Oh &*%$#^

LivingGuyana blog has disappeared. I don't know what's going on!

Update:

The government reiterated the position of the Central Bank and said that Guyana’s financial system continues to be stable and the financial institutions operating in Guyana remain well-managed and financially sound.

Meanwhile, the police have also become involved in the matter. A statement said the force is investigating the Living Guyana blog as posts containing erroneous statements about two local banks were placed on that site.

According to police, the force acted after it received a complaint from GBTI concerning the article posted on the website livinguyana.blogspot.com alleging a bail-out approach to the BoG. Upon investigating, the police discovered a second article on the website which contained erroneous statements about Citizen’s Bank Guyana.

The Police said that these acts were “erroneous” and “wicked” and stated that they were “intended to cause public mischief.”
The police said that an investigation has been launched to verify who is hosting this website and to pursue any information which surfaces during the investigation. The release stated that both international and local agencies have been contacted for assistance in this investigation and added that if it is determined that the law has been broken anonymity will not exonerate anyone from the consequences.

Source

LivinGuyana is under police investigation. If he/she was in the USA they'd find him in 1 hour. So sad so sad!

The professor becomes the Head Master

Like I said before, I don't really follow calypso. Congrats Lester. I'm mighty glad it's a young person too cause it's usually the older geesers who go in their brightly colored get-ups to do the calypso.

Victory is indeed sweet for Lester Charles. Last Saturday the singer, who goes by the stage name “The Professor”, captured the 2009 Mashramani Calypso crown, which can only be described as just reward for years of hard toil and dedication.
On Saturday, the Professor delivered his lecture on how to “Save de Land”, with such confidence and skill, that there was no doubt as to who the winner was.

Lester Charles
Yet, getting to this point was not easy. Prior to the final, Charles spoke about his experiences singing calypso and some of the “ups and downs” that he has experienced. He said that the very first time he took part in a Calypso competition (which was back in 2000) he finished last of six contestants. This was a competition sponsored by his workplace the Aroaima Mining Company, but Charles said that the defeat only egged him on.
He continued to practice the calypso art form and decided to enter the Mashramani Calypso Competition in 2005, where he reached the finals but did not space. He did not participate in the Mashramani competition during the next two years, primarily because of the lack of financial support coupled with his busy work schedule. Yet all this time, Charles continued to practice his trade with the principal objective of rising to the top of his field.
He made an agonizing return to the Mashramani Calypso Competition last year when he lost the competition by a single point, placing second behind Young Bill Rogers, with his song “The Best Region”. He described this as a “heart-rending” experience as the crown had only just eluded his grasp. In spite of this, Charles said that he was not bitter since he felt that Rogers deserved the title.
Charles said that this defeat made him even more resolute and increased his determination to put his best foot forward this year and to capture the crown.
When he entered this year’s competition, he felt that he had a very good chance of winning. But when he heard the songs of some of the other competitors such as Dawn Edwards, and D’ Ivan and Calypso Stella, he felt he had a challenge on his hand. Added to this, there was the threat of the defending champion Young Bill Rogers.
On Saturday night, when he discovered that he had to perform first, he said he was a bit nervous but said he was ready for the challenge.
And ready he was. Charles was by far the most impressive singer on display. He managed to capture the hearts of the audience – something he says all performers seek to do. So when Charles was announced as this year’s Adult Calypso King it was not surprising. The victory has won him a cash prize of $550,000, which is a handy sum of money.
His song “Save de Land” calls on the leaders of the country to get their act together and move Guyana forward. He said that working in the bauxite industry has exposed him to the vast wealth of the country, but sadly the country has not been able to put this to maximum use. The chorus of his song was pellucid: “We country blessed/ But we leaders dem is what causing de pain/ We country blessed/But de opposition dem is the same/ We country blessed/ But none of dem can clean up this mess mess/ We country blessed/ But de cost of livin is stress, stress”.
Charles, though, is not being distracted by his success and told The Scene that he already has his eyes set on defending his crown in next year’s competition. But next year he would also like to participate in the Soca Competition and he has his eyes set on capturing that crown as well.
Given his dedication, this does not seem to be beyond the reach of the Professor.

Source

Maxi and Company save the day!

This is my 100th posting anniversary! I'm a veteran now. When will the comments start coming in? This is a labor of love i guess.

