Four-time calypso and 5-time road march winner Dennison “King Dice” Joseph promises a spectacular event for patrons attending the King Dice and Friends Father’s Day Concert on Saturday June 19th at Dominica’s Harlem Plaza.
According to MC and co-organizer, Val “Young Bull” Cuffy, this concert was organized especially with fathers in mind. “Mother’s Day gets a great deal of coverage and is such a big event in the annual calendar; we want to do the same for fathers. They deserve their roses too.” He added, “We have for them a strong lineup of popular local artists including headliner King Dice a favorite of many Dominicans."
King Dice will ring in Father’s Day with a variety of songs from his repertoire including moving social commentaries like “(Help) My Brothers’ For Me”, “Higher” as well as the Reggae lovers’ anthem “Chance”. Having not performed at Calypso Finals this year, King Dice believes that this show will be a treat for the fans. “I will deliver like I am at the finals, so they can expect props, extras, wardrobe changes, and stage effects.” Dice, who was approached by Cuffy with the idea for the show, also believes in the importance of recognizing and celebrating fatherhood. “I am a father too and it’s a great feeling to honor dads like this. I think it will be a great show full of love and positive energy.”
Preceding Dice on stage will be local Reggae artists Dr. Silk, Atunyah and Abessah. The nine performing calypsonians are: Sye, De Professor (Jr. Calypso Monarch 2009 & 2010), Soul Puss, Hunter (Former Calypso King), Tasha P, Yakima, Checker, Triumph and Prosper.
Tickets for the show, which starts at 9PM, costs $30.00 and $50.00 VIP. It is sponsored by LIME as well as Bulls Eye Pharmacy, Heineken, Jolly’s Pharmacy, Minya’s 7-11 and Courts.
For ticketing info call (767)265-0208 or (767)245-8601
ABOUT KING DICE
A former Junior Calypso Monarch, Dennison “King Dice” Joseph is the youngest and only calypsonian to win four national crowns and five consecutive road march titles in Dominica calypso history. His first win was in 2004 with the songs “Peace Is My Business", dedicated to world leaders, and the second round crowd pleaser "Animal Farm," which compared politicians to various farm animals. In 2005 he captured the crown with his songs "Help My Brother For Me” and the political satire “Puppet Master." On February 25th 2006, King Dice made history by becoming the third but youngest calypsonian in 30 years to win 3 calypso crowns in 3 consecutive years, accomplishing what many veteran calypsonians have yet been able to do. "These Are The Days" and "I Eh Fraid Of Them" were the two songs he performed that night. Although Dice was definitely the crowd favorite on the night of February 17th 2007, where he performed "Lights" and "Follow Your Leader;" He placed 4th out of nine other calypsonians. Not breaking from the recipe that secured his prior wins, Dice with the help of songwriter Pat Aaron came back a year later to capture the crown with "Roll The Dice And See" and "On My Own." By then he had won the road march five times in a row with the songs "Tarzan"-2003, "Animal Farm-2004, "Puppet Master"-2005, "I Eh Fraid"-2006 and "Lights"-2007.
King Dice is presently contracted as the face of Heineken Beer in Dominica. He has received several awards for his accomplishments in the calypso arena including A Young Achievers Award in 2004 from the Commonwealth of Dominica Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs, Sports and Human Resource Development for his contribution to culture. In July 2006, he became a member of the Elite- Tri Peat Club. Along with the other two calypsonians who have won 3 consecutive crowns he received his blue 3 peat jacket from the University of the West Indies in Dominica and Pawol Inc. He also received in 2006 a Youth Ambassador Award from the National Youth Council of Dominica in recognition of his contribution to calypso art form and for his 3-peat achievement. King Dice has taken part in workshops and forums on the island, with several groups including the Optimist Club who's main focus is youth development. In 2006 he released his 13 track debut CD entitled A Little Higher, co produced by himself and his writer Pat Aaron, consisting of all his calypsos from as far back as 2003, the ever popular “Chance,” "Hold On To Cricket", a song for cricket fans all over the Caribbean, urging them to have faith in the west Indies cricket team, and a few other party tunes. His latest album is a compilation of his hits called
Currently on hiatus from formal calypso competition, Dice hopes to return to the big stage in 2011. In the meantime he performs for fans in Dominica and the world at stageshows, music festivals and other events.
KING DICE ONLINE
Facebook
MySpace
King Dice Interview With The LIME
DOWNLOADS
"Chance"
"(Help)My Brothers For Me"
Just heard from a friend that former Calypso King of Dominica Dennison "King Dice" Joseph has been arrested.
Allegedly, over an altercation at the market this morning involving an officer of the law. His house was searched, drugs were discovered. He along with others were placed into custody.
Wow. I had seen Dennison at the last lap at Crazy Coconuts TripleKay/MFRJam. He was hanging with fellow Klockerz members S.K.I.NN.Yaka Shadowflow, and Sky Dimex. They were having a time. I was at the market too, but left before this 'incident' occured.
