<![CDATA[REGGAE REFLECTION - COVERED EVENTS / PHOTOS ]]>Thu, 23 May 2013 14:23:27 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Keeping the mission alive for the 20th year at the annual 9Mile Festival with a blend of Reggae, Dancehall, Soca and Rap]]>Sun, 10 Mar 2013 20:17:12 GMThttp://reggaereflection.com/1/post/2013/03/keeping-the-mission-alive-for-the-20th-year-at-the-annual-9mile-festival-with-a-blend-of-reggae-dancehall-soca-and-rap.htmlThe mission continues at the 20th annual 9Mile Festival with an eclectic mix of Reggae, Dancehall, Soca and Rap

Photos and Feature by Empress K for Reggae Reflection
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Heading to Miami to cover the annual 9 Mile Festival is supposed to be a well deserved break from the New England Winter season. Much to my surprise and initial disappointment, a cold spell ensued and southern FL ended up being just a little warmer than home!  Fortunately the eclectic mix of Reggae, Soca, Dancehall and Rap headliners made up for the unusually cold weather. 

The Annual 9 Mile Festival now in its 20th year was held at the historic Virginia Key Beach in Miami  where the previous year's festival was also held.   Gates were advertised to open at 2:00pm  and by the time I got there around 3:00pm,  concert goers were well on their way into the venue . Daniel Bambaata Marley was already on stage with his own band and receiving a warm welcome from the early crowd on hand. Daniel has definitely inherited being at ease on stage from his father Ziggy Marley.   At the end of his well received set he took some time to introduce a next generation of upcoming and conscious reggae artists Dax Lion, Biggz General, and Chronixx.   

Daniel Bambaata Marley reminds the audience there's No Place Like Home

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Lance-O of Kulcha Shok Muzik and a familiar MC at the 9 Mile festival introduced the Ruff Kutt Band to the stage who would be backing the next set of artists starting with Luciano.  Luciano opened up his set with Give Praise to Rastafari.  Supported by two female vocalists, Luciano performed a solid set of his well known songs including For the Leaders, Silver and Gold, Call on Jah, and Gideon War.  He pleased the audience with 2 encores including an acoustic version of Bob Marley's Redemption Song. 


Continuing with the strong line up of headliners early in the festival, Capleton burst on stage next  as only the Fiyah Man can do with Your day will Come. Capleton's set included more high energy Capleton classics such as Jah Jah City, Momma and Poppa,  Baby Don't Cry No More, and Acres and Acres. 

Photos of Luciano and Capleton

Dancehall up Next with Konshens

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Konshens was one of the first dancehall artists of the evening.  Letting the audience know early on that he was battling the flu,  Konshens braved the stage and won over his fans as he announced he wasn't going to let it keep him down and continued to perform many of his well known hits including Gyal a Bubble, Good Girl Gone Bad, and Do Sumn and The Realest Song.   

Despite the cold temperatures, as  the night wore on the crowd  at the festival steadily grew with unofficial reports of attendance between 10,000 and 15,000. Many members of the audience were dressed warmly in wool winter coats or were wrapped in blankets. With nearly 12 hours of music, many of the late comers most likely missed the early headliner acts that they wanted to see such as Capleton and Luciano and Konshens.  Feedback from many  fans I encountered is that a published schedule is needed so they can better plan attendance times at such a long festival. 

Machel Montano proves Vibes Cyah Done

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As the evening started, Soca King Machel Montano  HD of Trinidad and Tobago was up next.  Machel is celebrating over 30 years in the music business and this was his first time at the 9Mile Festival.  He certainly turned the celebration up a notch by creating a party like atmosphere as he along with his dancers, singers and special guest Patrice Roberts had everyone wining to the infectious beat of Soca.  Adding to the celebratory vibe, he opened up a bottle of his own rum brand 3Zero and shared with some of the fans up front during his song 'Drinking Rum'. 
Future, one of two rappers on the festival from Atlanta took the stage next along with two members of his crew all backed by a DJ. Future's set included hit songs from his 2012 debut album Pluto as well as the popular song Loveee Song that he recorded with Rihanna and shares writing credit.  

Fans and Vendors at 9Mile Music Festival

Dancehall Gully Side

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The festival switched back to dancehall mode Gully Side with Mavado who is now primarily based in Miami.  Mavado, a member of DJ Khaled's Label We the Best Music Group was appearing for the first time at the 9Mile Festival.  The Ruff Kutt band returned to back Mavado's set as he performed a variety of his old and newer songs such as Real Mckoy, Star Bwoy, Every Gyal and Box of Money.  Karian Sang joined Mavado on stage to perform their new collaboration on Take It.  The video for Take it just aired on Billboard TV making Mavado the  first Caribbean artist to premiere a video on Billboard. 

The mission continues with Stephen Marley, Julian Marley and Damian Jr. Gong Marley

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As it was nearing 11:00pm, it was finally time for the Marley brothers to take the stage.  Stephen Marley and Jr. Gong kicked off the set with their song The Mission then each of the  Marley brothers took turns to perform their own songs as well as their joint collaborations. Julian took the lead on his song Boom Draw before the brothers performed Jah Army and paid tribute to Buju Banton.  Julian also performed his songs Heart Breaker and Violence in the Streets.  Of course the set also featured a number of Bob Marley classics which included Get up Stand Up, Natural Mystic, War, Pimpa's Paradise and Exodus.    Stephen initiated  the popular song Traffic Jam with Jr. Gong and around that time called Illestr8 and Jo Mersa to the stage.  Jo Mersa  continuing with his track 'Bad So'.  Surprise guest and fan favorite Spragga Benz was also on hand to add his touch to the set. 

Here Comes Jr. Gong, Flying High Like Superman

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Jr Gong energized the crowd by performing Make it Bun Dem  followed by Set up Shop and Affairs of the Heart, two of his latest hit songs which are featured on the his new Ghetto Youths International Compilation Set up Shop, Volume 1.   Damian's  well loved anthem Welcome to Jamrock completed his segment as the next to last song of the performance.

The classic Could you Be Loved was saved for the last song of the set.   Normally the Marleys would have closed out the festival, however unofficial reports were that due to a flight delay, 2Chainz would be going on last.  This did not stop a large exodus of Reggae fans from leaving the venue as soon as it was clear that the Marley set was over. 

