Barack Obama has won what could be an influential endorsement among reggae fans: Jamaican singer Cocoa Tea, who’s backing the Illinois senator in a new tune. “This is not about class nor color, race nor creed,” the veteran dancehall crooner sings in a version posted on the video Web site Dailymotion. “It’s about the changes, what the Americans need.”
The song goes on to call Obama a “trendsetter” and urge Americans “to unite as one” behind him. Cocoa Tea, whose real name is Calvin Scott, said Sunday that the tribute song “Barack Obama” will be released this week by New York’s VP Records.
“The young people who are supporting him want change — and that’s what he represents,” said the singer, whose laid-back lyrical style made him a local star in the 1980s.
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The music legend received the Reggae Icon Award posthumously Sunday during the 2008 Reggae Academy Awards. His widow, Rita Marley, accepted the award, held at Jamaica’s National Indoor Sport Centre in Kingston, from Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
The first-time event coincided with what Golding dubbed National Reggae Month in Jamaica. Another blowout event, the Smile Jamaica Africa-Unite concert on James Bond Beach Saturday, lasted almost 12 hours.
Rita Marley thanked international hotelier Chris Blackwell for believing in her husband and helping to launch the reggae singer to stardom. She remembers people warning Blackwell about trusting musicians from Trench Town, a ghetto in west Kingston. “Don’t give those guys any money. If you give them money, you will never see them again.”
Blackwell’s bet was right, and he was recognized by the academy with an award, presented by the island’s minister of culture, youth and sports, Olivia Grange.
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When Erna Brodber discusses ‘Reggae as Black Space’, the distinctive burru drumming and voices of the University Singers fill the Assembly Hall, University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, tomorrow evening, it will mark the beginning of an extensive blend of artistic endeavour and academia.
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Stephen Marley, the second son of Bob Marley, yesterday laid claim to the Reggae Grammy for his album Mind Control. Nominations in the category Best Reggae Album included The Burning Spear Experience - Burning Spear; Mind Control - Stephen Marley; The End Of An American Dream - Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry; Anniversary - Sly & Robbie And The Taxi Gang and Light Your Light - Toots & The Maytals.
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The Reggae Studies Unit of the University of the West Indies, Mona will host the Annual Bob Marley Lecture on Tuesday, February 5, at the Undercroft of the Senate Building. The lecture, The Full Has Never Been Told: Exploring Dancehall’s Moral Conscience, will be delivered by Dr Donna Hope. Vivien Goldmans The Book of Exodus: The Making and meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Album of the Century will also be launched. The double-bill programme begins at 6:00 pm.
Vivien Goldman is an adjunct professor of punk and reggae at New York University’s Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music. She has devoted much of her multi-faceted career to Afro-Caribbean and global music. [...]
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The newly proclaimed ‘reggae month‘ will be getting its full dose of the king of reggae, Bob Marley, with the premiere of the documentary Africa Unite: A Celebration of The Vision of [...]
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Nominations for the first ever reggae awards are based on recordings first released anywhere in the world between December 1, 2006 and November 30, 2007 and covers various categories. The first staging of the Reggae Academy Awards will be February 24th 2008, at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Jamaica.
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