Check out Iyaz' feature on Mashup Mondays singing Green Day's "21 Guns"



Tere's something about Green Day: those guys go hard," says R&B newcomer Iyaz, who chose the punk trio's 2009 single "21 Guns" to mashup with his sweetened tenor. You wouldn't guess it, but the singer, who scored his first Pop Songs No. 1 in January with "Replay," is a big Green Day fan. "I've been listening to them for years... so I said why not do a cover [and] show my appreciation for their music."



Iyaz was attracted specifically to Green Day's rocking power ballad "21 Gun," a No. 3 hit on the Alternative Songs chart (and No. 5 on Rock Songs), because "I feel free when I listen to that song."



Source

Check out this video of Iyaz performing his hit song "Replay" on Lopez Tonight!



Here are some pics from the show!


Find more photos like this on IyazMusic.com

Tune in to Lopez tonight on TBS at 'leven o'clock to watch Virgin Islander Iyaz perform his hit song "Replay." He is repping for all the VI as he was born in USVI and raised in BVI.

Straight from Yahoo! News:

A collection of slavery records newly available over the Internet may help thousands of people trace their families back to Africa through St. Croix, a former slave-trading hub in the Caribbean. In this photo released by Ancestry.com on Thursday, July 16, 2009, Susan Samuel walks through Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, tracing the roots of her ancestor Venus Johannes, on July 12, 2009. Captured as girl in west Africa, Venus Johannes was married off to an American sea captain and sold into slavery on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. Two centuries and six generations later, researchers compiling a collection of slave records from the island traced her birthline to Susan Samuel, a 62-year-old woman in Houston. (AP Photo/Ancestry.com)

The records, which went online Thursday at ancestry.com, already have helped Susan Samuel of Houston discover the story of an ancestor who was freed after persuading officials that she had been illegally sold into slavery.

"Even though she came from a very horrible situation, she decided not to be defined by it," Samuel said of her great- great-great-great-grandmother Venus Johannes, who was captured as a 12-year-old girl in what is now Senegal in West Africa.

More than 50,000 enslaved Africans were taken to St. Croix during the island's Danish colonial rule, said George Tyson, who led a seven-year effort to gather documents from archives in the Virgin Islands, Washington and Copenhagen.

Many of the slaves spent their lives toiling on the island's sugar plantations. Others continued on to slavery in such places as Cuba or the United States, which bought the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917.

Columbia University historian Eric Foner called the collection "a big step forward," with great potential for research.

"St. Croix was an important slave center for a long time, but maybe because people don't know Denmark, it hasn't gotten the attention it ought to," he said.

Family researchers have aggressively pursued information for years about the slave trade in St. Croix, an island where most residents are descended from slaves. A local group, the Virgin Islands Social History Associates, sought out the documents to build on that work and learn more about how slaves lived, said Tyson, the group's president.

The records will be searchable for free until the end of July on ancestry.com, a subscription-based Web site that provided some financing for the researchers. Tyson said his nonprofit group plans to eventually make the records available for free on a Web site it is working on.

Johannes' story comes partly from an account she gave to authorities that helped persuade them to free her.

After marrying an American sea captain on Goree Island, a holding area for slaves off the African coast, she agreed to join him on a voyage to the New World with the understanding she could later return. But he sold her off as a domestic servant to an American woman as soon as they reached St. Croix.

"Whatever passion was in the relationship did not overcome the issue that the captain wanted to get some money," Tyson said.

Johannes won her freedom in 1815 after three decades in slavery, Tyson said. She had remarried by then and borne four children. A slave uprising on St. Croix led the colonial governor to finally ban slavery across the Danish West Indies in 1848.

Samuel, a 62-year-old aide to mental health patients in Houston, said she felt in awe of her ancestor this week while touring the overgrown ruins of colonial buildings on St. Croix, the largest of the three islands in the now U.S. territory.

"I have decided to look more at the positive and recognize how much she overcame, because you can choose to be angry or you can choose to more forward," she said.