@AKVYBZ Video Highlights of  Julian Marley and Damian Marley at 9Mile Reggae Festival

Julian Marley Heartbreaker

Jr Gong Affairs of the Heart

It's not over Yet -  2Chainz closes out the evening

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Closing out nearly 12 hours of non-stop music, Def Jam Recording artist 2Chainz was the last act of the night.   To hype up the remaining crowd, a very effective video montage played with footage from his solo concert tour.   2Chainz the 2nd rapper of the evening also hailing from Atlanta  kicked it off with Mercy, last year's collaboration with Kanye West, Big Sean and Pusha T which earned him a recent Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song.  2Chainz then performed a string of his hit singles  including I'm Diffierent and other popular songs from his recent debut solo album Based on T.R.U. Story - his logo and album title prominently displayed on the large video screen throughout his performance.  His set ended just around the advertised ending time of 1:30am. 
Throughout the evening host Lance-O reminded everyone of the diverse array of performers that have made appearances at the annual festival ranging from Lauryn Hill to Mr. Cheeks to Gentleman to Slightly Stoopid as well as many others over the years.  The 20th year of the festival continued that mission featuring many familiar faces as well as introducing the best in multiple genres, bringing together the diverse fan base in Miami .  The annual festival also has a charity component. As part of the ticket price, it is a requirement to bring 4 canned goods which are donated to Curley’s House, an organization that works to help improve the quality of life for low-to-moderate income families.  


I'm already looking forward to the 21st Annual 9Mile Celebration and of course much warmer weather! 

20th Annual 9Mile Photo Gallery

Special thanks to  the staff at the 9Mile Festival, and to Krystle and Kaceion at , Midori Star Media Group for their assistance and for the opportunity to cover the event.  

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]]><![CDATA[Reggae around the world 2012]]>Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:03:11 GMThttp://reggaereflection.com/1/post/2013/02/reggae-around-the-world-2012.htmlPhotos and Feature by EmpressK for Reggae Reflection Picture
Lagos to London
 
Each year  I look back on my own personal reflection of the year's events.   I certainly met some great people in 2012  and I am very fortunate to continue to work with wonderful people who share a common passion and vision.  

I want to thank all the contributors to Reggae Reflection and to the many supporters a BIG Thank you.  I truly appreciate the support and I look forward to even better things to come in 2013.    

Reggae around the World

World travel was the Reggae Reflection theme for 2012 with coverage of premiere Reggae events in 8 different countries.   Not only was it the first time I was fortunate to experience travel to Guyana and Aruba, it was also the first time that some of the artists performed in these locations as well. Damain 'Jr Gong' Marley made his first appearance in Guyana to celebrate 46 Years of Guyana Independence and Elephant Man had a great turnout  for this first time visiting Aruba.  Other new locations for me this year  included Barbados for an Anthony B show in the fall and in December I traveled to Nigeria for #Carniriv 2012 featuring performances by Shaggy and Patra. And further proving that Reggae's impact is indeed world-wide,  a Reggae Reflection correspondent was able to capture a performance by the Wailers in Beirut, Lebanon. 

2012 was also an exciting year for Reggae given that Jamaica as well as Trinidad and Tobago were each celebrating  50 years of Independence from Britian.  This was a recurrent theme  in a majority of events  throughout the year.   
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www.kingimusic.com
I also had the pleasure of  continuing  to work with emerging artist King-i (Kingimusic) who had a very successful year  including  many great performances and  the release of several new & popular songs and official videos including World is Turning in June and Serious Something in November.  King-i  has  numerous other works  in process that will pave the way for his continued success in 2013.  Look out for this #artisttowatch.  www.kingimusic.com

Kicking off the year in Jamaica 

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Tony Curtis, Lymie Murray, Singing Melody and Lukie D
Overall 2012 started off strong with a quick trip to Jamaica for Martin Luther King Weekend for the annual Rebel Salute event celebrating it's 19th year.  It was wonderful timing that I was also able to attend Singing Melody's Launch of his new album They call me Mr Melody.  The release party was held at the Jonkanoo Lounge in Kingston which featured the members of L.U.S.T., Lymie Murray, URoy and Richie Stephens as special guests.  

Rebel Salute is always a truly wonderful experience and 2012 was no exception.  An exceptional list of about 40 performers  were scheduled including the likes of Romain Virgo, Tarrus Riley, Duane Stephenson, Luciano,  Maxi Priest, Queen Ifrica, Tony Rebel (celebrating his 50th birthday!) Capleton, and  in one of the most well received performances of the evening, I finally had a chance to see Stephen Marley perform in Jamaica with surprise guest Damian Marley!    Full show coverage: Rebel Salute Jamaica 

In January, I received word that Reggae Reflection had received a nomination for the Best Digital Media Category at the upcoming annual LInkage Awards .  What a fantastic way to start the year!    Linkage Award Nomination 

Rebel Salute going strong in its 19th year

Tony Rebel

Damian Marley  

Tarrus Riley

Capleton

Miami up Next

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Damian Marley, Stephen Marley, Julian Marley
Highlights of March included my annual trek to Miami for the 9Mile Festival. I have to admit that I nearly canceled this trip when the line up went through some turmoil. Finally just a few days before the event, all was resolved and it was well worth the trip to Miami to see a star-studded showcase with Tarrus Riley, Capleton, Cocoa Tea, Burning Spear, Wale, Melanie Fiona and a grand finale with Julian, Stephen and Damian Marley. The 19th Annual Nine Mile Music Festival was clearly a success in uniting the people with the love of Reggae Music.  As of this publishing, the 20th Anniversary will take place on March 2, 2013 in the same location and has an awesome lineup already announced including Damian, Stephen and Julian.   Full show coverage: Nine Mile Music Festival Miami 

9Mile Festival - Miami

Cocoa Tea

Capleton

Tarrus Riley

Burning Spear

Onward to NYC and the Linkage Award goes to ........

