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DA FUCHAMAN
DA FUCHAMAN & THE FIRE BLAZE BAND
Zemroy Thomas (13th September 1980), better known by his stage name Da Fuchaman is a Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter and member of the Rastafari movement.
Da Fuchaman grew up in rural Middle Buxton on the north coast of St Ann Jamaica. His family is from a deeply religious background, so it was no surprise that he started singing in churches and school. Although Da Fuchaman doesn’t view himself as religious, he has deep rooted beliefs in spirituality which is evident in his music.
As a teenager Da Fuchaman was singing in local sound systems and entering competitions, where he began to gain credibility in the local community of Middle Buxton and surrounding areas. His main influences were the likes of Bob Marley, Buju Banton, Capleton, Sizzla, Anthony B, Bounty Killa and Beenie Man but to name a few.
Da Fuchaman migrated to the UK in the summer of 2002 and it didn’t take long before he started getting integrated into the UK music scene. Da Fuchaman initially began working with renowned DJ Gee and started performing with David Zowie, Edixion, Roadz and Grammy nominated Tippa Irie.
In 2016 he formed his live band now known as Da Fuchaman and his Fire Blaze Band which has taken him to new heights. Da Fuchaman and his ten piece collective have been taking the UK festival scene by storm even performing at more than 20 festivals during the summer of 2022 including Boomtown Fair, Secret Garden Party, Camper Calling, Kendal Calling, Greenman, Moovin Festival, Cider Rum and Reggae, and many others.
One of his biggest music achievements was winning the Best Reggae Artist in the South West in 2018. This was a significant moment for Da Fuchaman as it was a good recognition for his music, and it was the same year his single “So Much Love” topped the itunes chart.
Da Fuchaman is known as one of the most hardworking artist in the business amassing 8 studio albums, 8 EPs and multiple singles. He has collaborated with some well renowned artists such as Anthony B, Turbulence The Future, Lutan Fyah, Perfect Giddimani and Queen Omega to name a few and his latest album titled ‘Buxton Boy’ was released in July 2022.
Da Fuchaman is known for his high energy stage performances throughout the UK and Europe and prides himself on spreading love and positive vibrations to the massive everywhere he goes. In summary, if you too are a sucker for love and positivity whether you are a reggae fan or not then you don’t need look much further than Da Fuchaman and his Fire Blaze Band as this is guaranteed.
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NEWS BIO PHOTOS VIDEOS RELEASES MUSIC DATES 
“Be strong,” sang Buju Banton the last time he set foot onstage before a live audience. “Hold a firm meditation. One day things must get better.”
The date was January 16, 2011. The occasion was a concert in Miami’s Bayfront Park called ‘Before the Dawn.’ After eleven months in captivity, the legendary reggae artist had been granted the opportunity to perform for one night to help fund his legal defense against an extremely problematic case which had already resulted in one mistrial and allegations of juror misconduct.
Buju was joined by a star-studded lineup of fellow musicians and staunch supporters, from DJ Khaled and Sean Paul to Stephen “Ragga” Marley and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley—to name a few. Buju opened his emotional set with “Close One Yesterday,” a song about surviving against all odds. “Don’t you go down,” he sang. “Keep your head above the water. One day things must get better.” His final selection of the night was a prayerful rendition of “Psalms 23” alongside Gramps Morgan: “Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me / And in Jah’s house forevermore my dwelling place must be.”
A few weeks later, Buju’s album ‘Before the Dawn’ won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album—the artist’s first win after four previous nominations. But it would prove to be a bittersweet victory. As his fans are well aware, Buju Banton has been incarcerated ever since that 2011 show in Miami. His voice, however, could not be silenced.
Selections from the artist’s 25-year-deep catalog—including classic albums like Mr. Mention and Til Shiloh and Inna Heights—have stayed in heavy rotation throughout Buju’s time away. Yet his physical presence has been sorely missed. During the past nine years the music that Buju represented on stages all over the world has become even more influential on global pop music, as international pop stars have sought inspiration from Jamaican sounds and styles. Yet while dancehall reggae rhythms have spread far and wide, the spiritual and social consciousness that inspired Buju to become a voice for the voiceless has lagged behind or fallen by the wayside.
The artist whom A$AP Rocky called his “favorite reggae rapper” will finally experience his first taste of freedom on December 8th. Visitors report that Buju is in good spirits, keeping physically and mentally fit and looking forward to returning to the stage and the studio. Anticipation for his return is building as the official music industry publication Billboard recently reporting that “Buju Banton’s Long-Awaited Return is Near.”
“Give a shout out to the fans for me,” Buju told the U.S-based media outlet Boomshots. “Tell them I send my love and I tell them: Do not be distracted by all the things that are taking place around them because it is designed to throw them off kilter and plunge people into a state of darkness… The people are suffering. Sadness and gloom is prevailing. It’s widespread. But be patient. Because suffering may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Buju Banton came into the game like a champion. His voice was a lionesque roar that instantly electrified listeners, sounding impossibly powerful coming from a youth with such a skinny frame.
He was born Mark Myrie, the youngest of 15 children living in the poorest house on Salt Lane, a desolate stretch of road in the slums of Western Kingston. Though financially “downpressed,” the Myrie family were proud descendants of the Maroons, African warriors who escaped slavery and fought for their freedom, establishing their own promised land in the mountainous areas of Jamaica. His father, an aspiring singer, provided for his family through manual labor while his mother sold fresh produce in nearby Coronation Market. It was she who gave him the affectionate nickname “Buju” which means breadfruit, a staple food in many Caribbean households.
