Having only been inconvenienced recently in Canada and not jacked up, stripped or mobbed, as is the popular opinion – 'Gangsta for Life,' Mavado was back in studio last week to record a track for incarcerated rapper, Foxy Brown's upcoming album, set to drop in November. It is official, that Mavado’s possessions were stolen by unscrupulous persons, reportedly connected to the Toronto hotel he stayed in. This incident was just another stumbling block and has effectively been overcome.

So "Feisty Foxy" and de 'Gangsta for Life,' have a tentative title for the new collaboration - "Fire." It was recorded at DASECA's studio with Koch Records' Bob Perry as producer. A report explained how Foxy planned this collaboration for some time now, shouting out Mavado on the intro and laying down her verses around 2 months ago.

"Foxy had been in dialogue with my manager for some time now talking about doing the track," said Mavado. "You know Foxy's a hothead so the combination with me and her was fire!"

"Koch has a lot of money invested in Foxy's project," said Perry. "Her going to jail obviously threw a spanner in the works, but we have to try and capitalize on the publicity that it has generated, which is why we are pushing out the record as quickly as we can."

Koch Records has an impressive and ever-growing roster of acts from all genres of music and this has thrust them to the top spot in the world as an independent record label. "Koch had some great success recently with the Sean Kingston single," Perry explained, "So our radio department is very strong at the moment. We were hoping Mavado would give us a great record that we could push as the single and we weren't disappointed."

Mavado has been spreading his wings with collaborations with overseas acts, teaming up with Busta Rhymes, Wyclef Jean and Uncle Murder recently for songs on their albums. Sales of his album, "Gangsta For Life - the Symphony of David Brooks" have been going well, keeping him in the Billboard Reggae Top 10 since its release.

Jah Cure's first performance since his release from prison on July 28, 2007 has left a lasting impression on his European fans. On Sunday August 12 at the Reggae Sundance Festival in Eindhoven, Holland, Jah Cure performed in front of 20,000 persons who were longing for that day. Irie FM's Elise Kelly gave a graphic report of this moment that she called absolutely phenomenal.

Kelly, who was present for most of the Reggae Sundance performances, lauded praises on all the "Masters of Their Craft" who gave brilliant presentations to the massive European audiences. Besides what is now termed as the historic crowd reception for Jah Cure, patrons were said to be highly engaged and enthusiastic throughout. Performances by reggae giants like, Bunny Wailer, Tony Rebel, Marcia Griffiths, Gregory Isaacs, Buju Banton, Jimmy Cliff and Anthony B were reportedly energy filled and well received.

The undisputed highlight of the festival this year, Jah Cure won out on a toss up as to who would close the show. Choices were Cure or Capleton… and after Capleton "bun down de place" with his mighty flaming sound, Jah Cure emerged and pandemonium broke out with the tumultuous applause and warm reception. In describing Jah Cure, Kelly said, "Looking absolutely handsome in full white Jah Cure received the kind of love in Holland that was phenomenal." With the excellent music direction of Dean Fraser, and in full control – with enormous confidence, Jah Cure mesmerized the Sundance audience.

After 2 encores and after the band had dismantled, the 20,000 strong in the Sundance field refused to move, Kelly reported. They wanted more of Jah Cure, and he could not refuse such a determined lot. Coming back one last time, Jah Cure polished off a tremendous show that had people interacting with tears and in song. Worldwide it has been described as a historical moment.

Fresh from the successful US launch of his much anticipated debut album, "Gangsta for Life – the Symphony of David Brooks," Mavado has returned to the island to shoot a video for his mega hit "Squeeze Her Breast," the summer anthem also featured on his album.

The video was shot over two days on location in Cassava Piece and in a sound studio, with scores of hot girls flooding the camera lens. The video, which was directed by Julia Braham, also features a snippet of the follow-up to Squeeze Her Breast, "Twice a Day," a song that leaves little to the imagination. The video has now been edited and should be hitting TV screens over the next couple of weeks.

Mavado will be returning to New York later this month to headline the Carifest stage show, as well as to film a big budget video for the second single from "Gangsta For Life."

"Dying" - the first single from the album - is now the number 1 record in rotation on New York's HOT 97 FM.