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Wayne Wonder receives a Linkage Award
The 3rd Annual Linkage Awards took place on March  11th with special honors for Marcia Griffith, Wayne Wonder, Ken Boothe, Lady G and many more. I must  thank all my supporters near and far that voted and otherwise supported the Reggae Reflection nomination. It was a great honor to achieve the majority of votes for the Best Digital Media Category.  I also personally  had the great pleasure of  presenting best Canadian Female Artist award to Tasha T.    
Awards List:  2012 Linkage Awards 

Special Moments at the 3rd Annual Linkage Awards 

And the final highlight for March was another quick trip to NYC for DJ Norie's Anything Goes Concert in Times Square at the Best Buy Theatre featuring Damian Marley, Julian Marley and Stephen Marley. It was an amazing evening in Times Square. Guests included Wayne Marshall, Spragga Benz, Black Am I, and Jo Mersa.   Full show coverage:  Marleys in Times Square 

Stephen Marley, Julian Marley and Damian Marley Rock NYC

30 Years of Sunfest in West Palm Beach, FL

It's been a while since I've been to Southern Florida after the Feb/March timeframe. Sunfest, 30 years in the making is a premiere music festival held in West Palm Beach.  It definitely lives up to its name.  The sun was blazing hot and so were the acts!  A great mix of all genres with some Reggae mixed in. The festival featured many acts over the 5 day festival  with 3 stages. The Reggae Reflection team had our work cut out  to cover as many acts as possible focusing on the headlining acts of  Third Eye Bliind, All American Rejects, The Fray, Foreigner, Joan Jett, Matisyahu, Soja, Michael Franti, Pit Bull, Wiz Kahalifa, and Snoop Dogg. Yes, Snoop Dogg/Lion!  In total last year,  I had a chance to photograph Snoop twice since he has embraced Rastafarian beliefs.  I also went to one show in Providence just for the fun of it as  all his shows are always like a fantastic party.

Reggae Reflection Coverage of Rock, Reggae, and HipHop 
Sunfest Coverage Pitbull, Foreigner, Matisyahu

All American Rejects, Joan Jett, Third Eye Blind

Michael Franti

Snoop Dogg 

Pitbull

Matisyahu

Mothers Day Weekend in Boston

New Award show launched   - Boston Most Elite Awards

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The first Annual Boston Most Elite Awards was held in May and featured over 30 categories of awards with an emphasis on acknowledging the urban businesses, industry professionals and community members that support the various Boston area events.   The event showcased local talent as well as international talent during the show which encompassed multiple genres of music including R&B, Dancehall, Hip Hop and Cultural Reggae.   Boston based talent included Janey David, Laquandra  Seymore, International Dancehall Queen Smallie, Lady Keyz and King-I (KingiMusic).  Muma Gee based in Philly was also present to perform as well  as special guest International Dancehall artiste Tifa.  

Full Report & Photos here :  Boston Most Elite Awards 

Independence Weekend in Guyana featuring Damian Marley

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For Memorial Day weekend, I headed to Guyana for the first time for the occasion of The First Annual Food, Arts and Music (FAM) Festival held at the Providence Stadium in Georgetown, Guyana featuring Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley on Saturday 5/26/12  - celebrating Guyana's 46th Year of Independence and Jr. Gong's first appearance in Guyana.   Performing for about 2 hours, Damian made this a memorable moment  to mark the grand occasion of Guyana's  46th Independence celebration. 
Full Coverage:    Damian Marley in Guyana
Another top quality VipConnectedEntertainment event .  VIP Connected Entertainment is the largest Caribbean-American booking agency worldwide. For more information link with them on www.vipconnectedentertainment.com for all your entertainment needs.

Let the Summer Begin Boston / NY

June is usually a quieter month of show coverage as it is just after some of the Florida shows and before the summer rush of festivals.  I stayed a bit closer to home in June and covered the Willie Daniels Birthday Bash at Club Lido with Shaggy, Serani, Ding Dong, Gyptian, I-Octane, Cham, and D'Aville.   And two days later it was fun to celebrate my birthday in Hartford at a similar line up of Shaggy and Friends, this time featuring Serani, Ding Dong, and Christopher Martin. 

July 1st featured  one of the most anticipated summer shows in NYC.  Groovin in the Park, An outdoor festival featuring the best of Reggae Rhythm and Blues.  The show was a follow up to the Reggae Rhythm and Blues festival held labor day the previous year. This year had a stellar line up including  Beres Hammond, Beenie Man, Jimmy Cliff, Boyz II Men and Gladys Knight for a day of family fun in Roy Wilkins Park. 

Full coverage: Groovin in the Park 

Shaggy & Friends Boston/CT         Beenie Man & Beres in NY

The summer continues in Aruba and Jamaica

After returning home it was time to head to Aruba for my first time. I've always heard so many great things about Aruba, but never had the  chance to get there since so much of my travel usually involves Jamaica. It was as nice as everyone describes. Very scenic with great long stretches of white sandy beaches.  Elephant Man's first time in Aruba caused some great  buzz and  the event kicked off with a welcoming press conference the evening before.  

Full Coverage: Elephant Man in Aruba
Another top quality VipConnectedEntertainment event .  VIP Connected Entertainment is the largest Caribbean-American booking agency worldwide. For more information link with them on www.vipconnectedentertainment.com for all your entertainment needs.

Elephant Man in Aruba

A Fabolous 50th Independence Celebration in Jamaica

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 The main Jamaican indepedence event this summer was the  Appleton Temptation Island (ATI) event  in Negril.  ATI is is a popular destination for locals and visitors alike.  Speciality themed parties are the mainstay of the celebrations.   The international headliners for this years events were DJ Envy from Hot 105 NY and MTV Sucker Free at Colours on Saturday August 4th and  Multi-Grammy Award Nominee Fabolous at Stages on Sunday August 5th.   The 2012 Summer Olympics were well underway and watched by everyone as it was televised live  delighting all tuned in to witness Usain Bolt make history winning the gold in the 100M on Sunday August 5th.  


Full event coverage: Fabolous in Jamaica 
Another top quality VipConnectedEntertainment event .  VIP Connected Entertainment is the largest Caribbean-American booking agency worldwide. For more information link with them on www.vipconnectedentertainment.com for all your entertainment needs.

Favorite Summer Festivals - Six Flags NJ and Montreal

Two Major festivals occur in August that I always make room for and and fortunately for me they are back to back weekends.   The TriniFly Summer Concert Series at Six Flags in NJ was held August 11 - 12th. This year it spanned two days with rapper Fabolous just returning from his performance in Jamaica on Saturday evening and a Reggae showcase on Sunday with I-Octane, Mavado, and Barrington Levy.  Full show coverage: Six Flags Photos and Recap

 Bonjour Montreal

The following weekend was The Montreal Reggae Festival held August 17 - 19, a fantastic festival taking place in the scenic Old Port area of Montreal.  Three days of music kicked off with a dancehall showcase on Friday night with Cham and special guest  'O'.   Beautiful weather ensued for the entire weekend with great performances from Chris Martin, Popcaan, Konshens, and Agent Sasco on Saturday followed by a  grand finale on Sunday with Romain Virgo, Tarrus Riley and Jimmy Cliff.  Jimmy Cliff still forever a young spirit was celebrating his 50th year in the business with a new album release in July 2012 and a world-wide tour.
Full show coverage:   Montreal Photos and Recap

I-Octane, Mavado and Barrington Levy at Six Flags

3 Nights of Reggae Music and Dancehall in Montreal

Chris Martin

Konshens

Tarrus Riley

Jimmy Cliff

Reggae Summer Showcase in Boston / Providence

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Steel Pulse returned to Boston with a packed show at The Paradise with special guest openers Doctor Doom Orchestra (DDO) from Boston.  

