Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sumfest Final Night Hits The Right Note
Sumfest Final Night Hits The Right Notea hit
- Int'l Jamaican acts wow the crowd
Anticipation simmered, slowly building to fever pitch, as fans anxiously awaited Reggae Sumfest 2011 International Night 2 headliner, Nicki Minaj's first performance in Jamaica on Saturday night.
Hip hop's resident queen and HNIC (Head Nicki in Charge) opened her act on the final night of the 'Greatest Reggae Show On Earth' to a rousing response to the hit song Roman's Revenge.
It was 1 a.m. when Minaj hit the Sumfest stage, on the heels of Hezron, Protoje and Gyptian. Holding true to her image, she ignited an electrical current that permeated the air, delivering a scorching performance.
Little Nicki Minajes stood in the audience singing in unison with their idol.
Gyptian held the audience's attention from start to finish. Mama Don't Cry was a crowd favourite, but I Can Feel Your Pain was met with an even louder response. There was no pain, just joy from those in attendance.
Reminding the audience of his first song, Gyptian performed Serious Times, then introduced his new single. Closing with his international breakthrough song, Hold Yuh, Gyptian easily received the loudest ovation to that point of the show.
Hezron got the audience involved with She's My Woman, his performance was aptly appreciated both by younger and older audience members, but it was his closing mainstream hit, Forever and Always, that earned him a huge ovation.
Not for everyone
Not all artistes have great stage presence, and not all deserve to be on Reggae Sumfest; new artiste Trudy was an unfortunate example.
Chalice was to close the show in a typically professional manner. The older audience members hung around and Chalice did not disappoint them.
Earlier performances came from Ramize, Ashley Martin, Denyque, Cherine Anderson and Laza Morgan.
janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com
Outstanding performances bring Reggae Sumfest to a close
Outstanding performances bring Reggae Sumfest to a close
BY CECELIA CAMPBELL-LIVINGSTON Observer staff reporter Livingstonc@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, July 25, 2011
MONTEGO BAY, St James — The 19th staging of Reggae Sumfest came to its climax Sunday morning at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex in Montego Bay with some outstanding performances.
US-based rapper Nicki Minaj, on her first performance in Jamaica, managed to excite the crowd with her expletive laced songs.
It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had those same expletives come from the lips of our own Jamaican performers. Two nights before, singjay IOctane admitted on stage that he was warned by the police not to perform the ganja-loving Puff It. Yet Minaj enjoyed the privilege of one expletive after another without any form of warning or sanction.
Nonetheless, her many fans, who seemed totally carried away, didn't mind. Whatever she dished out they were more than willing to lap up. Among the winning numbers she performed were Dungeon Dragon, Bottoms Up, My Chick Bad, Your Love, Monster, Bedrock and Moments For Life. Minaj also scored with her attempts to talk Jamaican and she totally wooed the crowd with her stage dramatics and appealing presence. If there was one negative about her performance where the fans were concerned, it was the shortness of her stint, as some openly commented on how quickly she exited the stage.
Earlier in the evening, young reggae songbird Cherine Anderson delighted by showing her musical versatility. She played the guitar as she sang the lyrics to Good Love. With the guitar segment out of the way she danced her way into the media section where she gently pulled onstage an Italian male visitor.
After Cherine's steamy performance Hezron was next. Always about the ladies, the artiste, backed by his harmonious back-up singers, easily wowed his way into the hearts of the thousands of females present with his sexy soul-filling love melodies. If churning the lyrics to songs, such as You Are Always On My Mind and Wait Until Tonight wasn't enough, he went the extra mile giving several ladies in the audience a rose much to their delight.
— Additional reporting by Simone Morgan
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Outstanding-performances-brings-Reggae-Sumfest-to-a-close#ixzz1T9W4QoEu
Friday, July 22, 2011
Ce'Cile To Release Album After Sumfest
Ce'Cile
Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer
It can be a challenge for even a veteran entertainer to top their last performance at an annual festival. Ce'Cile is no different in this regard, as she contemplates her performance at ReggaeSumfest tonight.
The dancehall bad gyal has performed on Jamaica's biggest reggae festival on a few occasions now, so the challenge is not new.
"It's always a challenge when, maybe you think the same people will be there, so you don't want to duplicate your performance," she said.
"This year, I wasn't planning anything flamboyant, calling up anybody, or having dancers. Last year, I had a nice surprise in Tanto Blacks, which went over so very well. I don't have any collaborations. As such, I don't know how to beat that, so I am just going to concentrate on getting the songs out there."
Back to basics
In other words, when all else fails, go back to basics. And that is exactly what Ce'Cile plans to do on tonight's Dancehall Night.
