Demarco ft. Ding Dong, “Badmind Energy”

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Ding Dong can do no wrong for me. Everything that he touches lately seems to be turning into liquid gold, so it’s no surprise that he pumped out a nice lil jammer with Dancehall’s powerhorse romeo, Demarco. I’ve got mad respect for Demarco, the man pushes out a lot of quality content and doesn’t get much love beyond Jamaican borders. I have my suspicions why– I’ll keep that one to myself– but basically despite whatever, he never lets up. Demarco reigned in Ding Dong for “Badmind Energy,” a little refresher for those that were feeling “dutty” up to the neck with Alliance/Portmore Empire disses, and it’s chalk full of good vibes to feel clean to. You can get the track here.

England Town Medley

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Saturday I spent the morning with a few locals of Sherwood-Content (the childhood home of Usain Bolt) talking to them about the affects of Bauxite mining in the area (eg. how it affects the ground water, the natural resources, jobs, ect.) One man in particular was fervently opposed to the mining and raised his fist in the air to incite physical opposition to the outsiders. It was inspiring to see someone with so much motivation but in the long run, organizing is an ongoing upward battle and it takes a whole lot of discipline to make anything happen especially since more often then not, the opposition has a hell of a lot more money, time and energy for the fight. Hopefully the Sherwood-Content community won’t give up their fight.

On a lighter note, getting out of Kingston and into the Jamaican interior inspired me to find some of my own discipline and finally cook an official Jamaican dish. So last night I let my Gungo beans soak and today I’m cooking chicken curry with rice and beans*. But before that gets underway, I wanna mention a new video for the England Town Medley, which features most of the Portmore Empire crew including a little wordy foreplay from Vybz Kartel and Shebba. You can get Vybz and Shebba’s “Do Me Dat” at The Heatwave blog.

Before I check out, I’m a leave on a positive note since I bogged you down with a little bit of real talk. This G Whizz song has been lingering around the top ten charts for a few weeks now, and while the video doesn’t make a whole lot of sense visually, G Whizz has been making waves with “On and On” and also his hit “Life,” which you can get here. I particularly like the section where he’s on the cover of “Sort Out” magazine. How can I get up in that shit?

*Ed note: rice and peas

FADER’s The Let Out, NYC et al

This week has been less then fortunate when it comes to spare time so I’m finally taking a moment to breath and catch up on the last few weeks activities. First off let me start by saying “Frenchmen” in Ochi Rios last Sunday was well worth the muddy shoes and blue Mondayz since not only did I have more good food then I could fit into my belly and almost a handle’s worth of liquor, I danced until I literally couldn’t walk. Shaky legs were mostly the result of Soca beats that my blown out ears were a little too greedy to process including one particular song played twice from Saint Vincent’s Zoelah, “More Water”. One particular blog, Triniposse, pretty much dishes out any Soca sounds you’re craving and a little bit of around-the-way dancehall, or both, like this Busy Signal remix of Zoelah’s “More Water.”

Also, I failed to mention that a few weeks ago I got the chance to DJ for The Fader’s The Let Out, a weekly radio broadcast from East Village Radio, a tiny little portal for blasting jams. In addition to playing some of my current favorites, I caught up with The Fader Fam and we roughly touched base on the Gaza vs. Gully beef– which I openly acknowledged that I accept and don’t fully understand. You can listen to the entire two hour podcast on OCT 8th here or you can cut through my verbal shortcomings and go straight to the mix which I compiled for you here.

Track List:
1. Serani, “Be With You”
2. Ding Dong, “Responsible Parents”
3. Mavado, “Can’t Take Wi Life”
4. Merital feat. Vybz Kartel, “My Money, HAHA”
5. T-Nez, “Whats Up Money”
6. Laden, “Pree Dem a Pree”
7. Blak Ryhno, “Whine Up Yuh Body”
8. Busy Signal, “Tightest”
9. Tiki, “No Gal Nuh Hatta”
10. Ding Dong, “Holiday”
11. Assassin, Hand Ina Di Air”
12. Mr. Vegas, “Gallis”
13. Beenie Man, “Gimme Gimme”
14. Aidonia, “Big Matic Nuh Laugh”

And if you missed my verbal shortcomings on EVR and skipped to the mix, don’t worry, because you can check out journalism student, Natty Ciolko’s, Dancehall Podcast that I was interviewed for alongside my REtv homie, Casmar James here. Big ups to Natty for giving the dish all the way from Austin to Kingston.