The first annual Hotter Summer Blaze event produced by King-i (KingiMusic) took place in Cambridge uniting the talents of New York and Boston Based artists featuring performances by Princess Menen, KGenius, Zebulun De Counselor, Celeste Simpson, Peter Fyine, and King-i. 

Celebrating the 50th Independence of Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago closer to home, Jamaican artist Kali Blaxx and Trini artist King-i  (KingiMusic) were featured on a Very Important Sound (VIS) Records show in Providence, RI at the Spot Underground. 
 
The 6th Annual One Heart Festival to promote peace in the community took place on Saturday, September 6th in Boston.  Sounds of Reggae and West African music filled the day with performances by Jah Jah Drummers, Jah-N-I Band, Peter Fyine, King-I (KingiMusic), and Mamadou.  The 7th annual festival will be held on Saturday, September 7, 2013. www.oneheartfestival.com

Stephen Marley returned to Boston on September 17th for a sold out show at the Paradise Boston.  The show also featured Jo Mersa, and Spragga Benz which was one of the best live band shows to hit Boston.  Going to a Marley show is is like spending an evening with the extended Reggae Family. Friends from near and far as well as numerous local musicians came out to support this quality live band show. Full Show Coverage:  Stephen Marley at the Paradise

Hotter Summer Blaze Boston / Spot Undeground Celebration Providence

King-i

Zebulun

King-i

Kali Blaxx

One Heart Festival  - Uniting the communities of Boston for Peace
Jah-n-I Band                   King-i                    Mamadou

Stephen Marley at the sold out Paradise in Boston

One more trip to the Caribbean

 Barbados was one of my last Caribbean trips for 2012.  A beautiful destination and it was lovely to spend some time on the beach before the show that featured  headliner Anthony B performing many of his favorite classics. Anthony B also highlighted new songs from his latest CD Freedom Fighter. 


Anthony B in Barbados: 
Another top quality VipConnectedEntertainment event .  VIP Connected Entertainment is the largest Caribbean-American booking agency worldwide. For more information link with them on www.vipconnectedentertainment.com for all your entertainment needs.

Anthony B in Barbados

Closing out the year with 48 hours in Africa

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Saving one of the best trips of the year for last was my first trip to Arfrica to attend Carnival in Port Harcourt Nigeria featuring Shaggy and Patra on opening night of the annual CarniRiv event. 


Check out all the photos of Nigeria here.  48 hours in Nigeria   
Another top quality VipConnectedEntertainment event .  VIP Connected Entertainment is the largest Caribbean-American booking agency worldwide. For more information link with them on www.vipconnectedentertainment.com for all your entertainment needs.


In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed all the events and places that I had a chance to go to in 2012  and while this does not cover everything Reggae Reflection covered,  I sincerely  hope this brings a bit of Reggae around the World to all the Reggae Lovers everywhere!   All the best for 2013. 

Opening Night at CarniRiv 2012 with Patra and Shaggy

 Photos Highlights from various events in 2012 with some favorite music from 2012 - click the slideshow below

2012 Reggae Live performance, interviews and Music Videos
]]><![CDATA[Beenie Man Heats up Providence, RI  01/24/13]]>Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:25:09 GMThttp://reggaereflection.com/1/post/2013/01/beenie-man-heats-up-providence-ri-012413.htmlBeenie Man Heats up Providence RI 01/24/13
Photos / Video and Feature by Empress K for Reggae Reflection Picture
Beenie Man
01/24/13 -  On one of the coldest nights of the winter so far,  fans of the King of the Dancehall braved the wicked cold weather to soak up some Reggae &  Dancehall Party vibes at Lupos in Providence.  While Beenie Man was on a show in nearby Boston a few months ago, he had not been to Providence in several years.  The Providence, RI  event was the first show on an up close and personal tour with stops in  Richmond, VA; Winston Salem, NC;  Raleigh, NC; Charleston SC and a return to New England in Bridgeport, CT on 2/1. 
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Diva Nikki Z
Show Host Diva Nikki Z  of Hartford's Hot 937 looked fabulous from head to toe in vibrant red.  She introduced the artists including special guest artist Ricky Blaze who opened up the live performance with a short set.   Dancehall artists Kantana and Cee Gee on the road with Beenie Man's crew then warmed up the crowd  with a few songs before Beenie Man's intro to the stage. 

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Beenie Man
From the start, Beenie Man's energy captured the audience's participation and he had them forgetting the cold outside while he performed many  fan favorites during his approximate 40 minute set until the club's curfew of 1:00am put a stop to it while Beenie Man  was performing  his summer time anthem Let's Go  (to the beach).  Just another  reminder that Reggae & Dancehall knows no season when it comes to a Beenie Man show. 

Beenie Man on stage at Lupos

Beenie Man Live in Providence - Video Highlights

Click Play below to view the full Beenie Man gallery of photos in Providence, RI

Beenie Man "Dweet Again"  First single from upcoming album

]]><![CDATA[Caribbean Fever Heats up Barclay Center NYC 12/17/12]]>Fri, 04 Jan 2013 23:29:06 GMThttp://reggaereflection.com/1/post/2013/01/caribbean-fever-heats-up-barclay-center-nyc-121712.htmlStory by Sheron Hamilton Pearson  Photos by MyFlash Photography  
Feature by Empress K  - Editor at Reggae Reflection Picture
Originally scheduled for November 2, 2012, the events of Tropical Storm Sandy and the subsequent cancellation of a Nets basketball game, meant the much touted and anticipated Caribbean Fever concert featuring a mash-up of Caribbean Soca, Reggae, Hip-Hop and Dancehall artists had to be postponed to December 17, 2012.

Preceding the show, the Caribbean Fever Music Festival  Award presentations were made to stalwarts and veterans in the music industry, City Council and NY State Senate citations were also handed out to Gil Bailey, Francine Chin, Pat McKay and Doug E. Fresh with recognition given to the medical field in the personage of Dr. Velma Scantleburry-White. Don Bobb, former WLIB presenter, John Melbourne Financial Controller for Inner City Broadcasting, Neville Bush, former Inner City Broadcasting account executive, Edwin Howe VP Records, Dee Jay Roy from Road International, Chris the DubMaster from Dubmasters International, hitmaker for Harry Belafonte – Irving Burgie, Composer and Jumane Williams City Councilman.

