Barbadian entertainer Lil Rick will be celebrating his birthday with an extravagant celebration in New York City this month. Since his birthday coincides with Barbados' Independence celebrations, this event apart from celebrating his birth, will also pay homage to those who paved the way for Barbados' Independence.
The event will be held at The Base Nightclub in Brooklyn, New York on Thanksgiving Saturday, November 29.
Slated to perform along with the “Hypa Dawg” are Edwin Yearwood of Krosfyah and Peter Coppin of Monstapeice. New York deejays Supa Roy, Hypa Bajan and Hardcore will also be featured at the show. Tickets are readily available in the Brooklyn and Queens areas as they are heavily populated with Barbadian and those of Barbadian extract.
By the way Check out Lil Rick singing in Spanish by clicking here. He is featured on the song "Baila" by Omari Ferrari.
The Wailers performed at the 42nd Country Music Academy Awards at Sommet Center in Downtown Nashville, TN on November 12th. How this did come about you ask?????
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Enter Kenny Chesney, a country crooner with an island vibe and a love of Reggae. The Wailers back him up on the song "Everybody Wants to Go To Heaven"
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He went home with his 4th Entertainer of the Year award (2008,2007, 2006 and 2004). that's a Dice man??? (Inside joke for DA Massive)
KARLA HENRY, Miss Philippines, was on Sunday (Nov. 9) declared the 2008 Miss Earth, winning from a field of 84 contestants in Pampanga, Philippines
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Along with winning the prestigious title, she was also awarded the Miss Photogenic title.
Runners-up were Tanzania’s Miriam Odemba (Miss Earth Air), Mexico’s Abigail Elizalde (Miss Earth Water) who also won the Best in Swimwear segment, and Brazil’s Tatiane Alves (Miss Earth Fire) respectively.
The Pageant, which is in its eight staging and promotes preservation and awareness, was hosted by international singer Billy Crawford and the 2004 Miss Earth winner Priscilla Meirelles Almeida.
Caribbean Entrants were:
BAHAMAS-Garnell Storr (25)
CUBA-- Jessica Silia (18)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC -- Diana Gonzalez Flores (18)
GUADALOUPE-- Jennifer Desbouiges (22)
JAMAICA -- Simone Burke (21)
MARTINIQUE -- Violene Grainuille (18)
SURINAME -- Pricilla Yahn (22)
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS -- Sessily Prat (18)
Belize, St.Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and the US Virgin Islands did not have representatives this year.
Miss Earth Official Site
Trinidadian designer, Claudia Pegus launched her new collection of resort wear, under the label Breeze Resort Wear Couture, on Thursday, November 6 at the historic British Colonial Hilton, Nassau, Bahamas. Joining forces with New York-based menswear designer, Francis Hendy, and Jamaican-born milliner, Marcellas James, both of whom she has worked with on previous collections. This all-white collection includes heavily embellished, richly beaded caftans, sarongs, men's shirts, hats and bags. The clothing are all made from West Indian Sea Island Cotton which is only found on some Caribbean islands and is of very high quality. The line is made possible through a collaboration between United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Islands of the World Fashion Week which took place between November 5th and 8th at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas.
Heineken's Green Synergy DJ Competition was held at Mambo Beach in Curacao and the winner is Frankie Baby of St Martin,followed by defending champion DJ Fines of the Bahamas and DJ Jigga of Jamaica. The other finalists were DJ Dirtmouse from Barbados. Local representative DJ TCP, DJ Richie from Belize, Top Sound from Grenada and DJ Moodie Mike from Guadeloupe.
The contest was judged by PJ Butter from Los Angeles, host of the Heineken World Chart show, Jus Jase from Trinidad, Scratch Master from St Vincent, DJ Malcolm from Barbados and Renzo Petronea from Curacao.
On the score sheet, 30 points went to music selection, 40 points for crowd response, 20 points for cross-over mixing and 10 points for techniques.
One down side to that if you getting 0 points for crowd response u better know some dutch slang or something. That is definitely a factor organizers need to look at next year.
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Over 50 songwriters were nominated for this year's Copyright Music Organization of Trinidad and Tobago (COTT) 10th Annual Music awards. The show was held on Nov 6 at Queens Hall.
Maxi Priest made a surprise guest appearance with Shurwayne Winchester to perform the song "Make It Yours"
Machel hinted at a name change of his band from HD to Caribbean Planet
Patrice Roberts looked real nice in an eggplant number. I dunno she's one of those artists that wears "interesting" outfits. She's a gorgeous girl but I swear whenever I know she is performing anywhere I have to cross my fingers and hope that its not a catastrophe. Love you still girl, with a voice like yours you can wear a burlap bag and still mash up de place. lol.
Another Surprise Fireball's "What I Want" is the most downloaded song I'm hearing in the world...that I want to verify....I think he's maybe the most downloaded of the artists (his song made it to the top three Billboard Dance Charts)...hmmm Go Miche and the whole Catalyst Entertainment Family. Imma have to email you about that one.