The documents, spanning from 1734 to 1917, include shipping records with names and prices of enslaved Africans and property inventories. Among the most useful pieces are interviews conducted by the Moravian church, which, upon converting Africans, recorded their place of origin, Tyson said.

The collection has more than 700,000 records. Some of the physical documents are available in St. Croix. Others were scanned in foreign capitals by researchers who brought copies back to feed the database of the historical group's St. Croix African Roots Project.

Tyson said some islanders who helped enter data found an emotional resonance while recording information on the long-ago slaves who were forced to come to St. Croix.

"Even if they are not related they are spiritually connected because of what they had to endure," he said.

Source

SUMMER SIZZLE B.V.I. the years hottest fashion extravaganza raises the mercury in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.


A jam-packed weekend filled with A-listers and fashion enthusiasts alike, it is sure to offer an experience like none other. Hosted by Signature by Terry Donovan and featuring fashion power houses Baby Phat/Phat Farm, Project Runway finalist Korto Momulu, Trinidad’s Claudia Pegus, American eveningwear designer Cesar Galindo, menswear designer Edwing D’Angelo, hot New York label Aqua Couture by Roger Gary, hip menswear designer Ocie Collins III, Andre Etienne of St. Thomas, and the B.V.I’s own Trefle Designs by Kristin Frazer.

Lighting up the runway is a multi-cultural cast of models from some of the world’s leading modeling agencies including Ford, Q Models, Red and Identities. Also walking will be models from Gadal Model Management of Barbados, Trinidad Model Management of Trinidad, Star Models of St. Thomas, and Cyndee’s Models of St. Croix.

Things start warming up on Thursday, July 23 and will be sizzling by Sunday, July 26, 2009 when things simmer down; In between there is a party every night. Event producer Terry Donovan is proud of the hectic party schedule, “Well there is the Culture & Style Welcome Bash on Thursday, followed by the White Sunset Fashion Fete at dusk on Friday, hosted and Co-sponsored by Lambert Beach Resort. Saturday night of course belongs to our gala event, the Summer Sizzle Fashion Show and After Party. The whole concept of the Summer Sizzle Fashion Show is to reflect the excitement of a New York City runway.” Bringing the Big Apple to the B.V.I.” he adds.




Additionally residents and visitors alike can enjoy all the festivites including the Summer Fashion & Beauty Bazaar, co-sponsored by the Department of Trade and Consumer Affairs on Friday July 24 and Saturday July 25 at the Noel Lloyd Action Park. The bazaar will feature an array of fashion and beauty products from local businesses and participating designers. The goal is to ensure that every guest has a memorable experience and dreams of returning next year. Summer Sizzle B.V.I. is a pre-festival event that is also sure to put people in the party mood for the B.V.I Festival that follows.

The B.V.I. Tourist Board, and the Ministry of Education and Culture are both Platinum Sponsors of Summer Sizzle B.V.I., recognizing the benefits to the islands’ overall economy. JTV Channel 55, Road Town Wholesale Trading Limited and Motions Hair Products, Road Town Fast Ferry and B.V.I. Springs are Bronze Sponsors.

For general and ticketing information please contact Linette Rabsatt at 441-3509, Katherine Irish at 442-0373 or Sheroma Hodge at 543-9301 or visit: WWW.SUMMERSIZZLEBVI.COM

In anticipation of their debut album, Rock City has released a mixtape- Put the F’n Album Out!



These guys are supertalented They’ve penned hits for everyone on the charts, including the Pussycat Dolls Jennifer Hudson, Janet Jackson, Leona Lewis and tons more.

Make sure you check out the mixtape, full of 17 tracks for your enjoyment.

myspace.com/rockcityvi

According to MTV UK, Akon will be one of the producer's on X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke's debut album in November.

Akon has already worked with Leona Lewis and told tabloid newspaper The Daily Star: "I've had calls to work with Alex and I'm going to do it. I love the X Factor and I love helping to break new artists."