The warm up acts did well, despite some miss-steps and nervous demeanor at performing before the almost full to capacity venue of the now celebrated state of the art performing and sports arena known as the Barclay Center.  T-Micky Kompa artist and son of Haitian musician turned politician Sweet Mickey and his band set the mood for the Caribbean party night to follow.

Caribbean Queen Allison Hinds takes the stage

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photo credit: MyFlash Photography
Let's forget about the glitches with the sound and the sometimes lengthy band changes and just concentrate on the performances on the night.  Starting with the Caribbean Queen  herself, Ms. Alison Hinds, attired in a cute gold number with thigh high boots, this lady shows no signs of slowing down, except that she now has a group of back-up dancers to perform the gymnastic waist gyrations she has come to be known for.  In a nod to her versatility and ability to capture and keep the attention of her audience, she surprised all in attendance when she broke into an Alton Ellis' classic “I'm still in Love with You”, she delighted the crowd even more with her authentic moves to a song from dancehall gully god Mavado. 

Old School Hip hop gets the crowd rocking!

Old School Hip Hop had the crowd rocking and reliving their younger days and even had a few in the crowd dusting off their old dance moves as Chubb Rock, Slick Rick the Ruler sporting his trademark eye-patch and dripping in iced-out jewels together with Doug E Fresh thrilled the crowd, bringing back memories of the glory days of Hip Hop when - as Doug E Fresh remarked – the pioneers didn't need to say or do anything shocking to get a hit song.  The first human beat box, Fresh – still has the skills to take on all comers in this day and age, he definitely garnered the biggest forward for this segment.  Surprise guest Little Vicious came out swinging with his “Freak” song with moves to match.

Morgan Heritage Represents Roots Reggae for the evening

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Photo Credit: MyFlash Photography
Cultural reggae representatives Morgan Heritage showed why they are such a great representation of roots reggae artists with hits like “Brooklyn & Jamaica” in a nod to their birthplace Bushwick. Other hits followed in a very tight set that had the crowd singing and rocking to “Don't Haffi Dred”, “Do You See Anything to Smile About”, “Down by the River”, “She's Still Loving Me”, “Reggae Bring Back Love” and the new single “The Return” which is the first release from their August 2012 album of the same name.  Morgan Heritage proved that despite rumors to the contrary, the band has not split up and in fact is back with a bang.  Denroy Morgan, family patriarch also joined the group on stage, jubilant at his recent extraordinarily lenient sentence following his guilty plea on possession of a large quantity of cannabis.

Caribbean Fever Donates $10,000 to Sandy Storm areas of Canarsi and Far Rockaway

The event host, Dahved 'Caribbean Fever' Levy in between performances proudly announced a donation of $10,000 to be shared between Canarsi and Far Rockaway two of the main Brooklyn areas affected by recent super-Tropical Storm Sandy.

All of the performers mentioned the recent unbearable tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings which took the lives of 20 innocent 6 and 7 year olds, together with 6 of their teachers and administrators.  Perhaps the most poignant and tear-jerking moment of the show was Peeta of Morgan Heritage's call for the house lights to be dimmed to illuminate the twinkling of thousands of cellphones in the auditorium. Mr. Vegas topped his set with a beautiful rendition of Whitney Houston's “I look to you” (reminding all in attendance of his great singing voice) before  going into “I am Blessed”, exiting the stage after a brief performance of his summer blockbuster 'Bruk it Dung”.   Cham, absent from New York stages for a while also turned in a good performance with his smooth and sexy dance moves, one highlight being his surprise guest – none other than bad girl of rap – Foxy Brown!  He closed his set with a collaboration with 'O' his wife currently riding the charts extolling the virtues of her good pudenda! Premier sound system out of Japan, Mighty Crown filled in nicely in between sets and also had a chance in the spotlight to show their prowess and celebration of their love of Jamaican dancehall music.

Machel Montano HD delivers a fiery finale to the show. 

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Photo Credit: MyFlash Photography
The tension continued to build the whole night, in anticipation of the final act, Machel Montana HD, who delivered his usual fiery performance, which left the sated audience looking forward to their attendance in Trinidad & Tobago for carnival in February 2013.

Caribbean Fever brought together Caribbean folks who for one night at least forgot their differences and came together as One.



Sheron Hamilton-Pearson was born in London but resides in NYC. A writer, she has had articles published at www.jamaicans.com, www.jamlink.com andwww.imagesnewsletter.com and has provided news stories to Street Hype Newsletter.  She recently won an autographed copy of the book "Who’s Your Daddy" by Jamaican writer Geoffrey Philp for her short story "Growing up without Dad".

She covers a wide range of topics, happenings in the Caribbean music industry and her local Bronx community. She hosts The Conduit show - a weekly magazine style 3 hour weekly radio program on www.e2onair.com or www.ustream.tv/channel/reggae-nation.
]]><![CDATA[48 hours in Africa for CarniRiv 2012]]>Sat, 22 Dec 2012 22:51:50 GMThttp://reggaereflection.com/1/post/2012/12/48-hours-in-africa-for-carniriv-2012.htmlPhotos and Feature by Empress K for Reggae Reflection Picture
On the road in Port Harcourt
Traveling to Africa for the first time is quite an experience. Add to that a distance of 5388 miles*1  one way and a time difference of 6 hours ahead of my local time and you realize that this is going to be an quite an interesting journey.   My destination for this trip was Port Harcourt in Southern Nigeria.  

Travel From JFK to Lagos to Port Harcourt, Nigeria (click on pictures below to enlarge)

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Nigeria is one of 16 countries  located in West Africa and it shares land borders with the countries of Benin, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger.  To begin this journey I left my house at 4:00AM ET  for my 6:00AM departure to JFK NY.  At JFK, I boarded a direct flight of 10 hours to Lagos (the most populous city in Nigeria reporting a current population close to 9million people)*2,  then transferred to the Lagos Domestic Airport for a flight to Port Harcourt in the Rivers State. Finally after about 26 hours of elapsed travel time, the plane landed in Port Harcourt about noon local time (6:00 AM ET)!   The nickname for Port Harcourt is the Garden City.  This is a well deserved description as I observed on the descent into Port Harcourt some of the most lush green landscape that I can recall in any of my travels. December and January are considered the dry season for this region so the weather was as expected - hot and dry with temps in the high 80s / low 90s. 