Some pics from the No T-Pain Concert:

Yummy! Maxi Priest.

Timeka who did your make up, you look ghostly! I still love you though.

Jumo do you thing babes!

You look better than the Soca Queen tonight, second ain't bad! Don't tek worries, next yr.

Beenie Man for those who don't know. I'm seeing a pattern here, the artists wearing white in a land of blackout!


Is this Serani? I asked cause this person looks a lil different from his videos, but not too different for me to rule him out!

You don't look too right G. You finally take off the hoody good job, now put on some lbs.


Ms Thing over here pick up Gialiani's trend. She must be really anemic.

The first thing that came to my mind was: "fly away with me" not not me, me cause I'm a girl. I'll just call it the Winged One.

Look what we are teaching these VSO kiddies! They will never be the same again.

Give she de daggerin' (I couldn't resist)

How did she get so lucky. Maxi's all braced up on her, smiling. I could just photoshop myself in her place! Keep your hands where they are and don't even think of putting them on Maxi! :(

It looks like the concert was a success. The laundry did a good job, it's now squeeky clean.

No Pain, No Gain! Not really!

T-Pain momma must have been reading up on Guyana and read all the bad things posted all over the interent and told her son not to go. He said, "Hells no, I'm not going there. I'm gonna chill right here, buy me a drink, get tipsy, get low and Kiss Kiss, Guyana goodbye! Kidnapping threats my behind! But wait, I see the new line of as better for our people: Serani as originally booked, Beenie Man, Maxi Priest , Shurwayne Winchester, Peter Ram and Biggie Irie. This is a fete right here. Also our local talent, Timeka Marshall who will officially launch "All night long", Shelly G our new Soca Monarch and the always entertaining X2- Adrian and Jumo. What more could Guyanese ask for?

Promoters hurt as T-Pain pulls out over threats
February 23, 2009
Grammy-nominated singer T-Pain has pulled out of tonight’s Hits and Jams after-Mash concert because he reportedly received word that he would be kidnapped and killed should he travel to Guyana.

Kerwin Bollers and Rawle Ferguson, the organisers of the show that was dubbed as the biggest ever, said that the US singer’s management would not reveal the names of the persons the information was received from but would only say that they got an email and a phone call from a group which said that it had credible information that the singer would be kidnapped and killed should he set foot here.

The organisers received the shocking piece of information just around 11 pm on Saturday and they told the media yesterday that no amount of persuasion on their part or from their associates in the US could change the singer’s camp’s minds.
“He is a young singer and he is scared and his mother is scared…” Bollers told the media.

Source

No one wants a daggerin!

According to the urbandictionary, daggering is:
A Jamaican slang use to refer to:
1. Having sex in a aggressive manner (hardcore).
2. Dancing and gyrating in an aggressive way

No to ‘daggerin’
By Stabroek staff | February 21, 2009 in The Scene
Culture Box

It was just about two weeks ago that we first visited the painful denigration of soca in the Caribbean. The art form, which should be simply a modern form of calypso with an up-tempo beat, we noted, had become little less than repetitious wining songs, which overly focused on the female form and contemptuously so.

We had not yet interviewed Shellon ‘Shelly G’ Garraway, who subsequently went on to win the 2009 Carib Soca Monarch crown. When we did speak to her prior to her win, she had predicted a win with her song “Work It”, which she said was “all about wining up… partying and having fun at Mash time with some ‘daggerin’ in between”. And according to her, “daggerin” is just another word for wining.

If Ms Garraway had coined the word ‘daggerin’ all on her own, we would not have had a problem with it. She could have given it any connotation she chose. However, since she has copied/stolen/borrowed it from Jamaican deejays such as Aidonia (“100 Stab”), Queen Paula (“Dagga Me Nuh”), Natalie Storm (“Kill Her wid di Daggerin”), as well as the usual suspects, including Beenie Man, Vybz Kartel, Sizzla and Tony Matterhorn, Ms Garraway cannot change the meaning of the word to suit herself. Anyone who knows any of the songs mentioned here, or can get a copy of the lyrics cannot be in any doubt about what ‘daggerin’ connotes; some of the songs actually spell it out.