I hope that police followed proper procedure in their actions, and I hope that in due time we can find out the truenature of the incident on both sides. I know many consider Dice a bad role model and already tongues were wagging since he decided not to defend his crown.
I was not there so as far as I am concerned, he is innocent until proven guilty.
Developing......
UPDATE: I was told he was charged with Obstruction of Justice. He intervened in a dispute between a policeman and a young man. That sounds like the Dice I know. He does get a bad rap because he is so opinionated, but he abhors injustice, and so do I. So I guess this should be on local news tomorrow which as far as I am told is when he will go to court.
Thursday Feb 19th was a hell of a rainy night. I braved the cold wet streets of Dominica, to finally get some treatment for my gambling problem. lol.
I traversed to the Harlem Plaza where Dominica's 2008 calypso King performed his hits to eager fans. This was the first of two scheduled performances for "Dicey" as he is affectionately known since announcing that he would not defend his crown this year.
Here are some pics from the event. For those of you new to the blog, I like to be in the pics, eh. If you don't know, well now you know!!!!! So when I got home early Friday morning, I realized I did not have one decent pic of me at the show. Well hello, I got my locally made, rasta-themed jewelry, my funky hairstyle, and I still had some makeup the rain had not washed off. Oh yeah, I was gonna take a pic. Never mind the two headlamps on my chin. Loose yourself in de eyes dem!!!!!!
(yes I took it in my bathroom. I didn't want to wake da family... damn do I need counseling for this???? lol)
Enjoy
I love Keegan Taylor's song "Never See" just great for doing squats and lunges trust me althought in between I can't help but bust a slow wine cause it's just so catchy!!!
Photo source
Check out his new song "Mr. Walker" with the King of Calypso Kings, the Mighty Sparrow! Enjoy!!!!
Ya I heard a commercial the other day and this lady was like: "I want my Dice, I want my Dice!" and dude says, "Ma'am do you have a gambling problem?" and she's like "No, I want my Dice. Calypso King Dice." yo that one take me eh. So now everytime I hear a song by King Dice, I think of that add. 
Of course you must know by now that 4 time Calypso King winner Dennison "King Dice" Joseph is not defending his crown. Click HERE to find out why.
So this performance at Saaman Gardens will be one of two official performances for the "King" this carnival season. Miss it and blame yourself.
Here's the info:
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH: FROM NIGHT ‘TIL MORNIN’
CARNIVAL FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH, 2009.
STRAIGHT OUT OF TORONTO BLACKBERRYSOUND CREW!
THE PRICELESS PERFORMANCE YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR; FIRST TIME ON STAGE FOR THE CARNIVAL SEASON; 2008 CALYPSO KING DICE.
ALSO FEATURING THE HOTTEST GROOVY SOCA ARTIST; THE MAN HIMSELF 2 GREEDI
VERSTITLE DJ MIDIAN FROM Q EXPOSURE
SAAMAN GARDENS… BESIDES THE TWIN BRIDGE GOING INTO CANEFIELD.
WWW.BLACKBERRYSOUNDCREW.COM
WWW.SAAMANGARDENS.COM
TEL: 449-0900
Check his performance of "Own My Own" at Creole In The Park 2008. The crowd is practically singing the whole song!!!!
68 year old McArtha Sandy Lewis better known as Calypso Rose’s latest album Calypso Rose will debut in Europe next
Log on to Trinidadtunes.com where all 12 tracks are available for download and for a limited time and the single “Israel By bus” can be Photo source downloaded for free
Legendary Trinidadian calypsonian, Kelvin "The Mighty Duke" Pope, passed away on Wednesday after a long battle with a rare blood cancer, myelofibrosis at the Ellerslie Private Hospital in St Clair. He was 76 years old.
Duke started performing in calypso tents 1964 and won the Calypso Monarch Title 4 consecutive years. His first win was in 1968 with “What is Calypso” and “Social Bacchanal.” The following year, he again captured the crown with “Black is Beautiful” and “One Foot Visina.” In 1970, performance “Brotherhood of Man” and “See Through” helped him make it a three peat. His fourth and final monarch victory came in 1971 with “Mathematical Formula” and “Melvie and Yvonne.” He lost the following year to The Mighty Sparrow
He did win road March in 1987 with his hit "Thunder"
In 1989 he received the Sunshine Award for Best Social Commentary with his song "How Many More Must Die?" and in 2006 was in ducted in the Sunshine Awards Hall Of Fame.
He was tall and graceful. Check him in action
Reigning calypso monarch of Dominica Dennison"Dice" Joseph will be a no show at this years calpso show.
Dice at World Creole Music Festival 2008Pat Aaron writes not only for Dice but several calpsonians as well. He says he his boycotting due to unfair treatment that his Mas Camp Calypso Tent has received. In a movement of solidarity Dice says he will boycott the show as a show of protest. According to the Chronicle, Dice said "when I am told by the Calypso Association that my contributions to calypso are the same as everbody else, I believe that they are talking nonsense. The amount of young people who have been drawn to calpso because of my successess cannot be compared and there are people who hate to give jack his jacket, but I deserve better.
