Brands News: Voice Mail skate on the "Fire Blade"

Jamaican pop-dancehall duo Voice Mail have officially been signed as Fire Blade Energy Drink Brand Ambassadors and will be representing the new beverage in Jamaica and overseas.

Fire Blade Energy Drink is fairly new on the local market but has already gotten great taste test reviews and general feedback since hitting the shelves earlier this year. The Austrian made product is marketed in Jamaica by Indies Pharma Jamaica and distributed by World Brand Services, a subsidiary of the Grace Kennedy Group of companies

As the Energy Drink’s Brand Ambassadors, Kevin and Craig will be involved in the company’s advertising campaign to be launched in a matter of days as well as making numerous public and performance appearances in Jamaica, the Caribbean and The United States.

The Duo sees this as proof that their effort and input in the Jamaican music industry has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

Voicemail has 'upped the ante' this Summer with numerous releases including ‘Gyal Instruction' featuring Skinny Fabulous on the Guacamole & Chips riddim and ‘Fat Pocket’ on the Goosebumps riddim, the Video for the latter has already hit number 1 on Hit List’s local top 10 video chart.

‘Fire Blade is a high energy product and Voicemail has the high energy image, it’s natural that the brands would be a great fit’ Craig mentioned when asked about the synergy. ‘We are grateful for the opportunity to work with a fresh new high energy brand because Voicemail is constantly evolving and we are a constant voice in the local industry.

Movie Review

This Is NOT A Dancehall Movie

One of the interesting and thought provoking entrants to this year's Reggae Film Festival set for August 1-5 at the Island Village in Ocho Rios, Jamaica is LOSING PARADISE & MUSIC, documentary film directed and produced by the multi-talented Jamaican-born singer, stage and screen actress, Claudja Barry.

Barry, who is greatly anticipation the showing of her documentary at the festival, says she'll also looking forward to joining the likes of leading female dub poetess, Cherry Natural and Reggae/Dancehall aficionado, Dr. Carolyn Cooper, in panel discussion of her creation, "Losing Paradise & Music".

According to Barry, "Losing Paradise & Music documents the negative impact Reggae/Dancehall music is having on society. However, Barry is of the view the language of Dancehall and the attitude of its performers send a negative voice to Jamaican youth and to the rest of the world.

Many of the persons appearing in the documentary echo a similar sentiment, and do feel Jamaica has become a culture of violence and that sending this message through its music, doesn’t help.

Barry, who is greatly anticipation the showing of her documentary at the festival, says she'll also looking forward to joining the likes of leading female dub poetess, Cherry Natural and Reggae/Dancehall aficionado, Dr. Carolyn Cooper, in panel discussion of her creation, "Losing Paradise & Music".

According to Barry, "Losing Paradise & Music documents the negative impact Reggae/Dancehall music is having on society. However, Barry is of the view the language of Dancehall and the attitude of its performers send a negative voice to Jamaican youth and to the rest of the world.

Many of the persons appearing in the documentary echo a similar sentiment, and do feel Jamaica has become a culture of violence and that sending this message through its music, doesn’t help.

Barry, who set out to hear the views of a wide group of Jamaicans on why Dancehall music has taken on such a dark image, admitted the documentary was a result of a personal quest to know if there were any redeeming qualities about Dancehall, which has taken on some sort of mystic persona by become the dominant sound emanating out of bowels of the Jamaica people over the past 20 odd years.

"I wanted to find out if Bob Marley's message of love, respect and caring were prominent in the music of today, which is dancehall, and if the current artistes are holding up the standards set by Marley and those of his era," says Barry, who interviewed psychologists, family life specialists, doctors and musicians for the project.

Losing Paradise & Music, which curiously zoomed in on dancehall's dark side, debuted on OMNI 1 TV in Canada earlier this year (February 17). And having chosen to look on the darker side of the music, one can't help but wanting to know whether Barry was about censorship.

"As an artiste, I don't believe in censoring others' creative output, but where I draw the line is when society fails to realize that without exposure to other forms of music, some people limit themselves emotionally, which will limit how the whole person develops," says Barry, a Jamaica who grew up in Canada.

According to Barry, she understands there are a generation of listeners who have heard only dancehall reggae and obviously enjoy that form of music.

