Coming to America

Adrian, Jumo and Natural Black are coming to perform at the 3rd Annual Guyana Music Fest. I was there last yr and it was loads of fun. The sound was not very good and I was a bit embarassed for my fellow Guyanese, but it was still a nice hang. Despite all that, there was a very electrifying perfomance of It Nice by Natural Black. The venue is suppose to be better this yr. I don't know if I'll be there yet but I hope to be.

2008 Round-up/Round-Out II

Adrian leads again....

Who will be our next big star?

2008 Round-up/Round-Out I

2008 Favorite Artist Poll, only a pathetic 41 total votes but Adrain Dutchin and Natural Black come out as the winners!

Who are your favorite artists? (You can choose more than one)

Happy New Year

Happy 2009 folks and a very musical year to the artists. Seems like the new year celebrations were in full swing despite the floods and the downturn (u know poor people gotta party) in the economy.

I'm still recovering from all the festivities.  I haven't heard much music in the last two months as it seems the artists are enjoying the season as well.  So I'm thinking, who will shine in 2009?

Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas

How come we don't have more Guyanese christmas songs...Christmas in Guyana is the best and no artist have tried to capture that in a song, come on man you guys are sleeping..

I've only found this one from Adrian Dutchin. I copped it off of trini jungle juice website so thus the shout-out in the song.

So a very Merry Christmas to all my readers, supporters, haters, the ones who just passing through and a Prosperous 2009.

Spotlight: Gialiani off to Barbados

Barbados embraces local rapper Gialiani
The rapper who is yet to be embraced at home for his hip-hop message, Don Gialiani remains a constant voice, spitting lyrics at his critics while rapping about the economy, poverty, his dreams and a life that seems pretty much unattainable. ( heheh spitting lyrics,-not exactly)

Don Gialiani
While few at home seem to care to listen or sit and take notice, Barbados did, and in one weekend Gialiani (as he is popularly known) was signed to a company - Timeless Barbados Inc; one of the islands foremost promotional agencies for Barbadian entertainers. He is the company’s first non-Bajan artiste. (Congrats! )
“Feels pretty good,” Gialiani told The Scene earlier this week summing up what it means to him as a Guyanese rapper. He is scheduled to return to the island early next year as a guest and presenter at the Barbados Annual Music Awards (BMA).
Gialiani was one of the headlining acts at the fifth annual Hip Hop Festival in Barbados earlier this month at Club NXS, St Lawrence Gap. Timeless Barbados Inc threw out an invitation to Gialiani after viewing one of his performances and he accepted. According to the rapper, he was unsure of what to expect and how he would have been received, but all that changed when he took the stage.
Reports from the island labelled him as ‘impressive’ and raved about his performance as solid. He was also praised for holding his own while sharing the same stage as Canadian hit-maker Kardinal Offishall, who performed the hit single “Dangerous” with Akon. Kardinal who is signed with Konvict Label was the headlining act of the festival.
Gialiani was featured in entertainment newspapers on the island and in the dailies following his performance. He referred to the attention as encouraging pointing out that he hopes to build from the momentum as he works on his craft.
While in Barbados Gialiani met Bajan music producer KB Sharp and is currently working with him. He has also collaborated with rising Bajan music star, Dwane Husbands.
According to him, other collaborations are in the works and if all goes as planned he will soon hook up with Bajan singer Kirk Brown who has been nominated for five awards including male artiste of the year at the upcoming BMA.
The local rapper is promising fresh releases in the new year. Gialiani adds that he still involved in local entertainment through MusiCentral Production, which he co-owns with business partner and fellow rapper, Ry.
Close to two years ago Gialiani burst onto the local hip-hop scene with a controversial video for his first single, “Rudeboi”. (what was controversial about that I have to admit I didn't like it ) The song received regular rotation on television but never made it to the local airwaves due to its lyrics, which he had promised to clean up but never got around to. He had a few other releases after that.
Source

Gialiani's best realease so far was Escape with a rocker called Drew. He raps about proverty and hard times on a very catch rock beat. I don't know how much he knows about poverty and hard-times, but his flow was on point. He should have made a video for that one. His next best after that is Mr. Universe, which I gave him props for the metaphorics (that's-a-new-word-so-don't-look-it-up) of it...