"When you have to do the same shows year after year, you have to have new songs and, luckily for me, for the dancehall section, I have Me Nuh Share Gyal Man, which I didn't have last year, and Rise Up, Tip Me. So I have new material which is pretty good that people have never seen me perform here yet on this big stage," she revealed.
"I hope just to concentrate on the songs this year and on my growth as a performer."
Ce'Cile believes Sumfest to be the best reggae festival in Jamaica and said it offers entertainers an opportunity to properly hone their skills, which helps when they perform overseas.
Sumfest, she said, is not a battleground, it's a performance ground where people look up to the performers, where the people support good music.
"What I like about Sumfest is that it's not like it's a fast-paced thing. You get to bring out you," she said.
"When you do well at Sumfest, people want to book you and I have done lots of shows all over the world, where you have to come up with good performances for like an hour or hour and 15 minutes. So I guess it has done a lot for us."
Sometime during the weeks following her Sumfest performance, Ce'Cile will release her second studio album. Her first - that helped spawn hits like Hot Like We - was released just over two years ago under different names for different markets: Bad Gyal in Japan and Germany, Worth It (online) and Waiting in North America. This latest effort, which contains a host of quality tracks, is to be released first in Europe by Kingstone/Groove Attack, and will be available on iTunes where fans can also find the first single, Singing This Song.
The single, which is on a reggae beat with a hint of hip hop, was originally titled Nobody, but the name was changed because she already had another song by that name. It was written in 2008 and is basically about a girl who "even though she is spoiled and she is kind of a brat, her man loves her anyway".
The song and album will be serviced to radio locally in the very near future.
"We're actually doing this in a weird way. We're sending out the album and releasing the single without sending anything to radio," she said.
"The album (Jamaicanization) is 16 tracks, 13 of which are exclusive to the album, so it's something different we're trying because a lot of fans were saying they didn't know where to find what, especially when we have so many songs. I just wanted the buying public to have something exclusive for them. We will then come to Jamaica and release singles and have a nice album launch and everything, but we're taking it outside of Jamaica because, for the most part, that is where the buying public is and where the demand for the music is."
As the name suggests, the album is about bringing people back to what is Jamaican music or "what my interpretation of what our music is," she said.
The album will feature ska, rub-a-dub, reggae, dancehall; and she wrote all the songs and co-produced 13 of them. There are also some familiar tracks, including Nah Stress Over Man (Tony Kelly/BigYard), Gwaan Live Life (Germaine Mason), and When You're Gone (Cardiac Bass). It also features collaborations with Chris Martin, Million Stylz and Agent Sasco. With Sasco, who many also know as Assassin, she did Hey, which she describes as her favourite.
"E bad, e bad, e bad, e bad, oh my God, it's so bad," she said, describing the song which has an infectious old-school one-drop beat. She also favours a song called Sweetness, which is a collaboration with Chris Martin and a ballad, Without You. The beautifully designed album cover in the national colours, contains liner notes which are bits of historical facts about Jamaica, which Ce'Cile feels will add even greater value.
"This is about my country, about me. I want people to fall back in love with Jamaica," she said.
"It's like a little tourist destination. It's just my little musical journey, I am very proud of it."
It can be a challenge for even a veteran entertainer to top their last performance at an annual festival. Ce'Cile is no different in this regard, as she contemplates her performance at ReggaeSumfest tonight.
The dancehall bad gyal has performed on Jamaica's biggest reggae festival on a few occasions now, so the challenge is not new.
"It's always a challenge when, maybe you think the same people will be there, so you don't want to duplicate your performance," she said.
"This year, I wasn't planning anything flamboyant, calling up anybody, or having dancers. Last year, I had a nice surprise in Tanto Blacks, which went over so very well. I don't have any collaborations. As such, I don't know how to beat that, so I am just going to concentrate on getting the songs out there."
Back to basics
In other words, when all else fails, go back to basics. And that is exactly what Ce'Cile plans to do on tonight's Dancehall Night.
"When you have to do the same shows year after year, you have to have new songs and, luckily for me, for the dancehall section, I have Me Nuh Share Gyal Man, which I didn't have last year, and Rise Up, Tip Me. So I have new material which is pretty good that people have never seen me perform here yet on this big stage," she revealed.
"I hope just to concentrate on the songs this year and on my growth as a performer."
Ce'Cile believes Sumfest to be the best reggae festival in Jamaica and said it offers entertainers an opportunity to properly hone their skills, which helps when they perform overseas.
Sumfest, she said, is not a battleground, it's a performance ground where people look up to the performers, where the people support good music.
"What I like about Sumfest is that it's not like it's a fast-paced thing. You get to bring out you," she said.