Even after Buju managed to elevate himself to become an internationally renowned recording artist, Buju never forgot the poverty of his childhood years. He has used his music to serve as a voice for the voiceless, and he recently established the Lend a Hand Foundation to make a difference in the lives of at-risk children, both in Jamaica and all around the world.
“I wouldn’t say I was a nice boy,” Buju says, reflecting on his childhood. “I was a little bit troulblesome.” Most of all he loved to go to the dancehall. “My love develop by hearing other acts, such as Flourgon, Daddy Lizard, Burro Banton, Nicodemus, Jim Kelly, Early B, just to name a few,” he recalls. “The inspiration start because they used to run the business, and I was just a youth. To hear the style and what they was really puttin’ out inspired Buju Banton—alongside almighty Father God.”
As he entered his teen years, Buju would occasionally get the chance to hold the microphone around local sound systems—mobile DJ sets which were popular throughout Jamaica, and eventually spread to America, giving birth to hip hop culture. Buju cut his first record “The Ruler” at the age of 14 for producer Robert Ffrench. A few years later he recorded his breakout hit “Stamina Daddy” for Winston Riley’s Techniques label. By the age of 19 the prolific recording artist had broken a Jamaican record for the most #1 singles in one year—a mark set by none other than Bob Marley, the King of Reggae.
The Banton—a term of respect within dancehall culture—was just getting started.
The sound of Buju’s breakthrough 1992 album Mr. Mention was primarily dancehall style—hard-edged digital rhythms programmed by production mastermind Dave Kelly for Donovan Germaine’s Penthouse Records. As one of those rare artists whose work defined the cutting edge of his chosen genre, Buju set trends with each new release. His music was already internationally known when he signed a recording contract with Mercury Records in New York City and released his major label debut, Voice of Jamaica in 1993.
Ever true to his roots, Buju presented the best his island had to offer: production by the Penthouse posse as well as Sly Dunbar, Bobby Digital, and Mikey Bennett, vocals by Beres Hammond, Wayne Wonder, Tony Rebel and Terry Ganzie. The only “crossover move” on the album was a track called “Wicked Act,” a reggae-boom bap mashup featuring a young Busta Rhymes tapping into his own Jamaican roots. Buju would also collaborate with the American rap star Heavy D during the early ’90s but the Banton never strayed, always compelling the foreign artists he worked with to adapt to his style rather than the other way around.
In 1994 the Jamaican music community was shaken by a series of tragedies. Rising dancehall stars Panhead and Dirtsman both fell victim to gun violence, cutting short two promising careers just as they were taking off. Soon thereafter a powerful roots singer named Garnet Silk lost his life in a tragic and suspicious house fire while trying to save his mother from the blaze. Buju expressed the sadness and discontent with a song called “Murderer” which literally changed the course of dancehall music as we know it. The song offered a critique of the “gun lyrics” that had once held sway, appealing to a sense of decency and respect for human life. Recorded over a Penthouse version of the classic “Far East” rhythm, the song would become an anthem—inspiring multiple “answer” songs by other artists and shifting the cultural mood almost overnight. Buju had become more than a superstar, he was now becoming a leader.
It is strange this feeling I’m feeling
But Jah love we will always believe in
Though you may think my faith is in vain
Til Shiloh we chant Rastafari name
The opening lines from Buju’s 1995 album Til Shiloh marked the dawning of a new era in music. Universal songs like “Untold Stories,” “Not An Easy Road” and “Till I’m Laid To Rest” revealed a whole new dimension to the artist’s talent, as he expanded his sound beyond the barriers of genre. “I see this as a total compilation of my concept of the music and how I feel about this music in depth,” Buju said at the time. “This whole thing is reggae, you know, despite whatever fusion. Too much fusion bring about too much confusion and everyone want to carry the music into a different channel. Hence people will either determine that this is dancehall or reggae or calypso or whatever. But as far as I am concern, this is reggae music. Don’t abuse it.”
Aside from musicological debates, the substance of Buju’s message had evolved as his knowledge increased through the passage of time. “What happen bascially is Jah have to be praised,” Buju explained shortly after Til Shiloh’s release. “Everywhere in the township in the churches in the rural parts—everywhere, And we are the soldiers and he called upon the youths because we are strong. Right now we have to clean up this business thoroughly!”
On one haunting song called “Complaint,” Buju collaborated with the late-great Garnet Silk aka “The Archangel,” chanting lyrics that still bring goosebumps to the listener: “Let Jah rise and the heathen scatter / Got to give thanks and praises no matter / Even though the flame is getting hotter and hotter / Everybody should know and don’t believe inna rumor.” Those words would prove prophetic in years to come.
In years to come, Buju Banton would elevate his stature within the world music community, collaborating with American rap stars like Fat Joe as well as the rock band Rancid, not to mention his close working relationship with the Marley family. He toured the world, spreading consciousness-raising music to the four corners of the earth. He also built up his own studio on Red Hills Road in Kingston Jamaica, establishing his own Gargamel Music imprint to release his own work and give aspiring youths a chance to be heard. He continued releasing timeless albums like Inna Heights, Unchained Spirit, and Friends for Life.
And then in December 2009 Buju was arrested at his home in Florida after getting entangled in a complex drug conspiracy which had been orchestrated by a paid government informant. The charges were completely out of character for an artist whose music had criticized drug use over the years, but after a mistrial, and a long court case marred by charges of juror misconduct, Buju elected to do his time and put the whole experience behind him. As he once stated on that record with Garnet Silk: “Don’t believe inna rumor.”