4:03PM I had to edit this post for this: The best thing he's featured on is this new song called Guns and Roses. I don't know who the woman is, but the song is hot!! I want a copy, the hunt begins!

My thoughts: Rapping up Guyana

Guyana. Rap. Rap. Guyana. It just doesn't go hand in hand. I've was a fan to early rap back in the days while I was back home, but it was always something so foreign unlike reggae and soca, something exotic an . It made you seem cool or special if you could recite one of LLs rhymes.."Mamma said knock them out".. and ever though I was a girl I loved dropping, "I like big butts and I cannot lie, you other brother's can't deny.." It was a thing to enjoy and love. My love affair ended with the dead of my Machiavellian lover. Then it changed, it got harder and meaner and sorrowful and more real..the reality of the 'hood, gansta rapping.

How many in Guyana can relate to this 'hood mentality? That right there is the major problem with Guyanese rappers, not the ones who've come to America and can say they have seen or heard or experienced that 'hood mentality. The ones who never left the 83,000 square miles, just don't know what they are talking about or how to feel and phrase what they want to share with he world..

So when I listen to Don Gialiani and T-Cris and JB and who ever else is up and coming, it's with that ear that I try to decipher what they mean but it is meaningless so far..can it get better..I don't think so, unless it's somehow transformed into something more Guyanese or more Caribbean Carib-Hop and Mr. T-Cris says Dub-Hop.

I have to say thought Gialiani has definitely gotten better...

Our rappers outside of Guyana are doing better: Ray Sytes & SHRPSORD are doing much better.

Accolade: Worst dressed

LivingGuyana roasted Nicolette Fernandes, but he has to remember she's an athlete and athletes never dress up, from the side she actually looks decent.
No who let granny out the house with her silk nightie with her headtie tied around her waist. And why oh why is granny's hair that color, who ever told her it was a good idea shame shame shame!
Maybe it's the angle but she look like's she wearing a pink bag. Skinny people can get away with this, but when you got meat everything got to fall in the right place...
Oh Lord man, everytime I see this picture, I think of return of the Living Dead. Are our women still using baby powder on their faces. Shame Shame Shame!!
FOr a designer and THE designer of this awards what the &$%# is this?

Tsk Tsk (((shaking head)))

Some outfits were not worth mentioning because they were too skankalicious and should have been kept for the after party. Was there an after party?

Accolade Fashion Best Dressed

The Accolade of 2008 was a commendable first step towards getting Guyanese music on the road.
I wasn't there so I am relying on footage and photos and other loudmouths like LivingGuyana and Gt Keep it real for the lowdown.

Here are my best dressed list...I tried to find 10 but but but...

Whoever he is, he wore this suit respectably...no ghetto fabulous flair and he looks cool and calm

Mondale looks cool in the get-up, nothing over the top but it fit to the culture and atmosphere of Guyana. Keep it real Mondale.



Without the jacket, this is a bold outfit, I like the look.


If someone had described this outfit to me, I'd imagine that FOJO look like a clown, but he looks almost debonair but still hip to the game...go Fojo.

And the best dressed person...Former Miss Guyana, Dessia Braithwaite. She's a woman's woman. It's not over the top but it's elegant, she's lovely, she poised and ready for the event. I hope to see more women dressed with such elegance at the next awards.

Ray Sytes does T-Pain

He isn't #1 but he is far from being last, so check him out!


My name is Ray Sytes and I'm coming out soon with an album called "Guyanese Pride".Its a hip hop album that celebrates my caribbean heritage and also displays the hip hop culture. Recently I enetered a contest for T-Pain and made my own version of his song, pleasetake a listen to the song as i give props to guyana. Would you be kind enough to postmy link where other guyanese can listen and vote for the song.