Mavado recently made an appearance at Funkmaster Flex's Custom Car and Bike Show in Hartford Connecticut, where he appeared alongside many of the top rappers in the game, such as T.I, Yung Buck, Jim Jones. Camron and Mike Jones. Shaggy and Elephant Man also represented for Jamaica.

On the recording front Mavado voiced a track with Akon and Busta Rhymes for Busta's upcoming album, to be released on Dr Dre's Aftermath Records imprint. He also recorded two tracks with Wyclef Jean and Uncle Murder for their respective upcoming albums.
Mavado will be hosting the Jamaican launch of the album towards the end of this month.

By: Joseph Cunningham
On August 12, 2007, Jah Cure is expected to make his first overseas appearance since being released last month. According to his manager, Allison Hunt, he will perform at The Sundance Festival in Holland. She also confirmed that news about his being scheduled to perform in the United States in upcoming months are unfounded and false.

The current "hot ticket" in reggae - Jah Cure is literally busting out all over, with an unprecedented popular winning streak that overrides the negativity of his recent unfortunate incarceration.

Born on October 11th, 1978 in Hanover, Jamaica and raised in Kingston, the talented singer was given the name Jah Cure by Reggae superstar, Capleton whom he met while growing up in Kingston. His first big break came in 1997 when he released the single "King of the Jungle" which was a duet with Sizzla. The single was produced by Beres Hammond who became Cure's mentor. He then released a steady stream of singles that won him critical and popular acclaim

In November 1998, while driving around Montego Bay, Jah Cure was pulled over by the police and arrested on rape and other charges that have been reportedly questionable and absolutely denied by Jah Cure.

While in prison, with access to recording equipment, Jah Cure released three albums and a number of singles, some of which have topped the Jamaican and foreign charts. His first album "Free Jah Cure" was released in 2000, it was followed by "Ghetto Life" in 2003 and "Freedom Blues" in 2005. More recently Jah Cure has released the singles, "Love Is", "Longing For" and "True Reflections," further showcasing his unique voice and lyrical ability.

Three days after his July 28, 2007 release from prison, Jah Cure's fourth album, "True Reflections.... A New Beginning" was released

Natural Bridge recording artiste Mr. Peppa shot a medley music video last week for the songs 'When Last' and 'Pressure Dem'. The video was shot in the Kingston area under the direction of music video director Julia Braham who has been making a name for herself on the local scenes. Following hot on the tracks of the medley video, will be the shooting of another music video which will be shot on film for the song 'Whining', and will be directed by internationally acclaimed Ras Kassa 'The Guru', by the end of July, so as to catch the summer buzz. The video treatment for 'Whining' is currently been worked on and will be shot on film for the international market.

After the video shoot Mr. Peppa along with Ward 21 will head to Costa Rica for two shows in July to promote their combination single called 'Chatty Mouth' which made the Reggaeton chart in Costa Rica. While in Costa Rica, Mr. Peppa and Ward 21 will be making appearances at several radio and television stations, where they have been enjoying heavy rotation. Thereafter Mr. Peppa will be heading to the United Kingdom for a mini tour, where he has also been enjoying favourable airplay.

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The Portmore-based Dallas Dancers were the centre of attention at the recent video shoot for the international version of Shaggy's Church Heathen. The shoot which took place on Tuesday May 22 at the Asylum nightclub, saw the Dallas Dancers creating a storm with their well choreographed dance routines.

Directed by Jay Will, the international edition of the Church Heathen video saw cameo appearances from the likes of Danny Champagnie, media personality Miss Kitty and Ninja Man among others.

"We had a good time working with Jay Will. He has always been looking out for Dallas Dancers and we thank him for giving us the opportunity to display our talent", Baswell Rhoden, a member of Dallas Dancers commented.

Apart from the Dallas Dancers, the video shoot also featured dancers including Mad Michelle, Black Blingaz, Sample Six and Cadillac Dancers.

The six member Dallas Dancers, a spin-off from the Portmore Dancers, were recently featured in videos for Jimmy Cozier and Sri Lankan artiste MIA. Both videos were directed by Jay Will.

