Double Dose of Dancehall

We always talk about day in and day out how Dancehall music and culture is pervasive, influential and just plain Shell down di place. Well today we found two nice musical shots that fit right into the jigsaw of pop culture and name drops Jamaican stars and stylings.

Firstly we go to Cali and the up and coming caucasian rapper G Eazy. We think this dude has maaaad potential. You probably know him from his recent  hit song Me, Myself and I with Bebe Rexha.
Ahh yes but today we showcase his new song that not only takes a page from Dancehall (air horns and bass lines) but also Bigs up the Boss "Hugo" Usain Bolt in one of the verses. The lyric is at the 1:01 mark.

Bolt if they didn't know yet people better recognize when u name drop in rhyme  a big ting dat. The song is Down For Me ft. 24hrs. bouncing on a nice minimalist hip hop beat with a "Future like " auto tune chorus.


Then we found this other song "Crying in the Club" by Camilla Cabello which is on the tropical and pop infused dancehall swing tip (seen in Ed Sheerean's, Shape of You and Justin Bieber's Cold Water) this club song....its nice we nah lie. Camila Cabello, is a Cuban-born American singer once a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, Just in this month Cabello released "Crying in the Club" as the lead single from her forthcoming debut solo album.

Fast forward to the 1:40 when the drum beat drop forgot the long slow intro




Dancehall a lead...Maaaaad

Bolt steals Asafa's thunder through Mavado

As Jamaica basks in the glow of recent victories in the 200m and the track and field events reaches its zenith, we thought to you give you this gem, Usain Bolt  steals Asafa's thunder through Mavado.


To understand the title of the post  you have to roll back  four years to Beijing and Television Jamaica, TVJ's  coverage of the Olympics game, unprecedented Jamaican victory, many people in Jamaica will never forget the montage of Jamaican victories captured by TVJ featuring Mavado's song "On the Go", it captures the energy excitement and pure nationalism that permeated Jamaica fours ago and which is being replicated yet again.

However what a lot of people do not realize that the song was which most people associate with Usain Bolt as he was the "Star Bwoy' of those Olympics is that it was a song commissioned by Nike for Asafa Powell..

Check out this video to see the  feature on Asafa, the fastest man alive then,( respect due as our first athlete to break thew world record) I recall being in Rome at the time and the overwhelming sense of pride to see the Jamaican athele on the front cover of the Italian newspaper. 

So if you listen to the chorus of the song  you will hear the mention of 9.77  which was  Asafa  Powell's record prior to Bolt. So Bolt unwittingly is now associated with the song and stolen Asafa thunder but don't worry its all still a Jamaican thing and trust me they still remain the best of friends. The song has maaaahhd vibes....We going.... we gone black green and gold pon wi hand, Jamaica wi faster than a bullet, great song writing and great song by Mavado...... Big up Jamaica

Curry Reggae..not exactly, but Reggae in India is Hot right now

Yes India with a population of over 1.2 Billion people, home of Bhangra music and Bollywood movies shares a musical passion with reggae which we pleasantly found out recently. A great example of the power and energy that reggae music has in the sub-continent of India


Meet "Reggae Rajahs" India's first and premiere sound system, the trio consists of Diggy Dang, Mr Herbalist and DJ MoCity (Iraq's first sound boy) all are reggae entertainers and promoters based in New Dehli their dances are big crowd pleasers.


So when last Olympics Puma wanted excitement to launch its Faas shoe line behinnd world record holder Usain Bolt it was only natural to feature reggae music and  so who did they call....... Reggae Rajhs.


The promotion was  throughout New Dehli's and Bombay's major malls and as you will see  it was in a Jamaican style with the whole sound system and dancers


Some of the dancing probably not dancehall, more like hip hop but a little cultural leniency is allowed and  it is all done in maad respect, the girls seem to have the right idea.

Also here is another feature on the Reggae Rajahs and a brief background on how they got started and their love for reggae music .....maaaahd  respect