CLINTON LINDSAY

 Top: Christafari Bottom: Damian Marley– AMERICAN Christian reggae band Christafari earns its sixth number one on the Billboard Reggae Album Chart with Original Love . The group, which includes Trinidadian Avion Blackman (aunt of soca singer Nailah Blackman), was formed in 1989. To date they have charted 10 times on the reggae table. Christafari’s previous chart-toppers are 2015’s Anthems, 2014’s Reggae Christmasand Greatest Hits Vol 1; 2013’s Reggae Worship: A Roots Revival and 2017’s Hearts of Fire. Released on April 13 by Lion of Zion Entertainment, Original Love has 14 songs. Holding firm at number … Read entire article »

BY HOWARD CAMPBELL Observer senior writer—  Jamali — Though he rode in on the roots-reggae wave that engulfed dancehall music in the 1990’s, singer Jahmali has never liked to be linked to any genre. His new song, Wings, is a World Beat-like ballad different in feel from his previous work like El Shadai, the 1998 track that announced him. “Mi neva want anybody put mi inna a box. Wi deliver di music as it come to wi,” he said. Self-produced, Wings was released early this month. … Read entire article »

 Jihan Palmer — Jihan Palmer, former dancer with the National Dance Theater Company of Jamaica (NDTC)is dead. She passed away on Saturday, April 21, in New York, after battling stage four cancer. She was 36. Artistic director of the NDTC, Marlon Simms said that Palmer’s death has shaken the entire dance community. “We are all at a loss. The immense outpouring of support while she battled cancer and the extent of the tributes now is testament to the fact … Read entire article »

 By Mel Cooke— Errol Dunkley— By 1972, singer Errol Dunkley had established a track record of turning out popular songs. Movie Star (remade by Wayne Wonder and Buju Banton in the early 1990’s) had hit the year before, and You’ll Never Know had started the decade strongly for Dunkley. His first hit was the 1965 You’ll Never Know. So when Jimmy Radway, who he knew from Denham Town, approached Dunkley with a poem he had written, it was time for a follow-up. “I converted … Read entire article »

  By KATHERINE BARNER Katherine Barner is a news writer for Complex. She often writes about music, politics, film, and television.— Shaggy and Sting performed at Queen Elizabeth’s 92nd birthday party in London at Royal Albert Hall over the weekend and left a lot of people simply asking: why? Yes, they did release a reggae album together called 44/876 which is quite good, but it is safe to safe that the unlikely duo was even a more unlikely choice to perform at a birthday party for a 92-year-old … Read entire article »

Dr Dennis Howard— In response to recent newspaper and social media articles that have quoted two dancehall artistes complaining about the way in which their songs have been treated in recent times by the Radio Services Division of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group, I wish to point out the facts as follows: Since I took up the position of general manager, Radio Services, for the RJRGLEANER Communications Group about 19 months ago, I was mandated by the board … Read entire article »