“There is a big void without Buju Banton in the music,” veteran reggae singer Cocoa Tea told Billboard. “He was always touring, always working. He started that work as a teenager, and he worked until he was decades into his career,” said Pat McKay, director of programming for reggae at Sirius XM. “In that time he built a world community fanbase. They still miss him and they still want to hear from him. His work still has value, it’s still quotable and the aspirations of that work will always ring true.”
It has been a long time coming, but the dawn Buju sang about in his Grammy-winning album is almost here. And just as the artist promised, “Joy cometh in the morning.”
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I
UK GARAGE MIX 2024
“Everyone kind of likes garage, right?” asks Zachary Bruce—aka Interplanetary Criminal, one of the leading lights of the UK garage renaissance, dubbed “NUKG.” The scene has been bubbling away in the underground for the last four years or so, and in 2022, Bruce broke into the mainstream with his instrumental for Eliza Rose’s colossal, sun-kissed chart-topper “B.O.T.A (Baddest Of Them All).”And his words ring true: There’s just something about the spinbacks, the subby bass, and the skippiness of UKG that has made a new generation of music fans giddy with ‘90s nostalgia.
“You look at that legendary Todd Edwards video where everyone is going mad for it,” Bruce continues. “I feel like that is what kids want when they go to the club. They wanna recreate those moments from back in the day. It’s so weird to think that the sound’s got a number one, but also it gives me a lot of hope for all of these artists that I’m surrounded by.”
Curated by Bruce, All Thru the Night is a new 16-track compilation from iconic UK label Locked On Records (famously home to The Streets) that showcases some of those artists in songs bursting with new takes on the old-school UK garage sound. It caters to present-day club tastes while also respecting the genre’s originators. It also marks the 25th anniversary of Locked On’s first-ever compilation by garage pioneer Todd Edwards.
UK garage first emerged in the mid-‘90s, taking its cue from the soulful garage house records coming out of the U.S. that had made their way over to the UK toward the end of the previous decade. When British producers began putting a distinctly UK spin on these sounds—melding rave, R&B, and Jamaican soundsystem culture—garage was born.
UKG eventually splintered off into the jungle-influenced basslines and four-on-the-floor warped ‘n’ wobbliness of speed garage (also known as “plus eight”) and jittery 2-step (which changed the time signature from 4/4 to 2/4) and by the turn of the millennium, had become a chart-dominating commercial phenomenon, as documented by DJ EZ’s top-selling run of Pure Garage CD compilations. It also paved the way for other Black UK genres like grime and drill, which have been popping up in garage 2.0 productions along with a host of other styles.
All Thru the Night has its origins in a Facebook group called Shuffle ‘n’ Swing, a hub for garage producers, label owners, and artists, and spans the full spectrum of garage moods, loaded with heavyweight steppas, slammers, and heaters, but uplifted by sequined glimmers of handbag house (“Why”); trancey, breathy Eurodance (“Don’t Hurt Me”); and a glittering array of nostalgia-sparking, half-remembered samples.
“Reckless,” Bruce’s standout collaboration with Todd Edwards, toasts the champagne-soaked UKG golden age with a cheeky anthem-ready hook guaranteed to live rent-free in your head (“If I get too drunk on ice, I’ll have no regrets in the morning,” goes the hook). Meanwhile, the dark, rolling percussion of “On Em” by Holloway opens the book on a grimier, brooding underground chapter—a reminder of the genre’s jungle connection.
“Locked On reached out, and they kind of were like, ‘Look, the last compilation we did was 20 years ago and there’s a revival in garage at the moment, and it feels like the perfect time to shine a light on these new artists,’” explains Bruce. “The idea of the compilation was to shine a light on the underground and the people for whom garage never went away.”
Why does Bruce think garage is resonating again so deeply with a new generation? “A bunch of people who didn’t go out for two years over lockdown have now grown up, and they’re seeing these club nights online, and it’s totally amazing, really. It’s a really sick thing for DJs and artists right now; it feels very accessible to do what you love.”
Here are eight contemporary artists pushing the ‘90s garage sound forward.
You can’t talk about the garage renaissance without mentioning one of its primary architects, “Prince of Garage” Conducta; hotshot producer and head honcho of tastemaking garage label Kiwi Rekords. In 2019, Conducta heralded the second coming of garage with The Kiwi Manifesto—a serotonin-boosting joyride through rubbery bass, rave stabs, dub sirens, and sugary chopped vocals with major players like Sharda, Sammy Virji, and Jack Junior taking turns at the wheel. He followed it up with the equally energizing mixtape Kiwi Crush, and in 2019 sounded the alarm for a garage-grime union with his own 2-step smash-hit “Ladbroke Grove”, a collaboration with big-league British rapper AJ Tracey, which cracked the UK top five. The Kiwi sound is covered with the fingerprints of rave, grime, bassline, and other UK-originating styles and mixtapes like 2022’s The Kiwi Express amplify the boldest new voices in garage, from MC Breeza to Copenhagen-born producer Main Phase.
Swami SoundNew York, New YorkFOLLOW
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New York City was once the epicenter of U.S. garage house, the soulful dance strain that formed the backbone of UK garage. Nowadays, the city is brewing a caffeinated new blend of garage. Since 2018, Bronx-born DJ and producer Marcus Harley, aka Swami Sound, has been turning heads with his self-styled “NYC garage,” giving the old-school garage sound a fresh coat of paint with his drill, R&B, deep house, drum & bass, and Latin rhythm–spliced fusions. He teamed up with Portuguese batida alchemist DJ Danifox in 2020 and in 2022, synthesized original Spanish-language pop, Frank Ocean, and a pitched-up Solange with 2-step and warm currents of sub-bass for the inventive sound of his mixtapes NYC Garage Vol.1 and Vol. 2.