I'm in no way trying to change anyone's preference, but, there should be music appreciation in schools, so that from an early age all children would have knowledge of all types of music," says Barry, who studied acting at the world-famous Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City, then studied voice in Berlin and Vienna. She has also recorded several albums and appeared in the 1985 movie, Rappin', and was inducted into the Canadian Black Music Hall of Fame in 2003.

Still Black As Cole....and better than ever

Anyone still questioning the future and potential of our indigenous reggae idiom [it means you haven't closely followed this blog :-) ] ought to have found themselves at the North (?) lawn of Devon House on Saturday. On that occasion, not only did female-led sextet Black As Cole reaffirm their status as the pre-eminent new reggae outfit in the land, but there was an added treat.

As the summer afternoon sun warmed up to critical mass (a strong hint of rain), the growing and enthusiastic crowd were treated to a similarly robust showing from

all-woman band Jewelz

an all-female outfit, dubbed Jewelz. Their repertoire on the day was, to my ears, limited to covers, but they were well executed, and spanned the gamut from Bob Marley and Lauren Hill to Chronixx.

That then set the stage for Black As Cole frontwoman Cecile, pleasantly reminiscent of the DapKings leader Sharon Jones and, if anything, even more soulful.With the supporting cast throwing down some irresistible grooves (especially bass player and partner Craig Cole who dished up bass lines that were both thick as mud and yet refined as glass), they took the crowd throu

Black As Cole band from Wellness fest 2012

gh a diverse collection of tunes, from the funky "Lovesick" to the mid-tempo "Maybe" and the socially conscious "Woman". Live music from both groups that well and truly lives up to the tag. A musical prescription that delivered wellness.

The performance was among several features of this year's renewal of the Reve Wellness festival, presented by jewellry and accessories designers Reve jewellery (Teasea and Duane Bennett. A wide range of quality and innovative art and craft items was also available

WHEN IS A TRIBUTE NOT A TRIBUTE….?

It all sounded so great at first and one could almost imagine oneself as a fly on the wall when the Bob Marley Tribute at the 2013 Grammy Awards was being posited and discussed. After all, the first and last (?) Marley sons respectively Ziggy and Damian along with Sting, Bruno Mars and – to top it all off (pardon the pun, if you saw her performance)  - reigning West Indian pop queen Rihanna. Other than reincarnating the Gong himself, what could be better?

But, with the benefit of several viewings of the vaunted telecast, one of several that increasingly give a sense of heft to an otherwise breathy and even featherweight  Grammy programme, a different sentiment begins to bubble up, if you will.

A number of things were re-confirmed for me in watching the Tribute, and in perfect timing so as to follow-up my last column on the roots reggae revival currently being touted on Jamaican shores (as an aside by the time you read this, both Protoje and Freddie McGregor will have hosted listening parties for new CDs in Kingston). Firstly, US audiences, whether white black or in between (but largely white) still love reggae music, and still associate it primarily with Bob Marley and his various progeny.

Take a look at the vibe inside the Grammy Hall on the appearance of first Ziggy then Damian on Sunday night – the audience was clearly electrified in a way that is not evident in any of the other artistes, not even Rihanna, who mauled the opening lines of “Could You Be Loved” . Seeing that, I’m reminded that though literal xhart success escaped him in his lifetime, Bo Marley built a global following almost solely on the appeal of the message and the music. Granted, times were different, but the overall principle remains the same: a connection was made in the 70s and that connection remains largely intact.

Which brings up the next point – the record industry, despite the verbiage about the Internet, iTunes, YouTube and other non-physical phenomena, remains very much a physical commodity, a commodity whose distribution is still controlled by a power structure, ie, the record companies. Just as the studio system still has its hand firmly on the release volume of major league films into American cinemas, the “record-breakers” the Clive Davises and Lyor Cohens of this world, still have their reactionary hands on the emergence of bona fide stars in the US market, whatever form that market takes.

The final point, and I’m open to anyone challenging me on this is this: whilst the individuals named, and others may not be racist in their own views and dealings, the power structure which birthed and nurtured them and which they naturally uphold, has NO room for another Jamaican music superstar on the order of a Bob Marley – especially if said superstar is black – in that US market. Yes, ther will be occasional big sellers and yes, black Jamaican artistes will have the opportunity to tour the US (the current visa scandal nothwithstanding, but that’s another column) and even to do the late night talk show circuit, as Beres Hammond recently did.