I did read this in a previous article and thought to myself that it could not be possible that Shelly G not know what it meant. SO I asked around and some people do actually this means just whining. I recently heard a song out of Trinidad, Bubbling Gal by Patrice Roberts, she actually used daggering in the song but it's also used to mean whining. It goes "whine and stab, juk and stab, wuk and stab, grind and stab, tick-tock and stab, dagger dagger." Also Jamesy P Soca Daggerin' "hold a gal and whine, bend she over, (whine up whine up) smack de bumber, (whine) kill her with de daggering, daggering." On the other hand, a reggae flavored track out of TnT, the only lewd one I've heard is Squeezy Rankin Daggerin, I won't quote that one. Ok just a lil bit, a quicky "me bring tears to your eyes when i dagger you, make you pull out your weave when i dagger you." According to the definition reggae is using it according to the first meaning and soca as the second. Seems that way to moi.

There had been an ongoing debate in Jamaica about the public broadcasting of sexually-explicit music and videos under the broad title ‘daggerin’. Even Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding weighed in on the arguments on the ‘anti-daggerin’ side. It all culminated a week ago with a ban. The Jamaica Broadcasting Commission announced a prohibition on all ‘daggerin’ songs, recordings and videos which contain “explicitly sexual and violent lyrics” in breach of regulations that set standards that broadcasters are obliged to adhere to in keeping with the terms of their licences. The commission said the ban would help the society to re-establish the spaces between public and private behaviour and also between public morality and commercial considerations and private profit.

I've heard worse out of Jamaica!

So here we are. It is not unanimous, but Jamaicans have taken the high road in removing inappropriate content from its airwaves, while Guyanese, determined to propagate that which they perceive to be popular blind themselves to the fact that it is also offensive, indecent and immoral.

Why everybody picking on daggerin'? When Akon's "I wanna fuck you" was blasting in minibuses in GT why no-one took the high road then? How about all the run til I die songs? I find them to be damaging than daggerin. I find Guyanese react after the whole world already has.

We have noted that the “fans” – the audience at the soca monarch final – seemed to gravitate more to Ms Garraway’s ‘daggerin’ than the slew of wine-up songs and the others which involved social commentary. We therefore cannot blame Ms Garraway for taking advantage of this and giving the people exactly what they wanted. It might not have done much for her image as a woman. However, as a performer, it was a savvy move since the judges seemed to be at one with the crowd and she earned herself a title and huge purse.

My thoughts exactly. Daggerin makes everything more popular.

What next? Well since “Work It” won the soca crown, it will no doubt be played constantly on Mashramani day during the float parade; and this is where we foresee a problem. While there are no longer any children in the Mash Day float parade, there will be entire families out on the street, observing it. And as soca winner, “Work It” should also receive airplay, which brings it from the private setting of the soca competition to the public, which includes impressionable, underage children. We feel this is wrong. We have nothing against Ms Garraway, but we have to say an emphatic “no” to ‘daggerin’. We would like to suggest that she considers recording a cleaner version of her song for public airplay. We have noted that both Beenie Man and Lady Saw have done this in the past, showing that they are aware that there is a time and a place for everything. We hope that these qualities could also be copied.

If a child knows what daggerin means, we've gone too far already!

Source

Calypso Monarch Competition

No one pays any attention to calypso these days. It's also too political and the musical enjoyment is lost. It use to be better before but since I have not heard these contestants (there music is nowhere to be found by modern means), this is just FYI.

Twelve to battle for Calypso Crown tonight

February 14, 2009 | By knews | Filed Under News

… ‘D’ Ivan ready to dethrone reigning monarch

Thirst Park is expected to come alive to the sound of sweet calypso music tonight when 12 local artistes take to the stage to do battle for the Calypso 2K9 Crown.

Those battling to take the crown from the reigning monarch, Young Bill Rogers, are Ivan Harry — ‘D’ Ivan, Estelle Simpson — Stella, Lestor Charles — De Professor, Martin Byrnes — Mighty Voter, Derick Mangal — Bright Colours, Kenroy Fraser — Mighty Believer, Lindon Thomas — Sniper, Dawn Edwards, Karen Bennett — Lady Karen, Malcolm Corica — Mighty Canary, and Randolph Richard – Mighty Roraima.

The contenders will, however, have their work cut out for them, since the reigning monarch is far from ready to relinquish his title.