Sage IntrospektLos Angeles, CaliforniaFOLLOW
Raw Dubz Vol. 2 Sage IntrospektBUYGO TO ALBUM
Another new garage devotee sending a postcard from across the pond is L.A.-based DJ and producer Sage Introspekt, who conducts her business faithfully on a spectrum of 128-175 BPM. The self-described “garage and bass head” deals out turbo-charged speed garage highs propelled by junglist basslines and infused with the essence of forefathers like U.S. legends Todd Edwardsand Armand van Helden. “Take Me,” the opening track from her 2022 EP Raw Dubz Vol. 2, samples Sax (aka Todd Terry)’s late ‘80s house anthem “Give Yourself to Me,” while the recently released Face Down EP summons a moody smoked-out vibe, dipping into dubstep, but with a red-hot touch of Miami bass.
Ell MurphyLondon, UKFOLLOW
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“Singing selector” Ell Murphy is one of the busiest and brightest sparks in UK dance music, pouring her undiluted love of garage into her DJ sets, radio shows, collaborations, and top-class vocal tracks which spin her sugar-coated voice into sweet candyfloss rollers—like 2022’s honeyed “Fantasy” for Y U QT. Throwback 2-step and touches of vocal garage pepper her DJ selections, like her recent mix for Rinse FM’s Garage Hour. In 2021, she stepped out with her debut solo release for Shall Not Fade sub-label Time Is Now. Time Is Now White Vol.4 is a five-track, breaks-filled EP containing collaborations with five UKG producers: DJ Crisps, Stones Taro, Highrise, Picasso, and Tuff Trax. She is also the singing half of bubbly duo NITEWORK (formed with producer Medlar in 2019), who delivered their second helping of bouncy NUKG via theBelieve EP for Jucey Tunes. On her contribution to the All Thru the Nightcompilation, she links up with Coco Bryce for a sweet ode to friendship, “O.B.F.C.”
AnzManchester, UKFOLLOW
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The versatile, genre-mashing DJ and producer known as Anz was born in London but resides in Manchester—the rainy northern UK city that was once a breeding ground for smiley acid house. Her eclectic palette runs the gamut of bass-friendly club styles and she has been pushing the UK underground dance music scene forward since the release of her self-titled debut EP in 2017, which toggles between instrumental grime and steelpan-laced UK funky. She upped her game on 2019’s high-octane club-ready follow-up Invitation 2 Dance and, although she’s certainly no garage purist, has come to be associated with the new wave of garage producers. In 2021, she joined the Ninja Tune roster for her critically acclaimed EP All Hours, which freewheels through UKG, Baltimore club, electro, and more.
ShardaManchester, UKFOLLOW
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Sharda’s knockout productions unite the frothiest bits of UK club music for a high-energy history lesson that’s part bassline, part hardcore, part UKG and impossible not to love. The Mancunian DJ and producer emerged in 2018 with his debut EP and gave the world one of the loopiest UK dance tunes this side of the new millennium via “Chin Up,” later linking up with Shanique Marie of Jamaican collective Equiknoxx for a summery vocal garage sizzler. He’s been enthusiastically waving the flag for garage too, and in 2019 appeared on Conducta’s Kiwi Rekords mixtape with the UKG-flavored “Peace & Love.” If you’re after a shot of pure, unfiltered, saucer-eyed joy, Sharda’s got you covered.
Laura AliceLondon, UKFOLLOW
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Co-signed by Conducta, London-based DIY garage producer, DJ, and vocalist Laura Alice is a fresh new face on the NUKG scene, a breaking talent who shared her first record in May 2021 and issues her own releases via her label LAM records. Her impeccable, expertly crafted, radio-friendly tunes almost belie her newcomer status as she swiftly veers from 2-step to swinging 4×4 with the ease of a pro. Unsurprisingly, she’s been a regular presence on one-to-watch lists, and her tracks have been snapped up by the likes of tastemaking garage label Steppers Club (who released “Can’t Believe”) in February 2022 and Southampton’s Garage Shared (who issued “A Million Words” in June 2022).
GARAGE MIX 2022
In the United Kingdom, where jungle was very popular at the time, garage was played in a second room at jungle events. After jungle's peak in cultural significance, it had turned towards a harsher, more techstep influenced sound, driving away dancers, predominantly women. Escaping the 170bpm jungle basslines, the garage rooms had a much more sensual and soulful sound at 130bpm.[2]
DJs started to speed up garage tracks to make them more suitable for the jungle audience in the UK. The media started to call this tempo-altered type of garage music "speed garage", 4x4 and 2-step's predecessor. DJs would usually play dub versions (arrangements without vocals) of garage tracks, because pitch-shifting vocals could sometimes render the music unrecognizable (although sped up and time-stretched vocals were an important part of the early jungle sound, and later played a key role in speed garage). The absence of vocals left space in the music for MCs, who started rhyming to the records.
CHRONIXX
Chronixx has become one of the biggest names in reggae by doing things his own way. He releases music on his own imprint — Soul Circle Music, which he co-founded with two of his managers, London-based Pierre Bost and Kingston’s Brendon “Daddi Barnz” Sharpe — instead of working with a major label or an established independent. This approach has led him to some of the biggest festival stages in the world, including both Glastonbury and Coachella.