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Port Harcourt, the capital of the Rivers state is a bustling port city and key centre for Nigeria's oil industry.*3  While my sight seeing was fairly limited given my short stay of only two days,  I enjoyed taking in the city scenes which included various markets selling all types of goods. The roadways were quite congested during the day with car traffic as well as many people traveling by foot.  

City Scenes in and around Port Harcourt, Nigeria (click on pictures below to enlarge)

African Art in Port Harcourt, Nigeria (click on pictures below to enlarge)

It's Christmas time in Port Harcourt (click on pictures below to enlarge)

CarniRiv 2012

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Giant Billboard on the road in Port Harcourt
The main event taking place  in Port Harcourt was CARNIRIV, an annual week long cultural carnival.   CARNIRIV (CARNIVAL in the RIVERS state) is in it's 5th year and this year was of special significance as it celebrated the centenary anniversary of the city of Port Harcourt.  
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Shaggy at Carniriv2012

 The official opening of CARNIRIV 2012 took place  on Monday, 12/10 at CARNIVAL Village hosted at Liberation Stadium, a large stadium which is home to many football (soccer for my US friends! ) matches.  The night was complete with fireworks, cultural displays and performances by popular Nigerian acts 2Face, Burna Boy, Duncan Mighty and Scalawee prior to sets by international headliners Patra and Shaggy with the Tantrum Band and special guest singer Rayvon.  Shaggy closed out the opening night celebration with over 40,000 fans in attendance making this a night to remember and a great kickoff to the week long celebration. 

Patra and Shaggy give outstanding performances on the Opening Night of CarniRiv 2012 (click on pictures below to enlarge)

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Early evening fireworks
Just 4 days after my original departure and I was safely home again via  London and NY!  All in all this was an enjoyable experience for my first trip to Africa not withstanding numerous travel delays which are difficult to avoid and to be expected with this type of travel.   Reports are the rest of the week's events also went very well including an enjoyable Reggae 360 night featuring a crowd pleasing performance by Morgan Heritage on 12/13  and R&B singer Joe was a highlight at  the ECOWAS Peace pageant on 12/14 where Miss Zirra Banu from Nigeria was crowned the ECOWAS Peace Ambassador for 2012.   Congratulations to Ms. Lexy Brooks, CEO/President of Vip Connected Entertainment for her efforts in organizing another successful year of  quality entertainment at CarniRiv.   Vip Connected Entertainment is the the largest Caribbean-American booking agency.  Link with them on www.vipconnectedentertainment.com for all your entertainment needs. 

View more pictures from Port Harcourt and CarniRiv 2012 below. 

Port Harcout & Travel Slideshow

 *1http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distanceresult.html?p1=43&p2=2353
 *2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos
 *3 http://www.portharcourt.com

Sound Check & Opening Night Slideshow
]]><![CDATA[Boston Fans savor every moment at the sold out Stephen Marley show at the Paradise Theatre on 9/17/12]]>Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:10:30 GMThttp://reggaereflection.com/1/post/2012/09/boston-fans-savor-every-moment-at-the-sold-out-stephen-marley-show-at-the-paradise-theatre-on-91712.htmlPhotos and Feature by Empress K for Reggae Reflection
Boston Fans savor every moment at the sold out Stephen Marley Show at the Paradise Theatre on 9/17/12.

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Stephen Marley kicked off his first individual show of the Roots Revelation part 2 US tour in Boston. After a 9 week sold out-European tour this summer  and with only minimal time time to rest up from the tour, Stephen returned to Boston along with his full  band  and continued the trend into a multi-city U.S. Tour before wrapping up in October. 

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Spragga Benz always a Boston favorite who was in town over the summer for the sold out movie premiere of the Boston-Jamaican directed film Green Card in which he is featured, opened up the show by performing a brief high energy set as only the shotta culture can do.  



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After a brief intermission, Stephen bounded onto the stage performing Broadway before launching into more songs from his latest grammy winning album. 

For the fans that didn't get enough of Spragga at the beginning of the show, no worries as Spragga returned to the stage to collaborate with Stephen on their well known hit Iron Bars from the Grammy Award winning Album Mind Control.  Jo Mersa, also a special guest on the show made his appearance next and the trio had the whole crowd in a reggae party dance as they performed Traffic Jam, Jammin, and concluded with Could You be Loved as the last song before the encore. 
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For the encore, Stephen slowed things down  a moment for the crowd to reflect on  Made in Africa and Tight ship from Roots Revelation Part 1, The Root of Life. 

No word yet on the delivery date of Roots Revelation Part 2, The Fruit of Life,  however that was far from the minds of the fans savoring every moment of one of the best quality Reggae band shows to play Boston this year. Going to a Marley show is like spending an evening with the extended Reggae Family. Friends from near and far as well as numerous local musicians came out to support this quality live band show, something that the Boston Caribbean Reggae market has been lacking.  Hopefully Boston will see more shows like this in the near future. 

View the Slide show below for all Photos from the show

]]><![CDATA[Photos and Video:  9th Annual Montreal Reggae Festival delivers a great mix of Dancehall and Reggae ]]>Mon, 20 Aug 2012 02:07:26 GMThttp://reggaereflection.com/1/post/2012/08/photos-and-video-9th-annual-montreal-reggae-festival-delivers-a-great-mix-of-dancehall-and-reggae.htmlPhotos and feature by Empress K for Reggae Reflection. 

Photos and Video: 9th Annual Montreal Reggae Festival delivers a great mix of Dancehall and Reggae

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The 9th year of the Montreal Reggae Festival kicked off three days of  Music on the evening of Friday, August 17th  with a dancehall night featuring Cham.  At very affordable prices for the 3 day event, the Cham tickets were only $10 for one evening and fans also had the option to purchase mulit-day tickets to encompass the entire line-up occurring  Friday through Sunday.  Weather always an unknown factor in outdoor events and a problem in past years of the festival could not have been better throughout the weekend. With 2012 being celebrated around the world for Jamiaca's 50 years of Independence and and Usain Bolt's domination at the Summer Olympics, displays of Jamaican pride could be seen everywhere. 

Cham Headlines Opening Dancehall Night

Day 2 with Christopher Martin, Popcaan, Konshens and Assasin

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Saturday's line-up continued a great blend of Dancehall and some Lovers Rock as well  with Christopher Martin, PopCaan, Konshens and Agent Sasco.  All quality and good  length set times backed by the Ruff Cut Band.  