In an interview yesterday, he told Kaieteur News, “I am not intimidated! My song is good and carries a good message. Besides, I have been doing this for over 17 years, which gives me the experience and exposure needed to win this competition.

“I also think my international exposure will work to my advantage.” However, there are a number of contestants who are confident that, despite his assurances, the reigning monarch will be dethroned tonight.

One such person is ‘D’ Ivan,’ who told this newspaper that his song is a sure winner.
He describes his piece, “Agriculture is gonna make it for you,” as not only timely, but one which seeks to inspire Guyanese to ensure food security through farming.

A remigrant who is now involved in large scale farming, ‘D’ Ivan said the melody for the song was inspired by the rewarding experience he gained from tilling his land.

According to him, a bird which frequented his window ledge was the motivation for the melody which he describes as “harmonious, yet calming.”

“I loved the melody that the bird whistled, so I found the notes on my keyboard and developed the song.”
‘D’ Ivan believes that his vast singing experience over the last 40 years will also work in his favour tonight, since, as he puts it, “There’s no substitute for experience.”

‘D’Ivan entered the calypso competition with ‘Save the Children’ in 2004, but did not make it past the quarter finals.

Shelly G is the 2009 Soca Monarch

I was going to move her up to the top 4 since her song started to grow on me. I really like Shelly G, I believe she's one of our unique artists and the song is a nice dance tune, but the song had too much reggae "daggering" for a soca competition. I didn't rate her, because of that. However the quality of the song, the final performance can always put anyone over the edge. I still think Vanilla's Rude is the best entry. Congratulations Shelly G!

Anything written in red are my comments.

Shelly G is this year’s Carib Soca monarch
By Andre Haynes
February 17, 2009 in News
Saucy temptress Shellon ‘Shelly G’ Garraway captured this year’s Carib Soca Monarch crown, proving to be too hot to handle for the watered-down competition.

New Carib Soca Monarch Shellon “Shelly G” Garraway performing an encore after she was announced winner of the competition. Garraway is the first woman to win the title. Though brief showers threatened to dampen the proceedings, Garraway raised temperatures at the National Park with her performance of “Work It,” putting on an R-rated stage show that worked a captive crowd into a frenzied state and earned the approval of the judges. Sex Sells! With the win, Garraway became the first female winner in the six-year history of the competition. She also erased memories of her past finals appearance when she had infamously declared she was too tired and quit the competition mid-performance. “They say I can’t win this thing,” she said, during the performance. “But if you know this is my year, just say Shelly G!”
By then she had it locked. And when the results were finally announced, just before 2 am yesterday, there was little doubt about her claim to the title. Her closest rivals were Melissa ‘Vanilla’ Roberts and Wilbur ‘B-52’ Levans, who had to settle for the first and second runner-up spots. Calypso crooner turned soca singer Mark ‘Anaconda’ Batson was named Best Newcomer by the judges.

In the absence of last year’s monarch and Kross Kolor label mate Adrian Dutchin, it looked like either Roberts or Levans would walk away with the title, but all through the night the buzz was about Garraway and her racy new song. The gods also seemed to favour her as she was spared from the weather and audio glitches that affected some of the other performances. The air was almost electric when she took to the stage to begin her set, an extended electric guitar riff echoing around the park. The confetti flew and flames were sprayed into the air. ‘Shelly G’ had arrived and she left
no doubt about her intentions. “Get ready to dagger,” she wickedly announced, while flanked by dancers from the Classique Dance Company, who proceeded to conduct what could be called an extended instructional course on the finer points of wining. They went slow. They went fast. They went long and hard. They did it on the ground. And in the air. And not one of them lost their composure when a dwarf woman joined them.

Garraway herself led all the way through, while encouraging members of the audience to get in on the action. It must be said that while her act was perfectly in
keeping with her oeuvre of seductive stage shows, it was hardly on par with material like “Rampin Shop,” which led the Jamaican Broadcasting Commission’s to ban reggae-dancehall songs that contain sexually explicit lyrics. But the timing of the ban seems to have worked in her favour as it added to the appeal of the song. My thoughts exactly!