Headed to Maroontown for a couple days. Soon Come!

Busy Signal, “Hottt ed Medley”

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Late on this but so many good tracks from this album all concentrated into one jamming video? Loves it.

Shawn Storm, “Mama Told Me This is Love”

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Um, who is this Portmore Empire Shawn Storm? This song is from the Go-Go Riddim from a while back but I’m recirculating it into my, “must jam” playlist.

World Premiere Riddim (Slept On)

My bad. I slept on this Chimney Records riddim, but truth be told last week when I went to download it alongside the Outbreak Riddim it wasn’t available in all it’s entirety. So now you can get it here. I’d also like to mention that this weekend is Hero’s weekend and there will be a truck load of parties happening pretty much everywhere on the island. I will be chilling in Ocho Rios at Frenchman and hopefully I’ll be able to get my camera working by then so, for God’s sake, I can finally start documenting my less debaucherous moments in JA.

Also my “select” choice from the World Premiere Riddim:

Giants Riddim OCT09

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I’ve made it back to the land of Curry Goat and Juici Patties after what felt like a blink of a trip to New York and sure enough a new riddim dropped while I was away getting my fill of chicken and waffles and Pabst Blue Ribbon. While my hunt for the entire Giants Riddim was unsuccessful (for free anyways) I did sweep up this Konshens bit and a track each from Vybz and Elephant Man which you can get here. Since Konshens’ “Winner” hit he’s had a decent mixtape and seven inch, both slept on, and I always welcome anything from him with open arms. In addition the Giants Riddim is suppose to also have a new track from Ding Dong who’s been stealing the airwaves as of late and whom I suspect will only get bigger and bigger after “Holiday.”

*(Ed. Note) The entire Giants Riddim is now available here

Vybz Kartel, “Yuh Love” Video

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A while back I posted this Dre Skull produced track from Vybz Kartel and it wasn’t until I was stumbling around Jamaica’s version of youtube, Boottu.com, that I realized a video was released for it last week. Not a lot going on here except a couple dancing alone and Vybz serenading them to their slowdance but thought it was worth a gander.

Spanner Banner, “Rolling Stone”

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When I say it’s really hot in Jamaica, most of my friends on the North American continent scoff at me because they’re harboring resentment for what some term “island life”. Trust, it’s not all Mai Tai’s and Banana Boat sunblock. Since it is about 86 degrees today and the humidity makes it feel about 93, making your way down the road to grab food takes a lot of will power sometimes because you’re sweating like a pig and the heat makes your belly feel full. In my haziness today I put my shirt on inside out before heading out and while most days I get a holler from the security guards at the US Embassy, then the men at the gas station, the window washers across from Texaco and the bodega dude at the stop light, I think today my inside-out shirt was particularly provacative because a bus full of school children gracefully pointed out what a “white bitch” I was wearing…. or maybe they weren’t talking about my mussed white tee. If it’s my skin that’s the issue for these kids– and they probably don’t fully understand why– the only thing they need know about it is that it’s thick.

Point being, Jamaica isn’t permanent vacation, that’s just an illusion. It’s no coincidence that after those kids called me “white bitch” they asked for money and while tourism is just one component of that unfortunate interaction, it consumes a big ratio of it and perpetuates “hustling” in the yute. Which brings me to Spanner Banner because there is no better cure for the blues then some good ‘ol make love reggae and Spanner Banner’s “Rolling Stone” has been at the top of the REtv charts for about two weeks now. A simple jam for obvious reasons, it’s a good song to vacate your mind to when necessary. Also, since I’m headed to New York for the weekend I’ll be off the map– heads up!– but come Monday morning it’s Kingston Town I’ll be returning home to.

Outbreak Riddim Oct 2009

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The “Outbreak Riddim” dropped earlier today after being relinquished Sunday night by Tony Matterhorn at a dance in Port Royal. It features a lot of the usual players but I particularly like Laden’s bit, “Pree Dem A Pree,” which basically means, they pry in the dancehall world– Mavado also had a pretty gruesome song on the Silent River Riddim dissing Vybz called “Dem a Pree” which Laden pays homage to here. You can get the whole Outbreak Riddim over at Jamworld.