The Concerts…
Greetings Reggae massive,
I have a lot of cool things to tell you about as the summer concert season rolls closer. This is the busy time of year in the Reggae world and there are no less than 20 live performances in northern California this month including Collie Buddz, Capleton, Jr. Reid, Mad Professor and many more. This is the good life. For all my Californians you can keep up on all the up on all the upcoming shows at ireggae.com. In other concert news, Reggae Rising has finally began to populate their website and releasing their lineup which is already looking impressive with confirmed artists Gentleman, Queen Ifrika, Tony Rebel, Aswad, Marcia Griffiths and others. They have also made quite a statement by dropping their ticket price to just $99 for a limited time. This is a welcome financial relief to all of the dedicated Reggae fans who have been excluded from this celebration as the price been steadily increasing over the past few years and was almost $200 last year. Much respect to People’s Productions. Also make sure to check out their videos from last year.
On this site I have talked at length about the profound influence that Reggae has had on the world of Hip Hop and Pop in general but something that I have yet to talk about is Dub. Dub is the foundation of Reggae and has led its own journey through music being the basis for much of the electronic music that is produced today. Dub’s tempo was doubled which created Drum n Bass which lead way to House and Techno. You can learn all about it and its pioneers in the new feature film “Dub Echos,†which looks to be one of the coolest reggae documentaries of all time. Seriously, this is not to be missed. Check out the trailer below. If that isn’t enough Dub, Rhapsody’s newest channel “Dub Wise†programmed by your truly will soon be available for free on Rhapsody.com. I’m really excited about this and will definitely let you know as soon as it is available.Â
Last but not least let me put you up on a few tracks as always. First off let me flash you back with a rediscovery of one of Reggae’s many one hit wonders. Ever heard of VC? No I didn’t think so, but I bet you remember this cut from some party in the last decade. Track by the name of “By His Deeds.†I’m not sure what happened to you VC but you will never be forgotten because this is an anthem. Big Up. The next track on our always trusted YouTube playlist is a remix of Athea and Donna’s Dancehall classic “Uptown Top Rankin,†by our favorite Reggae crossover artist Estelle. This is a crazy track featured on Joni Rewind’s album. It’s great to see her sticking to her roots. We salute you.
Alborosie is at it again… At any given time there are at least 2 or 3 new Alborosie tracks floating around the digital world. Bredren, if you’re reading this, much respect but give us a chance to support you by releasing these tracks officially. We want to let you know how much we love you and want you to continue to produce and resurrect the original rub a dub style. And PLEASE COME ON TOUR TO THE U.S.!! My favorite new tracks that I featured below are Promise, Rainy Day, Always, and Angel. Got to keep up with this hard working Ras. I also included a couple riddims you’re bound to hear at the club this summer. We got Jah Cure and Cherine Anderson on the Indiscretions Riddim and Turbulence, Mykal Rose, new comer Mitch on the Collie Monster Riddim.
Enjoy and Jah Bless – One Lovell