It's too bad that Dice won't be performing. I was really looking forward to seeing for myself the performances that has so captivated the public: fans and haters alike.
Here is a clip of his performance at Creole In the Park 2008:
Daddy Chess will also not perform this year. This former Dominica Calypso King will be in Trinidad for the International Soca Monarch competition. Best of luck to him!
I went to my first calypso elimination competition at Harlem Plaza, with my my mom and my aunt. Oh my it was just too hilarious!
By the time we got there, over ten calypsonians had already sung their short numbers. Now there were 40 in total, so it was a bit taxing standing through all these artists, but so worth it when someone like The Mighty DBS came and did his rendition "Omar Rough Sea". (lol. weeping. now wiping a tear.sigh....) Basically his chorus was "Omar rough sea, rough sea Omar." The best part though was his ad libs "pow, pow, pow, bladat, bladat, pam, pam, pam, bladat, bladat) Allu de man had sides splitting.
Sour Sour was another contender known to give comic relief. His song was basically "I am the King of the Lane" over, and over, and over, and over, but his on stage antics made it all so animated! Um who else?
Oh Energizer had the crowd in stiches too. His song was "Carnival is Colour" and he was a hefty guy eh, and he was wineing down de place , plus he seemed a little "how u doing" with the hand movements and ting. Speaking of which. Tony Maco (Dominica's most well known Macoman) had a coment for each song and bantered with the host. He/she let everyone know how peeved he/she was after Trendsetter's "You Lie on De Man" basically a anti-gay lifestlyle song. Tony had the crowd on the floor when he said refering to a line in the song "Is me he take Glo Sho".... Tony say his neck cut!!!!! After that statement, here come a rastaman Mousers singing more anti-gay lyrics in his tune "No More Wisdom".
We had some false starts, a few female contenders-one of which I think should look into singing soca her name is Delah her song was called "Let Go", we had a set of twins, in the persons of The Eagle"Wood In the Backyard and Coco Tea "Red Tape". I liked Bettle J the best, a young singer. his lyrics for his song "Change The Music" were fantastic. The song touched on how boring Catholic Mass is and how changing the music could encourage young people to participate. Son Of The Saint got a good response from the crowd as well.
I will definitely go to quarter finals. The 12 quarter finalists are Beetle Jm Yolley, De Booplay,
Bassy, Senator, Delah, Comforter, General Kendes, Son of De Saint, Jamma B, Educator, and Iration are the other finalists.
Did not get Press Credentials for this years fest, but I was a volunteer Liaison Officer for get this, The Press! Its cool, it got me backstage and I was able to meet all the performers as well as take these photos below. Overall it was a good event. There is room for improvement. As Ophelia said, she should not be the only female headlining the show. Suggestion: Emeline Michel. She is AWESOME. Umm sorry but I was not feeling Tabou Combo (seemed too monotonous) But then again some may beg to differ. I can say though if patrons did not like one artist they liked another. So Dancehall lovers got Sean Paul, Soca Madheads like me got Machel, Reggae Lovers got Nasio, Bouyon Fans got WCK, Triple Kay, MFR, African soukous lovers got Olivier N'Goma and his dancers --talk about snake oil!!! Of course it is the World CREOLE Music Festival so Belles Combo, Kassav, Carimi, Tabou Combo, Djakout Mizik, Julie Mourillon, Jeff Joseph, Midnight Groovers and Opehelia filled the gap. Oh and dont forget Calypso. Backed by Swinging Stars King Dice, Hunter, Lord Tokyo, Scrunter and Daddy Chess Rocked the Crowd. Gosh I hope I didnt forget anyone. Any artist that does not have a pic...I guess they could take it as a compliment cause I was probably rockin' out. And my French Press who I liaised for zor tay bon....mwen kay we'w anay prochain...of course my creole sucks I spell like it sounds...Im sure they'll get it.
BTW you can register at www.partyaccess.net to see more pics!
Friday October 31st
Saturday November 1st
Sunday November 2nd
Les Martiniquaises
On Wednesday November 19th D'Vybz band will debut their first release for St. Kitts Carnival on WINN FM's Killing Time Drive (KYD) with DJ GQ. The song is called "Get On So". It is the first single from their upcoming album All About the Music.
Their previous albums were 2007's Life and their debut album in 2006 No turning Back.
In that short space of time, D'Vybz has become one of St Kitts top musical acts.
photo source
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
“What You Bringing” & “Suzette” (Takeover Tent)
1st runner up - Morgie - Ambassadors – “Neighbour” & “Tired of Waving” - 729 points
3rd runner up - Mighty Pep Ambassadors – “I am Calypso” & “In the Judges Shoes” – 712 points.
Cropover is over....
...and congrats go out to Red Plastic Pag 2007 Pic-O-De-Crop winner and Mr. Dale Tune Of De Crop winner!
