Local Entertainment

THE Issa family in Jamaica is renowned for their contribution to the business and hotel sector. Noah Issa, however, is carving out his name in a different space. He has thrown his hat into the arena of music.

Singjay Bashwa's home town May Pen was going through the wars three years ago, with a spate of homicides making the once-peaceful business district one of the most violent areas in Jamaica. It inspired him to write and record Table Turn , which was released last year.Table Turn is one of 12 songs on his EP of the same title which was released in January by B13 Records.

WHEN most reggae fans think about the music in the United States, New York City and California. Those areas have been the most receptive to Jamaican music for over 45 years.The Big Apple, with its vast Jamaican communities in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, is home to numerous independent reggae labels and radio stations who mainly pushed dancehall music.

AMERICAN rapper Lil Tjay, 18, is currently working on his sophomore album at Geejam studio in Portland. He has been in the island since early last week.

Live N Livin is one of two albums to hit the market from Grammy winner Sean Paul during 2021. The album was said to be inspired by the perception held by members of the music industry that dancehall is dead. Instead, Sean Paul intends to show that the popular genre is alive and well by including over twenty artistes on this one body of work.

Jamaican music has travelled a long way since Prince Buster, Millie Small, The Skatalites, and Desmond Dekker first entered the British Hit Parade in the early 1960s. Looking in the rear view mirror is cool but if we spend too long looking then we'll crash the bus. So, if the journey is to continue we must look to the future, to the road ahead, and much of that responsibility lies in the hands of today's new, up-and-coming artistes who are in the driving seat.

W ith all their hit songs and international acclaim, the classic Boney M line-up never made it big in the United States. Decades after they disbanded, the group returned to the Billboard charts last week with Rasputin , their 1978 disco nod to the controversial Russian mystic.

It's all systems go as the organisers of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival prepare for this weekend's virtual staging which will run from this Thursday, March 4 to Saturday, March 6. The event, which has been on hiatus since 2015 when it was staged at the Multi-purpose Stadium in Trelawny, will be streamed via the festival's social media platforms each night and feature an array of local, regional and international acts.

The local roots theatre fraternity is mourning the death of veteran actress of the genre Ruth Samuels. She died on February 19 in Miami, Florida, where she resided, from what are believed to be COVID-19-related complications.

Deejay Ajauni is hoping to bring a difference to the game with his natural flow and creative lyrics. He believes he can contribute something different from the current crop of trending artistes.“My lyrics are very personal and are based on my experiences and those of friends around me. I always try to better my craft and be more creative than I was before, so fans should definitely keep listening,” he explained.