My song on the T-Pain contest - http://www.ourstage.com/entry/HZSGQUNLFQIC-everybody-else

My music page - http://www.myspace. com/sytesmusic
Thank you for your time, your ear and consideration.

My Accolade picks!

So the Accolade Awards is tonight...I tried to get it all together but excel wouldn't behave. Some day when I have nothing better to do I will fix it... for now this is what we gotta work with!

Category	Nominee	Song (where applicable)	My Picks/Comments
Chutney Artist of the Year (Male)	Rajesh Dubraj	This space was left blank intentionally	Who?
	Terry Gajraj		Yes I.  He did his thing in this period.
	DJ Prakz		Dj Prakz - Never!! The most unimaginative artist ever.
Chutney Artist of the Year (Female)	Fiona Ali	This space was left blank intentionally	Well I really don't pay attention to female chutney artists! None of them have made any impact on me.
	Sexy Sarah
	Kerida Ali
	Queen Yasmin
Chutney Album of the Year	El Sadiek	Stupidy	The song was cool but I've never even seen the whole album
	Terry Gajraj	Larki	Terry Gajraj - Larki
	Anil Azeez	In Jesus meh can’t die
Best Groovy Soca Single (Male)	Clifton Adolphus (Passion)	Do it	Adrian Dutchin/Jumo Primo (X2) Tic Tack
	Adrian Dutchin/Jumo Primo (X2)	Tic Tack
	Wilbur Levans (Lilman)	Wine & touch yuh toe
	Mark Batson (Harmony)	Anaconda
Best Groovy Soca Single (Female)	Michelle King     (Big Red)	Guyanese Wine	Yes I. This song just did it for me.  It's international now. Very well put together production
	Shellon Garraway (Shelly G)	Touch Me
	Cyd Hooper	Linkin
Soca Single of the Year	Osley Hopkinson (Spider)	Mek me see
	Adrian Dutchin/Jumo Primo (X2)	Tic Tack	It's everywhere, yes Adrian and Jumo, Tic Tack is now a classic.
	Cyd Hooper	Linkin
Best Soca Album Solo, Duo or Group	Shellon Garraway (Shelly G)	Online	Shellon Garraway (Shelly G)
	John Drepaul (Sling Shot)	Pirates
	Homer Bowen (Mischievous Guys)	Soca Explosion
Best Reggae Single	First Born	Irits	Very Close 2nd.
	Mortimer Softley (Natural Black)	Far from reality	Yes I. Most definitely!
	Clifford Charles (Alabama)	Dem don’t care
	Ian Corbin (FOJO)/ Lil African	2 can play that game
Best Soca Compilation	Burchmore Simon	Wine til ya drop: Koction	Burchmore Simon
	Ian Corbin (FOJO)	Eveready
	Osley Hopkinson (Spida)	Bhoom Drop
Artist of the Year	Adrian Dutchin	This space was left blank intentionally	Adrian Dutchin
	Tamika Marshall
	Charmine Blackman
	Marlon Webster (Malo)
	Michelle King (Big Red)
Reggae Artist of the Year Solo, Duo, Group	Ian Corbin (FOJO)	This space was left blank intentionally
	Clifford Charles (Alabama)
	First Born
	Mortimer Softleigh (Natural Black)		Mortimer Softleigh (Natural Black)
Best Jazz Album	Trevor John	The Offering	No knowledge of this category.
	Colgrain White	Gospel according to steel
	Keith Waithe	Diverse Canopy
Gospel Artist of the Year (Male)	Sean Sobers	This space was left blank intentionally
	Eddie Neblett		Eddie Neblett
	Solid Youth -
	Anil Azeez
	Kester Dean
Gospel Artist of the Year (Female)	Miriam Williams	This space was left blank intentionally	I have not heard these women sing anything substantial.
	Cherilyn Maloney
	Christine Canterberry
Gospel Single of the Year	Shawn Sobers	Planted
	Edward Neblett	Love and Unity	Edward Neblett
	Anil Azeez	In Jesus meh can’t die