With much of the music industry scaling back during the pandemic, Chronixx’s extended period at home in Jamaica allowed him time to focus on another task: Signing the first artist other than himself to Soul Circle. Hector “Roots Percussionist” Lewis, the 31-year-old son of the late Jamaican reggae/gospel singer Barbara Jones, has played in Chronixx’s band, Zincfence Redemption, since 2013. His vibrant percussion playing and animated backing vocals, not to mention his energetic dance moves, add texture to the band’s sound, which is anchored in classic one-drop reggae grooves but incorporates contemporary influences into a more progressive blend. “I don’t think of it as signing my first artist,” explains Chronixx. “I think of it as if I have a car and someone needs a lift, I am going to give it to them.”
In a business that is so cold, so hard to navigate, I give thanks that I met Chronixx. He has always encouraged me, so I thought why wait to record?” Lewis says. “As I was finishing up the project, I knew I could go to Chronixx with it and he would listen to me on a deeper level than just as his band member. I told him, ‘I want you to help me bring the project to the world.’ It is a step I wanted to take, and I know he respects things that show that you are trying to better yourself.”
The son of dancehall singer Chronicle, known for such hits as 1995’s “My God,” Chronixx — born Jamar Rolando McNaughton in Spanish Town, about a 30-minute drive from Kingston — learned from his father how to hold a microphone and perform before an audience. As a high school student and aspiring producer, he reached out via Facebook to Jamaican sing-jay Protoje, 11 years his senior. The confident teenager told Protoje he wanted to work with him, and Protoje invited Chronixx to his house. “I always listen to people, because you never know who you are talking to, so he came over and started to play some songs; then casually, out of nowhere, he started to sing, and I said, ‘You are an artist, bro, not just a producer,’” Protoje told me in a 2018 interview. “He was singing songs like ‘Behind Curtain’ and ‘Warrior,’ which became his earliest hits… I was blown away from that very first day.” In the same interview, Protoje unequivocally stated: “Chronixx is the greatest musical talent I have ever had the opportunity to witness work, and I just hope people appreciate the gift to music that he is.”
Chronixx’s 2011 debut EP, Hooked on Chronixx, featured the dancehall-inflected singles “Behind Curtain,” and “Odd Ras,” the chant-down-Babylon fury of “Warrior” and the exquisite love song “Rain Music.” The EP demonstrated Chronixx’s versatility as a singer and a writer and brought him to the attention of music fans across Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean Diaspora. “Each of these songs did its own thing in its own little way,” Chronixx reflects. His listenership expanded with his late-2012 release Major Lazer Presents: Chronixx & Walshy Fire — Start a Fyah Mixtape, and around this time famed Island Records founder Chris Blackwell proclaimed him “reggae’s next big artist.”
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In 2014, Chronixx, then 21, issued his second EP, The Dread and TerribleProject, propelled by the contemporary Rasta reggae anthems “Here Comes Trouble” and “Captured Land.” His appealing blend of roots reggae’s substantial lyrics and dancehall’s rapid-fire rhymes generated stateside interest that exploded with his American television debut on The Tonight Show. Four days after their Fallon performance, Chronixx and Zincfence Redemption pulled a capacity crowd of 5,500 to New York City’s Central Park SummerStage, with Mick Jagger and his daughters in attendance. In July 2017, Chronixx released his debut album, the Grammy-nominated Chronology, whose wide-ranging styles — from the country and gospel underpinnings on the stirring “Legend” to the retro-soul flavored “Black is Beautiful” to the celestial dance influences on the empowering “I Can” — again showed his willingness to experiment and his increasing proficiency as a producer.
Expanding Soul Circle’s roster could be the next step in that evolution. When asked if he looks to any established label as a template, Chronixx chuckles: “I am not big into the music industry to even know. Soul Circle was set up because I was unsigned…. Chris Blackwell has told me inspirational stories about Island Records’ transition from jazz to reggae to hip hop, but Soul Circle is not like Island Records.” He sees his label as more of a family affair: “I have a younger brother, Universal, who is a producer. My wife [singer/songwriter/musician Kelissa McDonald] is an artist. And the talented group of bredren in Zincfence Redemption, if any of them want to make an album, that’s what Soul Circle is for — an initiative to uplift people who are within the circle already.”
Jamar Rolando McNaughton (born 10 October 1992),[1] popularly known as Chronixx, is a Jamaican reggaeartist. His stage name replaced the name "Little Chronicle" which he was given because of his father, the singer "Chronicle".[2][3] Chronixx and his music has been branded as a "Reggae Revival", alongside other reggae musicians including Alborosie, Dre Island, Jah Bouks, Jah9, Protoje, Kelissa, Jesse Royal, Keznamdi and Kabaka Pyramid. His lyrical content revolves around themes of anti-war, romantic declarations and resiliency.[4][
Chronixx Music Verified
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WORLD A REGGAE UNIFYING PEOPLE THROUGH REGGAE MUSIC & MORE
Vintage Saturdays:You will love this !
Prominent Jamaican Promoter Vows to Market Gambian music Worldwide
By: Bakary Ceesay
JAMAICAN music promoter, Stampede real name Boswell Garth Lammie has vowed to continue supporting and marketing Gambian Reggae dancehall artistes.
Stampede said he has helped several Gambian Reggae dancehall artists to get air play on international radio stations and collaborations with Jamaican artists.