But, looking at Bruno Mars carry what was meant to be a tribute to the Jamaican King of Reggae, with his actual scions made subservient to a relative (if moderately talented) upstart, one really has to decipher the code and this – the next pop mega star may be black (we already had MJ and Prince) or just maybe he/she might be Caribbean (we’ll allow Rihanna for now – she’s malleable) but make no mistake: he will NOT be both.

Let’s see what happens next year.

Celebs as DJs and DJs as Celebs

“This is a journey…..into sound”

It’s a journey that takes us through London and other cosmopolitan centres to Witness the ongoing exploits of Usain Bolt, who has manned the turntables for his sponsors Puma and Hublot, among others. Former NBA great Dennis Rodman has also been trying his hand at the trade, joining other tabloid fodder such as Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan for typically over-hyped celeb DJ gigs. As the overall profile of our athletes increases, so too will these types of gigs, as their Euro and US sponsors seek to cash in on the exploding electronic dance music (EDM) trend.

The quote above should be more than familiar to EDM fans. The lyric is a sample from a hip-hop classic, “I Know I Got Soul” by the legendary duo, Eric B & Rakim, but its relevance to our discussion springs from its further use in the dance classic, “Pump Up The Volume” (1987) by British group M.A.R.R.S.

The DJ, or turntablist to distinguish from our dancehall toasters, has completed a remarkable ascendancy over the last decade. No longer relegated to “wheel-spinning” obscurity in the back-end of the club or content to merely propel dancing hordes, DJs are stars in their own right, bona fide celebrities who are prompting celebrities from other worlds – the sporting world in this particular instance – to become DJs.

But let’s leave that world for a moment, and return to the Jamaican setting.  This part of our journey runs through radio and one station and DJ in particular. Capital Stereo, which in the early 80s, morphed into FAME-FM boasted a Saturday night dance music marathon, initially known as “Discomania” with Holford “Hol” Plummer at the controls.

Its  this trail-blazing stint that’s cited by DJ Alrick, of the duo Alrick & Boyd, as his earliest influence. Boyd, who had studied in New York City, had been weaned on the then burgeoning hip-hop movement. The connected on the latter’s return to Jamaica (By which time LArick had already logged significant musical mileage with several nightclubs, courtesy of DJ Andrew Henry) and before long, they were making their musical presence felt at several venues. Radio, as it turns out, would provide something of a base for the two as they got the opportunity to work on the aforementioned FAME –on the midnight to 5 a.m. “graveyard shift”.  By dint of an uncompromising devotion to “pure” dance music (as opposed to the US Top40-driven pap that was dominant on the airwaves, the two built a solid following.

The also built a number of links with overseas DJs, most notably Jamaican-born, German-based Rix Rax, who, on his frequent trips home, heard the shows and formed an alliance with the pair that remains to this day. ALrick & Boyd are. Like many dance DJs (if not all), intensely and actively focused on production, as they seek to join the David Guettas and Diplos of this world.

Radio was pivotal in the development of another Jamaican duo, but of more recent vintage. Dean “DJ Breach” and Shane “Firestarter” together comprise The Housing Project, an unabashedly forward-looking house/trance (and almost all in between) outfit that also recalls its antecedents. “My first introduction really came via the radio” Shane shares, “the kind stuff that was being aired on a Saturday morning through the afternoon.”

Radio may have lit the spark, but this “house” was built via the Internet. Through Breach’s regular livestreams (a pioneering move for the Jamaican market) and with subsidiary coverage via blogs, a following of reasonable size and unreasonable loyalty was built which ultimately led to the next transition. Music impresario Steve Wilson heard the duo’s work and decided to add them to this growing “Brand New Machine” party series at the Fiction nightclub, a gig the pair still holds down every Wednesday night.

The two duos are part of a growing contingent of dance spinners. Pieter Barrow has been putting in regular appearances at Red Bones The blues Café under the sub-moniker Deep Cover; DJ Archie is also an integral part of the scene’s early development and others are rapidly emerging.

Its only a matter of time therefore, before Jamaican turntablists and dance music specialists command the kind of global cachet enjoyed by the big Euro and American names, not to mention our sporting “legends”. Bolt may be triple-gold, but when it comes to the wheels of steel, even he has  lots more ground to cover.

Our journey will continue again soon.