	Cherlyn Maloney	Don’t give up
R&B Artist of the Year	Ian Cobin (FOJO)	This space was left blank intentionally	Is he considered a R&B Artist?
	Adrian Dutchin
	Tamika Marshall
	Charmaine Blackman
Best Calypso Artist of the Year (Male)	Geoffrey Phillips (Rebel)	This space was left blank intentionally	I don't listen calypso so but Rebel always did his thing back in the day.
	Vivian Jordan (VJ)
	Malcolm Corrica (Lord Canary)
	Young Bill Rogers
Calypso Artist of the Year (Female)	Camille Goliath (Lady Tempest)	This space was left blank intentionally
	Calypso Stella -
	Sweet Monique
Best Hip Hop Rap Artist of the Year	Jermaine Braithwaite (JB)	This space was left blank intentionally
	Tamika Lewis (ICE)
Band of the Year	Mingles Sound Machine	This space was left blank intentionall
	El Sadiek Band
	Mischievous Guys
	Yoruba Singers
Producer of the Year	Kerwyn Bollers	This space was left blank intentionally
	Burchmore Simon
	Bonny Alves
	Spiderman
	Ian Johnson
	Wally Fraser
	Ian Corbin (FOJO)		Ian Corbin (FOJO)
	Danley Major
Media Personality Print	Mondale Smith	Kaieteur News
	Cheryl Springer	Stabroek News
	Simeon Corbin	Gem Magazine
	Neil Marks	Guyana Chronicle
Media Personality Electronic		GT. Vibes.com
		Kross Kolor.com
		Guymine.com	Guymine.com been there before all of them.
Media Personality Radio	Malcolm Ferreira	This space was left blank intentionally
	Rudy Grant
	Ian Johnson
Media Personality TV	Ian Johnson	Whats Hot
	Basil Bradshaw	Wake Up Guyana
	Maria – 102
Best New Artist	Tamika Marshall	This space was left blank intentionally
	Shellon Garraway (Shelly G)		I like Tamika but Shellon Garraway (Shelly G) does her thing!
	Ian Corbin (FOJO)
	Celeste David
	Mark Batson (Harmony)
Best Music Video (Producer)	Bonny Alves	Crazy
	Music Media	Separate
	KKR Crew	Koction Rhythm Medley
	Bonny Alves	Don’t disrespect me
Song of the Year	Adrian Dutchin/Jumo Primo X2	Crazy
	Tamika Marshal	Separate
	Charmine Blackman	Don’t disrespect me
	Michelle King (Big Red)	Guyanese wine	Michelle King (Big Red)
	First Born `	Irits
Studio of the Year	Burchmore Simon	Kross Kolors	Burchmore Simon
	Ian Corbin (FOJO)	Platinum
	Bonny Alves	Signal Sounds
	Walter Fraser	Vision Sounds
	Danley Major	Kingdom Friends
Album of the Year	First Born	Irits
	Natural Black	Far From Reality	Natural Black
	Michelle King (Big Red)	Red Passion
	Shellon Garraway (Shelly G)	Online
	Various artistes	Wine till yuh drop:11/Koction
Entertainer of the Year	Jumo Primo (Rubber waist)	This space was left blank intentionally	Jumo Primo (Rubber waist)
	James Yhap (X Factor)
	Habeeb Khan
	Henry Rodney
Best Reggae Album of the Year	First Born	Irits
	Bonny Alves	Nice you up
	Natural Black	Far from reality	Natural Black
Songwriter of the Year	Adrian Dutchin	This space was left blank intentionally
	Bonny Alves
	Tamika Marshall
	Ian Corbin (FOJO)
	Michelle King (Big Red)
	Firstborn		Firstborn
Best Collaboration	Ian Corbin/Shellon Garraway	High
	First Born and Natural Black	Jah Blessing	First Born and Natural Black
	Adrian Dutchin  & Jumo Primo	Crazy
DJ Recognition Award	DJ Bevaughn	This space was left blank intentionally
	DJ Antsman
	Selector Face
	DJ Breeze
	DJ Kerwyn
	Rocky Carew
This space was left blank intentionally	This space was left blank intentionally	This space was left blank intentionally