He told The Voice Vibes that: “I am promoting Gambian artistes in Jamaica. Most of the Gambian Reggae dancehall artistes know about Stampede, I promote most of the African artists and I will continue doing so and having a good relationship with Gambian artists”
He urged Gambians to show more support to Gambian artistes as they are singing great songs people are enjoying it in Jamaica.
“I am very happy to see African Reggae danchall artiste artistes are making great move and I want to see more Gambian artistes making it big worldwide”
He explained that he got lots of Gambian artistes songs play on radio stations in Jamaica and wider world like Jizzle, A2, DaddyBostin and others.
He promised to visit Gambia soon to colloborate with Gambians Djs, artistes, Promoters and producers to put Gambian music in the limelight across the globe.
Whenever recording artistes want a buzz for their music in the streets, Boswell “Stampede” Lammie is the go-to man. For the past 18 years, his savvy style of promotion has reaped rewards for several entertainers.
Macka Diamond, I Wayne, Gyptian, Aidonia, RDX, Bascom X, Vybz Kartel, Mavado, Intence, Iwaata, Hot Frass, Skillibeng, I-Octane, Jahmiel and Romain Virgo are some of the artistes who have benefited from his aggressive marketing.
“It s important for any artiste to take their promotion to the streets because the street is the first place to let your name and song be known,” said Stampede. “The face of music promotion in the streets has definitely changed, but it has become a little more easy since the introduction of the Internet,” he told Jamaica Observer’s Splash.
From West Kingston, Stampede got into music as a producer. In 2002, he moved into street promotion, a popular platform since the early days of the Jamaican sound system over 60 years ago.
Stampede’s first client was dancehall artiste KC Jockey whose song Look Good Machine he promoted.
His current clients include artistes from the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Ugandan artiste Bobi Wine, who has performed on Rebel Salute twice, is one of them.
Stampede’s career as a producer started in the late 1980s. One of his earliest productions was Cool Down by Cutty Ranks.
“I started out producing songs in 1989 and my first hit was Cool Down by Cutty Ranks. I also produced songs for Papa San, the late Dirtsman, Nardo Ranks, and Mad Cobra among others,” he said.
He was instrumental in promoting hit songs Done Already (Macka Diamond), Can’t Satisfy Her (I Wayne), and S erious Times (Gyptian).
He wore the hat of producer for three years before taking a break from the music business. He returned in 2002 when he and two friends, Keeble and Ilabash, formed a company called Stampede Conglomerate. Under that banner, songs were produced for a number of artistes including Khristopher, Sizzla, King David, and Frisco Kid.
For Stampede, the strategy for breaking and staying in the music industry is tried and proven.
“My advice is to keep focused on your musical career, stay humble, and always try to meet persons and let them know about your music. The more persons you meet, the more they will know about you,” he said.
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Ding Dong (reggae musician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to navigationJump to searchDing Dong RaversBirth nameKemar Christopher Dwaine OtteyAlso known asDing DongBornKingston, JamaicaOriginNannyville, KingstonGenres
Occupation(s)Singer, Songwriter, DancerYears active2005 to presentLabelsRomeich EntertainmentWebsitewww.instagram.com/dingdongravers
www.facebook.com/dingdongraversja
Kemar Christopher "Ding Dong" Dwaine Ottey (born September 29, 1980) is a dancehall reggae artist and dancer. He was a dancer before becoming a Jamaican deejay (artiste) and dancehall reggae recording artist.[1][2] His most notable songs "Bad Man Forward / Bad Man Pull Up" (2005) "Fling" and "Genna Bounce" released in 2017 has assisted in his global appeal.[3] He founded the dancing syndicate Ravers Clavers..
we are featuring :
STAMPEDE STREET CHARTS
https://www.instagram.com › stampedechartSTAMPEDE TOP ARTISTE PROMOTER FROM JAMAICA..OWN STAMPEDE STREET CHART.. PROMOTE ARTISTE WORLDWIDE. SONGS PROMOTION ..WHATTAPPS 18764991756 ; 24 posts ; 10.8K ...
0:32STAMPEDE STREET CHARTS DANCEHALL / REGGAE CHART
GRIME THE DOCUMENTARY
A new music documentary exploring the early years and development of grime in the UK is now available to stream on iPlayer as part of BBC Four's Storyville series.
8 Bar: The Evolution of Grime features a number of pioneers credited with pushing the sound of East London to the world, including Skepta, Kano, Dizzee Rascal, Jammer, D Double E, Slimzee and DJ Target. Made up of rare archive footage and recent interviews, it charts how a DIY culture emerged on pirate radio stations and at basement raves, sowing the seeds for iconic singles, albums and fashion that would define Britain in the first decade of the 21st Century.
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CAPELTON IS IN THE UK AFTER 13 YEARS
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11/29/2023 by Press Release
City Splash Festival returns to London's Brockwell park on May 27, 2024 to once again celebrate the impact of Caribbean and African culture in the UK and beyond. This year's line-up is another massive one with the likes of Capleton, Beenie Man, Shenseea, Busy Signal, Anthony B, Black Sherif, Ding Dong, Libianca, Lojay, Queen Omega, Busy Signal, WSTRN and many more all playing with further waves of names to come.
The much loved cultural gathering creates a space for the community to unite, connect and create history. City Splash, The Home of Culture, are renowned and authentic purveyors and advocates for Black music, food, dance and style that has made it one of the UK's most essential festival experiences.