Downsound Records did a three day shoot for two videos, Nanko's 'Loco Amore' and the 'Sika Medley' last week which involved scenes shot over two days in the parish of Portland, and culminated in an exciting alcohol-fueled, girl-crazy finale at the Asylum nightclub in Kingston on day three.

The HWT-based music outfit shot the Sika Medley at the Asylum nightclub on Tuesday. The video features the artistes Harry Toddler's 'Beggy Beggy', I Maroon's 'One Woman Kill Nature', Nanko's 'Step Up In the Club', Lion's title track, 'Sika' and Natalie's 'Big Things', Millennium 'Dig It'. The Cadillac Dancers also developed a new dance move called the 'Sika' to compliment the rhythm.

"The shoot went really well, we got some great scenes, especially with our slate of upcoming acts. Downsound believes in working with young artistes, they're hungry and they have great potential, and we have some amazing beach footage with Nanko in Portland for his solo, 'Loco Amore'," Downsound boss Joseph Bogdanovich said.

Scenes for 'Loco Amore', Nanko's follow-up to his monster hit, 'Lucky You', were shot at the studio in HWT, Frenchman's Cove, Portland Port Royal and in Kingston. A scene was also shot at Morgan's Harbour in Port Royal.

"This video is a sure hit!" exclaimed Teneille Baxter, A & R representative of Downsound Records. "We got great response from the regulars at the club, it was very exciting, we got some great shots, especially a scene where Nanko grabs the mike, jumps on stage and the girls rush him and take off his shirt...it was incredible to capture that on film."

Xtra News was able to get a sneak peak of what the video for 'Loco Amore' was all about.

"In Loco Amore, which in English, means 'crazy love', Nanko is showing the many ways how to treat a lady, the fine places you can take her, traveling with her in the Caribbean, or romancing her at home. The ladies are going to love this video," Mr. Baxter said.

A young lady called Bouriesha plays Nanko's love interest in the video.

Downsound is known for its breakthrough work in the video field, having shot the critically acclaimed 'Hungry' video featuring Fantan Mojah, and 'True Reflections' with Jah Cure. Joe B, who directed both videos, is once again at the controls. Downsound editor Roger Maxwell is now editing the clips, and the video will soon be aired on local television stations such as CVM, TVJ, HYPE, RE and JUICE.

NEW YORK
It's Official. The biggest bootlegg movie of all times, hits the big screen on September 15th, 2006!

The movie that has been nicknamed, The Jamaican Scarface, Shottas will make it's theatrical debut across the United States late summer.

Distributed by Sony/Screen Gems, the official release of one of the most popular movies ever with an allstar caribbean cast, is sure to become a box office hit.

Shottas Part 1 hits the big time!

Cess Silvera, the writer, director, and producer of Shottas, is confident and proud of the finished masterpiece. "Shottas has been re-edited, and Stephen Marley has redone the music score. The movie is in new form. You've never seen Shottas like this before. Clarity, surround sound, quality, and you do not want to miss the opening three minutes. It's ridiculously sick. Shilo, I can't even disclose the opening scene to you. Everyone just have to get to the theatre early."

Shottas has inspired movies such as 'City Of God', and is now officially the biggest ever bootlegg movie to date. According to Cess, 'we have to prove to the industry, to Hollywood, that our movies can sell. The bootleggers owe us,' Cess remarked laughing. 'You all have one or two bootlegg copies. It's payback time now.'

Everyone is asking about Shottas part two.

Well, the wait will soon be over, but we must do our part to support our own. The filming of part two takes place in October 2006, and is slated for an early 2007 release.

However, to ensure the success of part two, we all have to come together and support part one. Please don't sit and wait for the bootleggers to get out of control...and please, don't wait until the 'next' week because you didn't have the time. Make the time. Our culture depends on this.

The weekend of September 15th, we have to all flood every theatre across the United States showing Shottas. First weekend sales count for everything.

If you feel there is something you can do to make a box office record a reality, please contact me at msshilo@gmail.com.

Shottas stars, Ky-Mani Marley, Spragga Benz, Paul Campbell, Louie Rankin & Wyclef John.

'Sugar Mommies', a play centred around the issue of sex tourism in Jamaica, especially the practice of older Caucasian women coming to the island resorts to 'get their grooves back' with young nubile black men.