Overall, the finals lacked the high-concept theatrics that have been a staple in recent years, largely owing to Dutchin’s self-imposed sabbatical coupled with the notable absence of other leading soca singers, like Marlon ‘Malo’ Webster and Michelle ‘Big Red’ King. But this year’s finalists were nevertheless eager to fill the void and several of them staked their claim to the top prize, while pushing against the boundaries of the genre. Adrian I am still mad at you! What is Malo doing with himself?

Roberts was an early crowd favourite. She closed the first half of the competition with
“Rude,” an infectious jam that might easily end up winning her another road-march title. She has raised the calibre of her stage performance since last year and she closed off her act by literally taking it into the crowd. She was hoisted overhead on a panel on which she performed a pole dance. The people went wild. Meanwhile, Levans, who shed his ‘Lil Man’ moniker this year, seemed intent on capturing the title, after three previous first runner-up results. Alas, the elements were not on his side as it started raining through his set as he performed “Circuit Overload.” But B-52 was not grounded for long.

Mark ‘Anaconda’ Batson and Roger ‘Brains’ Hassel, the charismatic lead singers for
the Brutal Jammers band, were among the young turks looking to upset some of the
seasoned campaigners in the competition. Batson, with his entry “Festival Fever,” had the unenviable task of kicking off the show. If the competition were judged solely on the basis of performance, Batson would undoubtedly have placed. He delivered a fiery, high-energy performance, the kind that he has come to be known for. He blurred the lines between soca, ragga, reggae, rock and soul, using only a one-drop rhythm at one point during his set. But while his performance was powerful, his song was not, failing to connect with the audience. Hassell had a similar problem with his entry, “Wine On Me,” which is easily one of the catchiest, though simplest, entries in the competition. His performance could have benefited more from his familiar up-tempo style, though the song was down tempo and leaned heavily on the instrumentals.
Although she won praises from the crowd, Beverley ‘Little B’ Williams also raised plenty of eyebrows with her entry, “Sharon’s Abuse,” which injected a sobering message amidst all the bacchanalia. The take on domestic violence might have been better suited, however, to the calypso competition. (My opinion exactly, she probably could have won in hte Calypso section). Other performers also played against the genre, including the duo Reflections, made up of Nancy and Nicole and Nancy Osborne. The pair’s entry, “Ghetto Love’” combined soca with soul and ragga, with Nancy crooning and Nicole delivering spitfire lyrics. The two members of the group Purrsonality, Ashanti Low and Balinda Cummings, also commanded sizeable support with their Latin-flavoured piece “Wet.”

Source

More to follow later!

De pot calling de kettle black

Jamaicans want to ban lewd soca music from Trinidad

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Jamaicans, angered over the country's Broadcasting Commission banning reggae dancehall songs containing sexually explicit lyrics, have called on the Commission to also ban soca music from Trinidad and Tobago.

The Trinidad Express reported that Jamaicans have been calling in on talk shows on several radio stations on the island since Monday saying that the soca music played during Jamaica carnival is laced with lewd and offensive lyrics that are worse than anything the Jamaica dancehall artistes are singing. Callers said eight out of ten soca songs are laced with smut.

At a press conference in Jamaica on Tuesday, Jamaica Broadcasting Commission chairman, Dr Hopetown Dunn, explained that he made recommendations to government to have the radio and television stations cleaned up through amending the broadcast regulations. The Commission went on to ban the transmission of songs or music videos that promotes the act known as daggering.

Source

Can you believe these Jamakecuns? What is more lewd than, "tek Buddy gal," "daggering daggering," "pump her her pum pum," "girl flex time to have sex," "cock it up jack it up dig out de &^*! I guess they have become immune to the vulgarity... Anyway we Guyanese staying out of de Jamakecuns and Trini quarrel...a soca vs reggae battle...

GuyanaLive's interview with Vanilla

Melissa Roberts (Vanilla) who I believe stands the best chance for the 2009 SOca Monarch sat down with GuyanaLive, who's been doing a good job at promoting our artists by providing some hard to find information. This is not really an interview as much as a little chat cause the interviewer didn't pull information out of her

Q: How is your experience in the Carib Soca Monarch Competition
this year different from other years gone by?
A: Smile………. this is my third year in the competition, the past years I was there to garner experience and to be part of the backbone for the Headhunters Krew but this year, I’m here to vie for the crown.