It is a lush rolling green space with ornamental ponds, formal flower beds and a wall garden, lakes and plenty of sloping grounds to explore and relax in. The one day escapist haven is a superbly curated mix of authentic Caribbean and African culture with 45+ Black-owned food traders delivered in partnership with Black Eats LDN, plenty of authentic rum, and a creatives market as well as a wealth of engaging talks, panels and workshops by charity partners.
The first wave of headliners is another epic one with legendary Grammy nominated Jamaican reggae and dancehall musician Capleton. He will be joined by the one and only long-time reggae hit maker and magician of stage presence Beenie Man, dancehall superstar Shenseea and fellow Jamaican dancehall reggae star Busy Signal known for recent hits like Lady In Red. Also announced is Billboard Award nominee and Cameroonian-American singer Libianca, pioneering dub sound system crew Channel One, dancehall dons Iration Steppas, and renowned UK sound system Rampage Sound.
World Bash UK EDITION 2024
World Bash UK
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World Bash comes to the UK poised to showcase the "biggest and baddest sound systems" in the world. A supercharged sound system stage show, and a star-studded line-up of some of the most significant players in the sound system industry.
World Bash is a celebration of sound culture, with a mix of classic anthems and good music, it's a show for dubplate lovers and champagne spillers alike
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O2 Academy Birmingham 16 - 18 Horsefairs
Birmingham, B1 1DB + Google Map
📣WORLD BASH📣 –
THE UK’S FIRST SOUND SYSTEM CONCERT WHERE 🔥LEGENDS MEET RIVALS🔥
CHERRY V . BOB MARLY ONE DROP . Remix
DANCEHALL
DANCEHALL IN WOLVERHAMPTON & WEST MIDLANDS
Dancehall is ultimately a celebration of the disenfranchised selves in postcolonial Jamaica that occupy and creatively sustain that space. Structured by the urban, a space that is limited, limiting, and marginal yet central to communal, even national, identity, dancehall's identity is as contradictory and competitive as it is sacred. Some of Jamaica's significant memories of itself are inscribed in the dancehall space, and therefore dancehall can be seen as a site of collective memory that functions as ritualized memorializing, a memory bank of the old, new, and dynamic bodily movements, spaces, performers, and performance aesthetics of the New World and Jamaica in particular.[38]
TWICE AS NICE
TWICE AS NICE DJ EZ FT Mc CREED 1/3/1998
CLUBBING
Alister MorganSaturday 26 April 1997 00:02 BSTComments
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Twice as Nice at The Colosseum, 1 Nine Elms Lane, Vauxhall, London SW8 (0171-272 4185). 8pm-3am, pounds 4 before 10pm/pounds 8 after. Sunday
If London is the city that never sleeps, then Twice as Nice has to accept some of the blame. The capital's premier Sunday night has been pulsating south of the river since last September. The clubber's Sabbath is often a buffer day between the previous night's indiscretion and your 9-to-5 on Monday morning, but, hey, you can catch up on sleep when you're old.
Skyline Radio Wolverhampton
Skyline radio station celebrates 20 years of service to the people of wolverhampton and surrounding areas.
THE REGGAE MOVIE
THE REGGAE MOVIE
The Jamaican immigrant producer and entrepreneur, who is being honoured with a blue plaque this week, laid the foundations for a vibrant British reggae scene
Charis McGowanWed 26 Jul 2023 07.00 BST
Acouple of years after he arrived at Tilbury docks on the SS Manistee in 1958, Jamaican carpenter Sonny Roberts took the keys to a dusty, neglected basement at 108 Cambridge Road in Kilburn, London. Roughly 30 metres square and strewn with litter and discarded clothes, Roberts opened his trusty wooden toolbox, which he’d brought from Jamaica, and started to transform the space into Planetone, the UK’s first Black-owned music studio.
From 1961 to 1965, West Indian musicians flocked to the studio – visitors included iconic reggae trombonist Rico Rodriguez MBE, who went on to record with the Specials and Toots and the Maytals, chart-topping soul singer Jackie Edwards, Millie Small of ska-smash My Boy Lollipop fame, and rocksteady group the Marvels. The site is being honoured with a blue plaque today from the Nubian Jak Community Trust, an organisation that memorialises significant Black and minority ethnic people in the UK.
Musicians would play shoulder-to-shoulder in a cramped recording dock, while the tall, charismatic Roberts stood in the production box, towering over his mixer and recording-cutting machine. There was also a space with a kitchenette, some benches, and a single bed that was frequented by friends stopping by to listen and hang out (or as their Caribbean slang would have it, lime).
“When the musicians heard about 108 Cambridge Road, there was an influx,” says his wife Monica Roberts, who met Sonny in the studio while chaperoning her adolescent pianist niece, Ornell Welsh, for recording sessions. Sonny Roberts always made sure guests were warm and well fed. “Sonny would cook up lamb soup, or stewed pork, and give them a little something. Some of them didn’t have a job, y’know? Wages were small,” Monica recalls.
Monica and Sonny struck up a romance over ska and R&B grooves in the Planetone basement. They were married for 52 years, moving back to Jamaica in 1997, where they lived together until Sonny died in 2021. She says her husband and his studio were deeply valued by the community: “Sonny never turned anyone away. Even if they weren’t recording, they’d come sit and listen. It was like a home, a refuge.”
Planetone stood out as a safe space for Black musicians during a time of intense racial discrimination towards the newly arrived Windrush generation, who had predominantly settled in London’s north west. The studio was established in the backdrop of the Notting Hill race riots, and located less than a mile away from the racially aggravated 1959 murder of Antiguan man Kelso Cochrane.