The plot focuses on white women from the UK and US who come to Jamaica to be with 'rastatutes' or 'rent-a-dreads', and comes with a high price for the 'milk bottles' or 'whiteys' as the white woman are supposedly called. The play debuts on August 5 at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre next month.

Playwright Tanika Gupta traveled to Jamaica, and conducted 240 interviews with females, primarily sex tourists, in order to do research for the project. The play will be directed by Indhu Rubasingham and stars Canadian-born actress Linda Bellingham. It will run through to September 2.

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Music video director Ras Kassa of 'Welcome to Jamrock' fame got his major international break when he co-directed Sean Paul's latest video which was done for the single, 'Never Gonna Be the Same' alongside internationally recognised director Jesse Terrero who shot the infamous 50 Cent 'Candy Shop' video.

"It was a great vibe between me and Jesse, we shared ideas and I learned things from him and he maybe learned about how to make a Caribbean video, we just combined and the energy was great...the video is going to be great, some people say that it's the best song on his album," Ras Kassa of Guru Films said.

The video was shot on May 26th and May 27th in locations in Port Royal in East Kingston, Standpipe, St. Andrew and Jack's Hill in upper St. Andrew. It was the first time that Ras Kassa had worked with Sean Paul and Mr. Vegas since the project, 'Hot Gal Today' that was shot with Kevin Lee several years ago.

"It is Sean's first video in Jamaica since his international success, and it was great to be a part of the experience. We walked through Standpipe and featured Daddygon's brother Gaddy, it was an important video for Sean to do, and I am glad that we could have been a part of the project because it means a lot to Jamaica's own music video industry because the crew was 99.9 per cent Jamaica. Sean is well grounded and very very very real, we have to come together and support each other, or else reggaeton ah go run away with our glory," Ras Kassa warned.

Ras Kassa was nominated in the Best Music Video category for 'Welcome to the Jamrock' at the recent Vibe awards but eventually lost out to R. Kelly's 'Trapped in the Closet'.

"We won just being nominated in the first place, in that category, we were the only video that was shot on DVD, all those other videos were shot on 35 mm film, and the lowest budget for one was US$200,000, ours was not even US$50,000, we won just to make it there," he said.

The video will be edited in Los Angeles, and Kassa will be flying to that city to 'see how it ah gwaan'.

Beenie Man and R & B singer Akon shot a video for their combination single, 'Girls' last week. The song, which has been getting a lot of spins on hip hop stations, is one of the tracks on Beenie Man's upcoming 'Undisputed' album set for release on July 18, 2006.

"It was a two-day shoot and we did a lot of green screen work so the images will be added later. I always like working with Little X The buzz on the song so far is good, I am looking forward to seeing the finished video," he told YardFlex.Com.

Beenie Man will be shooting the video for 'Hmm Hmm' next week as well. "Hmm Hmm" is the lead single of the album for which the Doctor has enlisted his superstar friends such as hip-hop mega-hit maker Scott Storch (Beyonce, Eve, Chris Brown, Nelly, The Roots), and studio guests such as Akon ("Lonely") and reggaeton's seminal female star, Ivy Queen.

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By: PaPa & RaZZi

Mr. Peppa shot the music video for his slamming new single, 'Gangsta Guerilla' last weekend. The shoot took place over two days in the Corporate Area, and featured scenes from shot at such locations as the juice factory in Allman Town, Kingston, the 'white room' at ADVIDCO, and the Habibi Latino Restaurant in New Kingston.

"The video depicts the 'survival mode' that everyone in this society, whether rich or poor, can relate to, the struggle to survive and function in a very competitive society so this song addresses some critical social issues. The concept for it was Mark's (Pinnock) idea, and I added in some parts. When it makes its debut in two weeks, it's going to be crazy," Mr. Peppa told YardFlex.com.

The director of the video is Maci-Don, and the editor is Endless.
"We have some real footage of motorists winding up their car windows at the approach of street youths, we have an 'uptown yute' going through similar struggle, because we really face the same kind of struggles whoever you are," he reasoned.

Are you concerned that 'Gangsta Guerilla' may be regarded as a 'thug anthem' rather than a clever bit of social commentary?