Q: Other than being involved in the Soca competition what do
you have planned for Mash 2k9?
A: As you know, I won the Road March in 2007 and missed it by one point in 2008. This year I intend to regain that title. So look out for me “behaving RUDE” on mash day.

Q: Besides being a singer you are also a producer, as such do
you have any projects in the making for 2009?
A: Smiles……… I have a lot of projects I’m doing which in most cases comes under the belt of Kross Kolor Records. You see, I’m responsible for other artistes as well, so my projects do not only include myself.

Q: After having such a successful run at the Accolade Music
Awards, what can Guyana expect in 2009 from Kross Kolor
Records?
A: Kross Kolor is always working for the betterment of Guyanese music, our motto “Taking Guyanese Music to the World” and we intend to do just that, in the meantime look out for a lot more videos.

Q: Being a producer and a performer how do you view the
progression of local music over the years?
A: I should have corrected you the first time; I’m not a producer but a performer among other things. They are quite a number of issues that I’m disappointed with. If I were to discuss them at this point I may never stop typing. I have to prepare for the Soca Monarch Semi Finals so maybe in our next interview I’ll get in-depth, in the mean time you can wish me luck.


Q: In your view, what is most needed for the local music
industry to develop?
A: It is necessary for us (artistes, managers, producers, promoters etc.) to work as one body, when we can do that, then and only then we will be able to move forward as an industry.

I would like to really hear her indept opinion on the subject of the progression of our local music industry. How does KrossKolor protect the artists work with lack of any effective copyright laws?

2009 Soca Monarch Finalists

Update on the Soca Monarch competition. I am still lamenting the loss of Adrian Dutchin who could have solifidied himself as the King of Guyanese Soca. I guess the title will have to wait. The entries this year are poorer than last year's. I haven't found a pearl among the swine.

First prize: $750K (US 3750 at 200 to 1),
Second Prize: $400K (US 2000),
Third Prize: 200K(US 1000),

The finalists are - in order of my preference:

Melissa Roberts - (Vanilla) 2007 Road March Queen - Rude This song is the best in terms of the recording, and the orchestration, but like I always say, Vanilla's vocals are often too monophonic making the song a little flat, but I still believe she has the best chance.




Beverley Williams - (Little B) - Sharon’s Abuse

The only non-wineup song and socially conscious, inspired by the Stamp-Out campaign no doubt. If she can perform it well Finals night, she might be in the top 3.

Wilbur Levans (B52 and formerly Lil Man) - Circuit Overload

Very high energy, and have the elements of a soca hit but it lacks originality.

Reflections Crew (Nicole and Nancy Osborn)- Ghetto Loving I have not heard their song, but their only song that I have heard "Wukka Man" the vocals are tight. So this is a wildcard for me. They could be up there int he top 4 too. Ahh they look so cute, I just want to squeeze their cheeks. UPDATE: Wukka Man is Ghetto Love. This is the best vocal song, but it's more reggae than soca so I don't know how it will be judged, but I like it. So I'm moving them up to the top 4.

Orlando Johashen (Bones) - Any How -

Sounds alright, a whine-up tune like most of the entries.

Shellon Garraway (Shelly G) - Work It

I don't like this song for her.

If I could I would give her Vanilla's song.

Clinton Adolphus (Passion) -No Judge last yr "Me Alone" I like his entry for last year. I haven't been able to find his entry for this year. So I can't really rate him.

Tomeeka Thomas - Wine and Shake - Didn't hear this one either.

The Grammy's

I watch the broadcast of the 51st Grammy Awards last night and wondered, will I ever get giddy jumping up and down as one of our own Guyanese artist has won or is performing at the show. Maybe in 5, 10, 20 years.

Some notable moments for me at the awards which I did not see from the beginning.

M.I.A, girl M.I.A, I don’t know who advised you on your outfit but it was horrible. I cannot stop seeing black and white patterns. She looked like a black and white beluga whale or maybe just a killer whale. She could have pulled that off at 4-6 months, not 9. I was totally disturbed by the image. Maternity wear have evolved, no pregnant woman has to wear a moo-moo dress anymore, but she went to the opposite extreme and wore something absolutely trashy. To make it worse, when she turned around, the back view looked like a black and white Rubik’s cube, plus her pregnancy rolls were showing just below the bra line, no man no. I liked her energy though, giving birth should be a breeze.