At approximately 7:30pm, the first international headliner Christopher Martin dressed in vibrant Orange pants and a black sleeveless vest easily won over the ladies in the audience when he sang 'his hit songs Cheater's Prayer, Chill Spot,  and  Paper Loving.  Martin also performed a well received selection of  R&B covers  including Bruno Mars Just the Way You Are and  classics from Marvin Gaye Sexual Healing, and  Al Green Let's Stay together and  I'm so in Love further sealing it with the ladies. 

PopCaan  one of the most highly anticipated dancehall performers of the night  was the second performer of the evening  did not disappoint and gave a strong performance of his hits  including Ravin and Only Man She Wants. 

Photos of Christopher Martin and Popcaan
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Konshens made  dramatic entrance to the stage dressed in a hooded grey sweatshirt, sunglasses, black pants and  a leather studded black glove completing the outfit.  Konshens easily engaged the crowd and and brought a female audience member on stage which provided some light hearted humor when revealed that the female fan was indeed married and very happy to be on stage with her favorite performer. 


Assassin aka Agent Sasco then closed out the night with a powerful set, a great close to the successful dancehall night. 

All of the artists were performing for their first time in Montreal and were pleased with the crowd reaction to their sets.  Only one performer that was scheduled to perform was not present.  Khago tweeted prior to the event that he would not be attending due to embassy issues. 

Photos of Konshens and  Agent Sasco closing out dancehall night

Montreal Reggae Festival Supporters show their spirit

Day 3 with Romain Virgo, Tarrus Riley and Jimmy Cliff

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Sunday,  the final day of the festival featured three more class acts from Jamaica.  It's nice to see Romain Virgo continue on his successful path along with Tarrus Riley's quality performance and Jimmy Cliff celebrating 50 years in the entertainment industry. 

Former Digicel Rising Star Romain Virgo backed by the Ruff Kutt Band battled some sound issues during his set,  however he  handled them like the pro that he has become  and entertained the  the audience with a solid set of his hit songs with several including I Know Better and the title track The System from his  latest album released in 2012. 
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Tarrus Riley backed by Dean Fraser and the Black Soil Band  was just in from a show in Kenya and about to thit the road to  Europe  to resume his tour.   As a nice touch, he greeted the audience in French and received an enthusiastic response as he continued to belt out hit song after hit song from his solid catalog of well known selections from his albums Parables and Contagious as well as new singles.  

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I missed Jimmy Cliff in NY this past summer so I was looking forward to see Jimmy Cliff perform for the first time.  Forever a young spirit, It's hard to believe that Jimmy Cliff has been entertaining audiences for 50 years and is still making new music! Just over the  summer he released 'Rebirth' his first studio album in eight years. Jimmy Cliff is the consummate entertainer and knows how to please an audience and did so by performing the audience's favorite selections from his many decades of music.  He opened up his set  with an appropriate selection of You can Get It If You Really Want It and gave the audience what they wanted - a great finale to the 9th Annual Montreal Festival and a testament to the longevity of Jimmy Cliff's years in the business. 

Photos of Romain Virgo, Tarrus Riley, and Jimmy Cliff

I had a chance to speak briefly with Tarrus Riley, Jimmy Cliff and Romain Virgo. about their experience in Montreal as well as to ask Romain Virgo his advice to new artists and Jimmy Cliff's advice to having career longevity.   Check the video for clips of the show and interview. 

View the slideshow for all the pics from Montreal

]]><![CDATA[Reggae / Dancehall Review and Photos: Caribbean Night at the Northern Star Arena in NJ's Six Flags Park with I-Octane, Mavado, and Barrington Levy]]>Sun, 12 Aug 2012 14:47:09 GMThttp://reggaereflection.com/1/post/2012/08/reggae-dancehall-review-and-photos-caribbean-night-at-the-northern-star-arena-in-njs-six-flags-park-with-i-octane-mavado-and-barrington-levy.htmlReview by Sheron Hamilton-Pearson 
Photos by Empress K  Editor at Reggae Reflection

Reggae / Dancehall Review and Photos: Caribbean Night at the Northern Star Arena in NJ's Six Flags Park with I-Octane, Mavado, and Barrington Levy - review by Sheron Pearson-Hamilton

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8/12//2012 -  I got the call late in the day to attend the Caribbean Night at the Northern Star Arena in New Jersey’s Six Flags Park.  Billed as a celebration of Caribbean heritage and 50 years of the amusement theme park, it promised to be a great event, featuring I-Octane, Mavado and Barrington Levy.
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Within minutes of my arrival at the venue after an uneventful ride down the Turnpike, that hypest of hosts – Jabba from Hot 97 was announcing the Gully God himself – the one and only Mavado.  King of the Gully-Side, he immediately launched into a  medley of his popular hits, songs like Star Bwoy, Gangsta fi Life, So Special,  Destiny and Neva Believe You.  Money Changer had the rude boys in the crowd putting pointer fingers up in the air. Certainly, the beats are highly infections, it’s hard to stand in a crowd listening to Gal a mad ova or Wha Dem ah Do and not nod your head to the beat.  The young women in the crowd were going crazy, flags waving, as he greeted the Caribbean patrons in the venue and got excited responses to his roll call, I think Brooklyn got the loudest cheer, but there were partygoers who had even travelled from Pennsylvania! He then moved into his newer hits like Delilah and Come into My Room, the Stacious collaboration.  When Mavado concentrated on the ladies, one young woman jumped on stage and proceeded to show him that she could Whine like a Gypsy.  Nice to see the Gully God smiling as she told him that she wanted to marry him.  Mavado is a singjay with lots of energy, but it’s a shame he doesn’t use that energy to sing his songs to the end.

Mavado Photos at Six Flags Park

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As he pranced around the stage, he tripped over a misplaced microphone and almost fell, but quickly recovered and made light of the fact that 'no evil shall prosper'.  I would love to see this artist concentrate on his delivery to give the fans what they want, more of him singing his hit songs that they’ve come to know and love. I’m a Survivor is a fitting way to end his set.  In a nice touch he sends a shout out to his nemesis Vybz Kartel and wishes him an early release from prison where he is being held on serious charges, including alleged  murder, gun and marijuana possession.  Mavado is called back on stage and after praising Usain and Asafa sings his final offering – Pepper/ Man a Steppa.