When you put Akon and Caribbean in the same sentence, one might conjure up ideas of the little rag doll he was dragging on the stage (sorry that was not dancing) in Zen at a Trinidad performace.

But really though, I have to give him props for working with so many talented artists from the region. He has produced songs for Leona Lewis (a former X-factor winner herself) and worked with Rihanna, and Alicia Keys. He has signed to his Konvict label: Kardinall Offishall, Tami Chynn, Rock City (check out their track "Losin It"-Love it), and Brick andLace. Sean Kingston was recently featured in his latest video "Beautiful".

Source

STORY IN LOCAL PAPER

ST. CROIX - The men who police said are responsible for the Jan. 5, armed robbery of Jamaican reggae artist Craig "Serani" Marsh, were advised of their rights in V.I. Superior Court on St. Croix on Friday morning.

Richard Motta, 50, of Little Hospital Street, Christiansted, and Gregory "DJ Avalanche" Hodge, 29, of Tutu High-rise, St. Thomas, remain in jail unable to post bail on charges of first-degree robbery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence and grand larceny.

Motta was arrested at 5 p.m. Wednesday at St. Thomas' King Airport as he attempted to leave the territory. Motta was detected by Customs and Enforcement Officers as a person with an outstanding warrant issued by Superior Court Judge Julio Brady.

Hodge, who works as a disc jockey at FM 105.1, was arrested shortly after he ended his shift at 10 a.m. Thursday.

A 14-count information has been filed charging both men with the crimes and with aiding and abetting each other in the crimes.

According to an affidavit filed in Superior Court by Police Detective Jeffrey Nesbitt, Marsh told police that he had just finished a performance in the Crucian Christmas Festival Village and was dropped off along with two other people by the promoter on the street outside the Best Western Hotel.

As they approached the room, Marsh said, two masked men pointed a gun at them and demanded their money and jewelry. The men took his King Link gold chain and pendant, valued at about $5,000, as well as two cellular phones.

Police said Marsh's companion, who is not named but is described as Marsh's manager in the affidavit, said the gunmen took a $5,000 chain from him and $9,700 in cash.

The third victim (now I wonder if that was the mystery woman in the letter sent to The Lime?)said that as they were dropped off and walked to the room, two men who she recognized as Hodge and Motta, walked past them in the opposite direction, and as they proceeded to the room they turned around just as Motta was pulling a mask over his face and then the two men proceeded to rob them.

She said that while robbing them, Motta threatened to murder Marsh but was discouraged by Hodge and the two left.

All three victims picked the two men out of a photo array produced by police.

Police said no one was injured in the robbery.

Police reported over the past weeks that hey were aggressively following up on leads and secured the warrants for the two men. They said more arrests may be pending.

Bail for Hodge and Motta was set at $135,000 each, and both remain jailed pending a bail hearing at 9 a.m. today.

Hodge has no known criminal record in the territory, but Motta has an extensive criminal history with more than 25 arrests during the last 30 years. He previously has been charged with crimes including assault, murder, robbery, gun possession, weapon possession, grand larceny, rape and vehicle tampering and trespassing.

source

STORY ON LOCAL RADIO
I also caught this video on YouTube making mention of this issue on local TV. As far as I can tell, the guy thinks it's much ado about nothing. Judge for yourself.

On Monday Jan. 12th St. Thomas and St. John were featured on NBC reality series Momma's Boys. Sites highlighted included the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa, Coral World Ocean Park and Ondeck Ocean Racing in St Thomas along with Cruz Bayou, Mongoose Junction and Peter Bay on St. John.Photo source

Next Monday Jan. 19th the island of St. Croix will be featured for the season finale, featuring popular tourist sites and activities including Tan Tan jeep tours, downtown Christiansted and Fort Christianvaern.


The show which is produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions and Glassman Media, follows "three possessive yet loving mothers who must help their complacent sons choose the perfect woman - and ultimately poses the question: "Who is really the most important woman in every man's life?" (source)
www.usvitourism.vi