Songwriter of The Year* Machel Montano
Female Songwritere of The Year * Destra Garcia
Song of The Year *
Publisher of The Year *
New Male Songwriter of the Year *
New Female Songwriter of the Year *
International Achievement Award * Might Sparrow (for generating most royalties globally)
Soca of the Year *
Groovy Soca of the Year * Farmer Nappy ("Chippin")
Chutney Soca of the Year *
Rapso of the Year *
Reggae Dancehall of the Year *
Soca Parang of the Year *
Pop/rock Song of the Year *
RnB/Hip-Hop of the Year *
Johnny Walker Pioneer Award * Timothy "Barron" Watkins
As you can see the list needs an update...come on COTT...lets post the winners already....
to see full gallery of photos go to TriniSoca, TriniScene
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Byron Lee, bandleader of Byron Lee and the Drangoneers, died of cancer on November 4th at the University of the Hospital of the West Indies at aged 73. He had flown there only days before to there to accept his Order of Jamaica award from his hospital bed. Lee was a talented musician and shrewd businessman combining the two to enable Jamaican artists to play a more significant role in how they were treated in the music industry. He also was instrumental in the creation of Jamaica carnival.
For more info about his most interesting life click here and also check out his official site www.byronleemusic.com
Look 'ere. dem a do ice...dem cyan do de snow ting...Ummm Yeah I guess. I'm, not putting anything past you guys...and I do mean that in a good way. Jamaican athletes are very determined and competitive so anything they are aiming for I am sure they will do well. And one of those things is a chance to win gold at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver Canada., with no less than a ski team. No bobsled this time. So far there are two members training to represent Jamaica at those games: Errol Kerr has an American mother and Jamaican dad, and Gregg Samuels who has a Jamaican mother and British dad. Both men are currently training at a facility near Lake Tahoe...doh test dem eh.
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So I was in the streets of Roseau Dominica taking my last little foot behind WCK when I just hearing cheers from the front. Of course yes I had to see what was causing the commotion (its the journalist in me wink, wink). Everyone is glued to a TV on an upstairs restaurant balcony (here's a shameless plug House of Bar-B-Q) it's the results. They are counting the results from the American election. Dang they weren't even done, you would think Obama had won. But seriously though even though he had never received the 338 electoral votes or the 52 percent of the popular vote, 47 year old Barack Obama would still be a winner in my eyes, and those of the revellers on the streets of Roseau , and the Joe Plumers and Betty Sues and Taqueisha's and whoever else saw a piece of them in him.
Now is time for hard work. I'm not looking for any miracles from Obama. I just want him to be real, use commonsence and good judgement and never lose sight of the people who helped him secure this position. On January 20th we will again witness history when he is swon in as the FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!!
John McCain gave a wonderfully moving concession speech which funny enough if he was like that throughout he may have done much better. He was so believeable.. Anyways he will remain in the senate, while his running mate Sarah Palin, returns to Alaska as governor.
Garcelle Beauvais Nilon, is getting into the jewelry business. Jewelry designing that is. Seems she wants to do a line for kids and teens, or for adults who are young at heart. Prices will range from 40 to 300 dollars.
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Courts is now in Brooklyn. The store was doing a lot of promotion leading up to the October 30th VIP Launch including sponsoring a float in the Brooklyn West Indian Day Parade on Labor Day. The Courts store stands at 2222 Church Avenue, between Nostrand and Rogers Avenues in Brooklyn.
Courts came on the scene in the region in 1959 and currently has 87 stores in the Caribbean.
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Congrats to Movado on his first MoBo (Music of Black Origin) award for Best Reggae Artist. He beat out Beenie Man, Busy Signal, Tarrus Riley and the lone female nominee Etana.
Other islanders who came out on top were Estelle who won Best Song for "American Boy" and Best UK Female Artist. Leona Lewis also walked away with two awards, one for Best Video for the song “Bleeding Love” and Best Album Spirit.
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South African singer and Reggae music legend Lucky Dube was murdered in a failed carjacking last year. On October 21st, 3 days after the 1 yr anniversary of his death, Rykodisc released the 2 disc album Retrospective. It is available on sites like amazon and cduniverse
Disc 1: Includes favorites like "Rastas Never Die", and "Prisoner"
Disc 2: Has songs like "Back To My Roots", "House of Exile", "It's Not Easy"
Fans will also get the accompanying bonus DVD, featuring a 90-minute concert, “Lucky Dube Live In Concert,” plus five music videos never before released in the U.S.
The official opening of Dominica's Independence/ Reunion 2008 celebrations was held at the Windsor Park National Stadium on October 4th. It was quite a moving event, very nostalgic especially for those of us who had been gone for a while. The enthusiastic crowd was treated to displays of national wear, costumes such as sensay and band move. Performances by King Dice, Tarina, Daddy Chess, Lloydie and the Reunion Mass Choir were well-received. For photos and videos of Independence opening and other Independence/Reunion events log on to www.dominicareunion.com or www.dominica.dm
On October 4th AMP held a workshop at the Fort Young Hotel to brief musicias, entertainers, lawyers, the police force and anyone who had an interest in the industry about copyright and the structure of the music industry. The guest speaker was Lloyd Stanbury, an entertainment lawyer from Jamaica who can count people like Cecile as clients, he helped to create the Reggae Academy organizers of the Reggae Awards.
The info given by him and Mark Marie of AMP was extremely informative. Artists at the event included, King Dice, Hunter, Daddy Chess, De Bobb, Cornell Phillip, Ophelia Marie (Dominica's Lady of Song and wife of Mark Marie), Maxine Alleyne, Triple Kay band. Promoters like Maggz, and More Sewo guys were there too, Pat Aron incredible writer to many a calypsonian was also present, and the police and media were in attendance too.
