tenor Saw’s “Ring The Alarm,” and Black Uhuru’s “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.” Other 45’s that I picked up were tracks from Prestige, Richie Spice, and Sizzla. I was unable to find a new tracks from Stephen Marley, Damian Marley, or Collie Buddz that were blasting on Irie FM, but I will let you know as soon as I find the titles. The gem of the Tuff Gong visit was a live performance of “Fire” by Ricky Chaplin. I was happy to support him following this display, so make sure you check him out, Big Up. Another Gem that I found was “Victims of The System” by emerging band Rootz Underground. Before I left, I had heard about this band because guitarist, Jeffrey Moss Solomon is my cousin. I was excited to support the family, but i will admit that they exceeded my expectations. This track is blazing hot, and i will be scooping up every release that i can find. They are currently touring the United States, so make sure you keep and eye out.

Unfortunately for the Artists, the most reliable way to get the newest music is from street vendors. I picked up several CD mix tapes from the Higher Heights Sound System. On theseCD’s I did not find new songs from well known artists, but brand new artists with a fresh new sound. These included I-Octane, Demarco, Mavado, Queen Ifrika, Bugle, Da’ville, and Alaine. Sprinkled amongst these selections were songs from the likes of Lutan Fyah, Sean Paul featuring Shabba Ranks, and even Gregory Isaacs. Though I am an avid fan of Roots and Culture Reggae, I did pick up a Dancehall CD called Higher Heights Gangsta War, Volume 3. Featured on this CD were Mavado, Busy Signal, Vybz Kartel, Cobra, and Blak Rhyno. I was surprised by the quality of the new dancehall that had clearly been influenced by Hip-hop since the last time that I had heard.

Make sure you check out for these artists in the coming months, as I’m sure you will be hearing more from them as we approach the summer. Give thanks, and leave a comment to let me know what you think of these artists.You can always check out my radio show to hear the latest music that I am hyped on. Jah Guide