Forced to navigate a hostile and segregated London, West Indians found solace in hand-built sound systems: mobile discos built from a vinyl player souped up to large speaker boxes. The sound systems were Roberts’ inroads into the music business: a skilled furniture maker and joiner, he crafted loudspeakers, eventually building his own sound system, Lavender. Named after his favourite wood polish, he’d bring Lavender to parties, seeing the opportunity in West Indians’ ever-growing demand for ska, reggae, mento and calypso sounds from home.
“There’s no clubs to go to. They’re having to create that scene and build that community,” says Mykaell Riley, director of the Black Music Research Unit at the University of Westminster. “Sonny had that entrepreneurial spirit that the Windrush generation arrived with: we’re going to do it, in spite of the challenges.”
Roberts rented the basement from Indian-Jamaican landlord Lee Gopthal, who lived in the upstairs. In 1963, Roberts told his friend Chris Blackwell,who he met through a furniture commission, about a ground-floor office available at 108 Cambridge Road that could suit Blackwell’s fledgling Island Records operation. Island Records moved on to the site, and Gopthal founded a music distribution company Beat & Commercial. West Indian music was the lifeblood of the building, rhythmically pulsating through each floor of the bustling three-storey house.
It was quite intimate!” says David Betteridge, who was Island Records’ managing director at the time. He remembers Roberts would pass by his office to get to his studio, which he recalls as a “pretty basic, four-track recording space with egg boxes on the ceiling to baffle the sound”. Attesting to the skill of Roberts’ carpentry knowhow, Betteridge does not recall hearing the muffled sounds of the brass and bongos played below. “I never had to say: Sonny, would you please shut up!” he laughs.
With an infant child and another baby on the way, Roberts closed the studio in 1965 to focus on the more lucrative carpentry gigs. The booming Island Records took over the former Planetone space, and by the late 60s, Gopthal and Blackwell teamed up to establish Trojan Records, spawning an era of chart-topping reggae, ska and rocksteady hits including Ken Boothe’s UK No 1 single Everything I Own, Dandy Livingstone’s A Message to You, Rudy, and Desmond Dekker’s You Can Get It If You Really Want.
In 1970, Roberts resuscitated his passion for music and opened Orbitone, a record shop in Harlesden that stocked reggae, ska, calypso, Afrobeat, merengue and jazz. Manning the shop from Monday to Saturday, Roberts recorded music in rented studio spaces on Sundays, producing Nigerian band the Nkengas’ Destruction album in 1971 – one of the earliest examples of Afrobeat music in the UK. He licensed Montserratian artist Arrow’s 1984 calypso hit Hot Hot Hot, before producing his highest-charting single in 1986 with St Vincent artist Judy Boucher’s soft reggae single Can’t Be With You Tonight – which was beaten to No 1 by Madonna’s La Isla Bonita.
Music moved him. He’d clench his fists, and you could see the ecstasy written on his face
Reuben Richards
Roberts was an instrumental figure to West Indian musicians in London throughout his decade-spanning, pioneering career. Soul singer Reuben Richards credits Roberts for hearing “dat ting” in his voice and recording his debut album in 1987. “Music moved him and he wasn’t afraid to express the way he was feeling,” he says. “He’d clench his fists, and you could see the ecstasy written on his face. He was a music lover.”
Renowned jazz guitarist Ciyo Brown also recalls Roberts as a “joyous” producer, who relayed his vision viscerally, despite not playing any instruments himself. “I felt the imagery of what he was saying, just his vibration,” he says. “Music is a frequency; it’s tones, colours, it’s emotive, and I felt it from him.”
In the 1980s, Roberts employed a young Paul Scott “General” Levy, now a veteran junglist MC, to flog records at an Orbitone pop-up shop in Notting Hill carnival. Levy recalls Orbitone as a haven for the Harlesden youth. “Some of the best artists come out from north-west London, because when we had that safe space, it helped the community grow.”
Multiple events have taken place throughout Britain this summer to mark the Windrush generation’s 75th anniversary in the UK. However, despite a recent push to recognise their cultural legacy, much of their achievements have been sidelined in British music history and Roberts remains a relatively obscure figure. “He should be held in high regard; I don’t think he was given the accolades he truly deserved,” says Richards. “He was a forward-thinking man, a genius.”
That is why for those who knew him, the blue plaque unveiling is a fitting, overdue, gesture. Monica Roberts has flown in from Jamaica to attend the event: “I’ll never regret the day I went to the studio and met that marvellous man,” she says.
MORTIMER
"I do music because it is my first love and where my passion lies. For me, it's about a message... One of love, hope, kindness, selflessness, and also an opportunity to share a piece of myself with others" - Mortimer
Mortimers a Jamaican recording artist on the rise; a promising singer with an enthralling voice, who is equally comfortable creating traditional roots reggae as well as contemporary Jamaican music, and who dances between the two to reveal a sound that blends his old-soul sensibilities with progressive youthfulness. Mortimer’s voice effortlessly glides between a raspy, smoky alto and a silky falsetto, with an unhurried delivery that has become signature of his sound.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, but raised in the rural district of Whitehall, St. Elizabeth, as a youth, Mortimer had dreams of becoming a soldier or an auto engineer, but these aspirations soon took a back seat to music.
SOUND SYSTEM CHRONICLES V SIR COXSONE SOUND SYSTEM
How the development of reggae music expanded throughout the world . This is a great watch for all reggae fans.
REGGAE & LOVERS ROCK
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