"Not really. The song addresses social issues but from you say, 'Gangsta Guerilla, we no tek chat...', people will interpret that in a more thuggish manner

The single appears on the 'Gully Slime' rhythm, the latest Natural Bridge project, and will be distributed by In the Streetz. Other songs on the rhythm include Matterhorn's 'Goodas Fi Dem, as well as song by WARD 21 and a combination between Mr. Lex and Vegas. The video is expected to premiere on local cable and TV stations within the next two weeks.

You can see Mr. Peppa live at a show this Saturday at Weekenz on Constant Spring Road, St. Andrew.

It's unsurprising that the video for Rihanna's latest single, S.O.S. (Rescue Me) contains an alluring bronzed woman, flashing lights, and close-ups because (1) these are nearly prerequisites for MTV videos and (2) Rihanna is so gorgeous that she really doesn't need to do anything to entertain. Throughout the video she sprawls in a corner and dances in sultry outfits; the lyrics suggest that a boy has her &ldquostressing" and "calling out for help," though she certainly doesn't seem to be losing any sleep over it.

RihannaFor Rihanna, a native of Barbados, this video is a departure from the dancehall theme of her two previous singles, If It's Lovin' That You Want and Pon de Replay. Gone are the beach scenes, the DJs, and the Caribbean backing track. In fact, this video is shot against an erratic monochromatic background, features few choreographed dance scenes, and a thundering beat that is an obvious appropriation of Soft Cell's eighties hit Tainted Love.

As a result, Rihanna's choreography in S.O.S pales in comparison to her previous work, but fits well with the song; the hazy lighting and changing backgrounds even compensate for the lack of synchronized movement.

Overall, S.O.S. is a fairly standard pop music video. Rihanna burst onto the charts last summer with a unique sound, but her latest effort merely indicates that she is versatile enough to produce hits outside of the reggae/dancehall realm, just like every other pop singer. At least, in comparison to her recent Nike advertisement featuring this song, the music video attempts to interpret and complicate the song lyrics. Unfortunately, despite this valiant goal, it ends up being largely indistinguishable from other videos in the same genre, I guess I'll have to wait for her next one to "rescue me" from the monotony.

Source: The Harvard Crimson (http://www.thecrimson.com)

The new single, Whistle, performed by the duo of Leftside and Esco, has been creating waves since the video hit television screens a little over two weeks ago. The soca-influenced song which is really a take off from the Iwer George hit Water (recorded a while back), has been embraced by the Wata product for its latest promotional vehicle.

'This song is basically a work for hire. The distributors of the Wata product wanted to recreate a song coming off the Iwer George song. The vibe has been good so far', Matthew 'Esco' Thompson explained in an interview on the weekend.

Although a bit suggestive, Whistle appears to have been embraced by loyal soca enthusiasts. 'We hope it will do well for the carnival season. If you notice, the video has a lot of girls, and we tried to create a whole different look', added Thompson.

The video for Whistle was shot on location in Lime Cay a few weeks ago and YardFlex's finest was there PaPa & Razzi.

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Text & Photo By Warlington

The Dynamic duo Tanto Metro & Devonte - "Musically Inclined" their latest album will hit the selves on March 21, 2006. The Duo have recently shot the video for one of the lead single on their album titled 'Good Or Bad Times' produced by Troyton Remi for Black Shadow Records on the Blink Riddim. The video was shot at 11 Lindsay Crecesnt in the studio of Advico/Music Plus.

This magnificent video was the sole responsibility of Rass Kassa, which he says will be premiering on MTV-TEMPO within the next couple of weeks.

Tanto Metro & Devonte are now hard at work promoting the single as well as their upcoming album. They did themselves well last week at VP Records Spring Break held at Margaretville, Negril.

They also recently did Wild 98.7 FM annual show called 'Wild Splash' in Tampa which features other top act like Ne-Yo, Bubba Sparxx, Tami Chynn, Elephant Man to name a few. Their next big assignment will take them to New York on the Life Beat Concert - 'Reggae Explosion 3' that will be held on March 29, 2006 at

Rolling Wid PaPa & Razzi

SOLD OUT! When Beenie Man shot the video for his new single, 'Swing Eh Weh' in Barbican Place, the uptown garrison, it was no comparison, the whole community came out for the event. School kids coming home from school stopped by, mangy dogs and even an old codger that looked like he must have had his last erection in 1987 showed to ogle the winking bellybuttons, exposed thighs, and daring fashions of the Barbican hotties at the video shoot.