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After a relatively short band change, during which the entertainment was provided by Jabba, DJ Banky Hype and the Detour Posse from LA who provided live back up for the next act - Veteran Jamaican artist Barrington Levy.  I was really looking forward to this performer and I was certainly not disappointed.  Barrington is fit, he’s lost weight and looks really great.  You could see this artist came to work as he launched straight into his hit song Living Dangerously.  Immediately he urged the crowd to participate in reprising the hook sung by Bounty Killa.  It was a rare treat for me, seeing Levy perform classics like Prison Oval Rock, Under mi Sensi, Broader than Broadway, Don’t Throw it All Away, Black Rose, Too Experienced, Teach the Youth, What Kind of World, and his famous Intercom, which he upgraded by singing snippets from his wildly popular 80's Intercom, telephone and so on up to today's modern communication devices!

Barrington Levy Photos at Six Flags

Unfortunately, I arrived just after I-Octane's performance, but patrons in the departing crowd were expressing their satisfaction with his performance. 

I-Octane Photos at Six Flags

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The two-day music event now in its seventh year, showcased the efforts of two premier promotors Trinii Fly Promotors and G City Enterprises getting together to bring  a positive  and unique celebration of Caribbean hearitage  to Six Flags Great Adventure who, like Jamaica and Trinidad, was also celebrating it's 50th Anniversary.  Having a concert in an amusement theme park has a synergy that is hard to come by, there's definitely something surreal about watching a performance when raising your eyes just slightly from the stage  groups of folks are whizzing past in a giant roller coaster ride.  Sun sets in a blazing ball of fire but the performers certainly brought their own heat to Jackson Township - Jersey's Gateway to the shore.

Fans and Scenes from Six Flag Park

Click the Slideshow below to view all photos from the Six Flags Summer Concert Series featuring I-Octane, Mavado, and Barrington Levy

A TriniFly Promotions  / SIx Flags Summer Concert Series Press Release for Event http://www.reggaereflection.com/4/post/2012/06/caribbean-summer-concert-series-returns-for-another-six-flags-great-adventure-august-11-12-2012.html

www.triniflypromotions.com

Reggae Reflection contributors

Sheron Hamilton-Pearson was born in London but resides in NYC. A writer, she has had articles published at www.jamaicans.com, www.jamlink.com andwww.imagesnewsletter.com and has provided news stories to Street Hype Newsletter. She recently won an autographed copy of the book "Who’s Your Daddy" by Jamaican writer Geoffrey Philp for her short story "Growing up without Dad".

She covers a wide range of topics, happenings in the Caribbean music industry and her local Bronx community. She hosts The Conduit show - a weekly magazine style 3 hour weekly radio program on www.e2onair.com or www.ustream.tv/channel/reggae-nation.
]]><![CDATA[A Fabolous weekend in Negril, Jamaica for ATI 2012]]>Mon, 06 Aug 2012 01:50:49 GMThttp://reggaereflection.com/1/post/2012/08/a-fabolous-weekend-in-negril-jamaica-for-ati-2012.htmlPhotos and feature by Empress K for Reggae Reflection. 

Another top quality VipConnectedEntertainment event .  VIP Connected Entertainment is the largest Caribbean-American booking agency worldwide. For more information link with them on www.vipconnectedentertainment.com for all your entertainment needs. 
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Jamaica celebrated 50 years of Independence from Britian on August 6, 2012.  Celebrations throughout the island of Jamaica are held each year to commemorate the occasion which is typically a time for Jamaicans living abroad to visit Jamaica and an occasion for local Jamaicans to enjoy the holiday weekend. 


Appleton Temptation Island (ATI)  is nearly a week long celebration taking place every year in Negril and is a popular destination for locals and visitors alike.  Speciality themed parties are the mainstay of the celebrations.   The international headliners for this years events were DJ Envy from Hot 105 NY and MTV Sucker Free at Colours on Saturday August 4th and  Multi-Grammy Award Nominee Fabolous at Stages on Sunday August 5th.  

DJ Envy and more at Colours Negril 8/4

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During the day on Sunday August 5th, a large crowd of hotel patrons gathered in the bar around the large TV screen to watch Usain Bolt make history as he competed in the 100 meter contest. Loud cheers soon erupted into mass celebration as Usain Bolt won the gold medal.   A  perfect way to celebrate Indepence day in Jamaica! 

ATI Scenes at the RIU Palace

Fabolous at Stages Negril 8/5

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Tropical Storm Ernesto made a visit and attempted to dampen spirtis, however despite the torrential downpour in the afternoon and again in the evening,  all Ernesto managed to do was briefly delay some of the of the outdoor ATI events.   By the time Fabolous  performed at Stages, the rain  had stopped and fans had put away their umbrellas and replaced them with cell phones in the air snapping pics and videos of  their favorite international rapper Fabolous along with rapper Paul Cain and accompanied by DJ 4our5ive.  A special Fireworks display provided a extra touch to the evening's celebration. 

Fabolous takes the International stage at ATI Negril

View the Slideshow for more photos at ATI Stages 

]]><![CDATA[Elephant Man  Destination: Aruba July 7th, 2012 ]]>Sat, 07 Jul 2012 21:44:00 GMThttp://reggaereflection.com/1/post/2012/07/elephant-man-destination-aruba-july-7th-2012.htmlPhotos and feature by Empress K for Reggae Reflection. 

Another top quality VipConnectedEntertainment event .  VIP Connected Entertainment is the largest Caribbean-American booking agency worldwide. For more information link with them on www.vipconnectedentertainment.com for all your entertainment needs.  Picture

Aruba has a love for dancehall music and everyone came out in full support to witness the Energy God's first appearance in Aruba at the Total Control Street Party held in Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba  on July 7th to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of Exide Music Group. 

Elephant Man Press Conference at 7West

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On the evening prior to the event, a press conference was held at 7West  to welcome Elephant Man to Aruba and to highlight his new single Dash Wata produced by Q45 Productions.   Local and International press were on hand to interview Elephant Man. He  graciously greeted  the press as well as the many fans also present and took time to sign autographs and take photos.  

Soundcheck for Total Control

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The location of West Straat in the downtown area was blocked off to transform the area into a Street Party with the main stage overlooking the harbor.  

For the main event, Elephant man backed by his 5 piece band from Kingston, Jamaica performed a high energy 45 minute set proving to the Arubian fans why he his is considered the Energy God. Always known to engage the audience, he also highlighted some local dancers on the stage and brought some fans on stage as well for some good natured fun.

Showtime for Elephant Man!

Aruba Scenery  

Aruba has some beautiful scenery.  Here are just a few highlights.  See the slide shows below to see more photos from this trip.  To learn a little more about Aruba and it's culture check out the following site. http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Aruba.html#b

Check the Slide show for photos of Elephant Man in Aruba

Total Control Sound Check and more sights around downtown Orenjestad

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