The other big thing which I didn’t realize until this morning is Rihanna and Chris Brown. I thought I had missed their appearance, not knowing the two were having relationship issues. Chris why you had to fly your hand eh? ReRe don’t be like other Caribbean women, don’t subject yourself to abuse. Kick Chris from under your umbrella. His mother is going to be happy anyway, the obeah spell is broken!

New talent: Adele, won best new artist. From the way she looked and spoke I would have never believed the voice that came out of her.

The best performance for me was Stevie Wonder and Jonas Brothers doing his “Superstitious” that’s one hell of a funky song. The worse performance was ”Swagger like us” with the 4 big names, it sucked, spoiled the song. Or maybe it was just that I couldn’t stop staring at M.I.A.

Timeka Marshall, T-Pain and Serani

According to gtvibes.com, if you visit Timeka Marshall's FaceBook and MySpace page, leave a comment on her new video, you could "win as much as 50 free tickets to the T- Pain show carded for February 23 at the GCC". Hits and Jams group will randomly select 50 of the comments, and those who made them will be issued free tickets to the Mash night show. I never get when they give away 1 ticket per person... who goes to these social events all by themselves? Instead give away 25 pairs of tickets.

Kerwin Bollers, her local manager, is quoted as saying "All night was uploaded to her MySpace and Facebook pages as part of a 'soft' cyberlaunch that will be followed up with the actual video launch at the upcoming February 23 T- Pain show."

"All night", a reggae-soul song, was written by Marshall and produced by Stephen McGregor out of Big Ship Family Studios in Jamaica. The video was filmed in Jamaica and as mentioned, directed by Jay Will.

Ms. Marshall is in St. Lucia doing some promotions. She's signed to Pyramid Music out of Barbados and Headline Entertainment out of Jamaica. Marshall has completed over 13, yet to be released recordings in the reggae, pop and dancehall genres, and is working on others.

Other music out there is "Love",on the hot new Disturbia Rhythm, is produced by Preston Onfroy. However, I believe it was not well written and will be dropped from riddim mixes. This could have been her big breakout seeing that she would be on a riddim with such greates as Capleton, Sizzla and Beenie Man!

Check her out: www. myspace.com/timekamarshall

UPDATE: Her song LOVE is growing on me....

New Music: Timeka Marshall - All Night

Well ladies and gentlemen, she's finally making some headway no puns intended! I like the video more than the song even though the video reminds me of the Separate Video.

She needs to work on the speaking voice and the "sexy" moves. Some acting class may help!

Produced by Jay Will. Some of his works include M.I.A-Boyz, Shaggy - Church Heathen, Beenie Man - Dreaming Of You, T.O.K-Footprints, and Voicemail-Wacky Dip.








I need some honest feed back, no mindless hating.

New Music: First Born - Junkie (Black Joint)

Our boys doing their thing. So a black joint is marijuana mixed with other "substance." As if mari j ain't addictive enough, some fool going to add other thing...thanks for condemning such foolishness..

2009 Soca Monarch Competition

There will be no Adrian Dutchin at the 2009 Soca Monarch Competition. That's truly a loss for us and he is the reigning king and his winning song was truly a work of art - 100% Guyanese. Malo the runner up in 2008, and Monarch in 2007, is also not competing for the crown. The field look very weak this year. I expect Shelly G, Vanilla, Roger, B52 and Passion to make it to the finals.

The artists competing are:
1. Orlando Johashen (Bones) - Any How
2. Shellon Garraway (Shelly G) - Work It
3. Clinton Adolphus (Passion) -No Judge last yr "Me Alone"
4. Wilbur Levans (B52 and formerly Lil Man) - Circuit Overload
5. Roger Hassell (Brains) - Wine On Me
6. Melissa Roberts - (Vanilla) 2007 Road March Queen - Rude
7. Beverley Williams - (Little B) - Sharon’s Abuse
8. Abigail Best - Wine Pun De Bumper
9. Mark Batson - Festival Fever
10. Stephen Dunbar - Let Me Wine On You
11. Tomeeka Thomas - Wine and Shake
12. Euston Austin - It’s Party Time
13. Reflections Crew - Ghetto Loving
14. Fire Clann - Tsunami
15. Purrsonality - Wet