New Music: Natural Black- Just like in the movies

This video is well put together and thought out, but I wish that it was made in Guyana and he had said "sweet sweet Guyana turn to little Hollywood" cause if you read the headlines in the daily news, it seems like something straight out of a movie..

Pamela the Diva for Accolade Awards

Pamela the Diva, goes to Guyana!! I hope they have a special 1/2 segment just for her to perform because once she starts singing, she does not want to stop. I also hope they have a special manicurist(flown in fron China) for those nails!!!

Must go dig up video footage of PA--MEL--A.

Arrowhead Promotions, Thursday, November 6, 2008, Press Release –

As a hit artiste of the 70's whose sensational voice still resonates with thousands of music lovers, Pamela Maynard's presence at Accolade – The Music Awards of Guyana will guarantee no one is lost, lonely and helpless.

Pamela's homecoming is filled with anxiety not only because of her endorsement of the Accolade but also for those who recall her versatility in most areas of popular black music including reggae, soul r&b, jazz, calypso and soca. She await the moment almost with impatience like every other Guyanese who looks forward to this magnificent big night, bringing together celebrities in an appropriate variety of disciplines to take the audience through fever pitch, nerve-hitting excitement.

Pamela is a talented Caribbean diva with a vocal range and expression to make an immediate and lasting impression on all manners of different audiences around the world. Unlike other acts fresh to the UK and European markets, Pamela has extensive professional experience in music.

Born in Georgetown she is the daughter of Guyanese singer/songwriter Mavis Maynard, who wrote Pamela's debut hit Lost, Lonely and Helpless. She performed alongside Eddy Grant at a memorable show in their hometown. Pamela was still attending school at that time and was already singing at parties and functions at the age of five. Since her father also ran a local sound system her knowledge and love for music was built on rock solid foundation, and her in-depth familiarity with the classics never failed to surprise the assorted bandleaders and galaxy of big name acts she would later sing within years to come.

After leaving school in 1976, she joined the army where she sang for visiting dignitaries such as Fidel Castro. She also represented Guyana at song festivals and from the age of 15 sand lead and backing vocals with Yoruba Singers and then Sid and the Slickers.

Pamela will be accompanied to Guyana by her Manager Ira Lewis who shares an amazing sense of optimism, anxiety and readiness. They are part of a larger overseas contingent of outstanding Guyanese musicians, young fresh talents, regional and international entertainment media are in the ready mode to fill the coveted slots for international participants.

Pamela promises to be the 'stunner' among those of her epoch and the fresh new line-up of contemporary talents, from her red carpet appearance to every other aspect of her involvement in sustaining a blissful mood as her tribute to the Awards Show.

a lazy moment

I'm having a lazy moment, I just don't feel the excitement for this blog like months ago...

I have a list of my picks for the accolade award for a month now and i just don't have the energy to put it all together...

I'm inviting someone as passionate as I am about Guyanese music/musicans to help contribute to the blog....

I wouldn 't be human

If I didn't mention that Barack H. Obama will be the next president of the United States of America. He'll be the African American president, in the truest sense being an offspring of a Kenyan and still having relatives on the African Continent.

Obama - President

Electoral Votes: 364

Popular Votes: 65,293,083

McCain

Electoral Votes: 162

Popular Votes: 57,325,487

A proud day for most black people, some are still self hating.


When will Guyana have free and fair elections without incident?

I have to inject music into this: my favorite Obama song