It's the first time that Pappa and Razzi have ever seen so many girls dressed up in their finest on a hot, Tuesday afternoon, even the bleached-out face ones who normally scorn the sun like it's something lethal appeared in their numbers. And Kingston, de gal dem hot!

"Today, ah normal day, and look how the gal dem dressed to impress," one man said, a big grin spreading across his black oily face. "Yo, ah history dis!".

When Pappa and Razzi got there, Beenie Man was cracking jokes about deejays with 'hurricane tongues', dissing the 'ugly girls', and boasting about 'how blessed he was'. He even deejayed snatches of a new song called 'Whe' that he seemed to be in the process of writing.

Eventually, the video shoot kicked off. Director Abidan Campbell of Green Gorilla Media Ltd. shot a scene where Beenie Man, in full black, and the dancer Sample - creator of the Swing It' Weh dance - faced the cameras while a small army of women stood in the background behind him. Jamaica is one of those few places left where ordinary women of all shapes, colours, sizes and looks can find their way into music videos. The director shot a few scenes of people coming out of the land, demonstrating the arm-heavy dance while marching in double file. Quite a few of them were seen rubbing their shoulder blades after a few takes. Cha-ching for the doctors and chiropractors.

Why?

Because Swing Eh' Weh, is a dance designed by a man with a fiendish imagination, possibly with the express purpose of creating a brand new set of dance-related injuries. Check this out: the dance is done by leaning forward at an angle, while swinging your right arm in a quickly rotating circle. It is a dance that is calculated to put pressure on, and possibly throw out your rotator cup, or maybe, to put out an eye of the unsuspecting person standing next to you. It will soon be a favourite in many hospital wards, and doctors’ offices across the island.

But for that day, 'Swing Eh' Way' from Sample 6 was the name on everybody's lips. Big up Zumjay who dropped by, as well as the Sample 6 dancers, BIG UP Jackie Sample, the big man's baby mother, respect to Park Girls and the 3-5 massive, as well as Mikey Matthis. Extra special big up to the cute cute browning inna the white and blue, yu look good bad!

By: Jigga Mattic
Photos By Warlington

Dressed to the nines in a white business suit and her hair a stunning red, D'Angel looked like the portrait of a take-no-prisoners career woman on the set of her new video, 'Give the Woman a Chance' on Wednesday afternoon. The video was shot by critically acclaimed director Nordia Rose at Victoria House, Lindsay Crescent.

"I think that this song is an important one because it sends a clear message to women that they can succeed at the highest level of politics and business, if they just stick to their guns," D'Angel said.

The set was painted in a dazzling white. The Jamaican flag, and an orangish-Jamaican coat of arms appeared in the background while D’Angel, reading from her prepared speech, addressed a crowd of women. The single, which was recorded in the euphoria surrounding Portia Simpson Miller's victory in the PNP Presidential elections, appears on the Free Willy label. Former Rising Star sensation Face and dancer Keiva were also present at the video shoot.

Beenie Man clowned around at the video shoot as well. At one point, while D'Angel was off camera, he walked up to the lectern, cleared his throat and began to speak.

"From Portia win, no woman no waan cook fi dem man again!" he declared.
Laughter greeted this remark.
"No gal no waan wash clothes again!" Boos this time.
"Me? Me? Me?" he said, indignant now.
"Tek him offa the stage," Nordia shouted out. A man stepped forward, and tried to drag him off the stage, but he refused to go, holding onto the lectern.

"Is we run tings! Yu hear that! We! Man run things." More boos. Whistles of derision.

"No? Den is who run tings?"
"Woman run tings!" the females shouted in unison.
Finally, he was dragged off the set. The ladies then burst into applause.

Grinning sheepishly, Beenie Man, the ardent troublemaker, then declared: "That was a good shot."
YardFlex thinks so too. The video will be edited soon, and will premiere on Jamaican television in a few weeks.