"When you do well at Sumfest, people want to book you and I have done lots of shows all over the world, where you have to come up with good performances for like an hour or hour and 15 minutes. So I guess it has done a lot for us."
Sometime during the weeks following her Sumfest performance, Ce'Cile will release her second studio album. Her first - that helped spawn hits like Hot Like We - was released just over two years ago under different names for different markets: Bad Gyal in Japan and Germany, Worth It (online) and Waiting in North America. This latest effort, which contains a host of quality tracks, is to be released first in Europe by Kingstone/Groove Attack, and will be available on iTunes where fans can also find the first single, Singing This Song.
The single, which is on a reggae beat with a hint of hip hop, was originally titled Nobody, but the name was changed because she already had another song by that name. It was written in 2008 and is basically about a girl who "even though she is spoiled and she is kind of a brat, her man loves her anyway".
The song and album will be serviced to radio locally in the very near future.
"We're actually doing this in a weird way. We're sending out the album and releasing the single without sending anything to radio," she said.
"The album (Jamaicanization) is 16 tracks, 13 of which are exclusive to the album, so it's something different we're trying because a lot of fans were saying they didn't know where to find what, especially when we have so many songs. I just wanted the buying public to have something exclusive for them. We will then come to Jamaica and release singles and have a nice album launch and everything, but we're taking it outside of Jamaica because, for the most part, that is where the buying public is and where the demand for the music is."
As the name suggests, the album is about bringing people back to what is Jamaican music or "what my interpretation of what our music is," she said.
The album will feature ska, rub-a-dub, reggae, dancehall; and she wrote all the songs and co-produced 13 of them. There are also some familiar tracks, including Nah Stress Over Man (Tony Kelly/BigYard), Gwaan Live Life (Germaine Mason), and When You're Gone (Cardiac Bass). It also features collaborations with Chris Martin, Million Stylz and Agent Sasco. With Sasco, who many also know as Assassin, she did Hey, which she describes as her favourite.
"E bad, e bad, e bad, e bad, oh my God, it's so bad," she said, describing the song which has an infectious old-school one-drop beat. She also favours a song called Sweetness, which is a collaboration with Chris Martin and a ballad, Without You. The beautifully designed album cover in the national colours, contains liner notes which are bits of historical facts about Jamaica, which Ce'Cile feels will add even greater value.
"This is about my country, about me. I want people to fall back in love with Jamaica," she said.
"It's like a little tourist destination. It's just my little musical journey, I am very proud of it."
Thursday, July 21, 2011
HEZRON PROMISES CAREER PERFORMANCE ON SUMFEST
Hezron has been in incubation for a while and now he is finally breaking out...”
2011 has been a great year for Hezron and this Saturday night he will add another feather to his hat with what is expected to be a brilliant performance at Reggae Sumfest’s International Night 1.
Hezron who started off the year right with the release of his hit single Forever and Always on the Whatage Label has been very present on radio receiving heavy rotation on Irie FM, Hitz FM, Fame FM and several other stations. The artiste has also been charting on Stampedes Street Charts, Fiwi Charts, Richie B’s Jamaica Music Countdown, New York Reggae Music charts and the South Florida Reggae Music charts to name a few.
The artiste also has other successful releases such as She’s All Woman, Jammin Till a Morning and Two Places featuring Shaggy and is very excited about is latest trip to the Sumfest stage and is ready to give the performance of his career: “I am ready for Sumfest and I am very honored to be able to grace the Sumfest stage this year. I know the fans have high expectations of me and I am working hard to ensure that I don’t disappoint them I am very exciting at the opportunity.
Hezron has seen is star rise this year; he has become more recognized here in Jamaica and internationally as one of the next generation of up and coming reggae stars. The artiste who is currently signed to Star Zone Management is booked by RH Bookings with image management by Nesta Publicity. Hezron says the success he has seen over the last few months is all down to team effort and hard work: “This is a team effort we have worked hard on the music that we are putting out and are ensuring that everything is done professionally. I think this team is one that I want to continue with as we are seeing some good results”.
Meanwhile, Delmar Drummond of Star Zone believes Hezron will be one to watch for the coming year as a reggae act on the big stage: “Hezron has been in incubation for a while and now he is finally breaking out. Currently he has several songs on the radio getting heavy rotation as well as videos on TV being requested by numerous persons. We are happy with the way things have been going so far and we are just working to ensure that the good music continues to flow. We know Sumfest will be great”.
Catch Hezron on Sumfest International Night 2 this Saturday along with Nikki Minaj, Gyptian, Protoje and several other top flight artistes.
Catch Hezron on Sumfest International Night 2 this Saturday along with Nikki Minaj, Gyptian, Protoje and several other top flight artistes.
-end-
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