Tag: Jah Nine

  • Paying Tribute To The Crown Prince on “We Remember Dennis Brown”

    Paying Tribute To The Crown Prince on
    “We Remember Dennis Brown”

    Young Reggae Artists Pay Homage To The Crown Prince

    This February 1st marks what would have been the 59th birthday of the late great Dennis Emmanuel Brown, better known as the Crown Prince of Reggae. Having made his mark at Sir Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One as a child performer, D. Brown would go on to blaze a trail of soulful roots reggae, taking his sound to the top of the British charts in 1972 with “Money in My Pocket.” The singer recorded crucial cuts for many of Jamaica’s greatest producers including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Niney the Observer, Joe Gibbs, King Jammy’$, and Sly & Robbie. He passed away in 1999 but his music continues to play all around the world, with timeless lyrics like “Love and hate can never be friends” becoming immortalized in the popular vernacular. In 2016 V.P. Records has announced that they will be releasing a 2-CD tribute album entitled We Remember Dennis Brown. In the same spirit as We Remember Gregory Isaacs, the album will feature newer artists covering classic and rare cuts by the master. The first four songs in the double-CD set have been revealed. Lineup & Video After The Jump… (more…)

  • Reasoning with Protoje: “It’s Our Time to Govern the Music”

    Reasoning with Protoje: “It’s Our Time to Govern the Music”

    “There Is A Rising Consciousness that’s Obviously Happening. There Is a Movement As Well.”

    While passing through the concrete jungle the other day, Protoje dropped by Plex HQ to reason about life and the state of the music. We started off discussing his big tune with Chronixx “Who Knows,” and how Storm Saulter—of Better Mus Come fame—came to direct the song’s epic music video. Diggy said Winta James came up with the video’s basic concept, which he described as “You start off with everything and as the day goes on you lose stuff, and it’s either you’re gonna turn around and go home or keep pushing forward.” So it’s all about the Bounce Back, which is a fitting transition to our discussion of the shift within Jamaican music right now. “We want to change the perception of what people think reggae is,” Protoje explained. “Cause I see what people think the genre is, and the reality of what it is now—and It’s far.” Protoje made the point that he’d rather not be pigeon-holed within the category of reggae just because he is from Jamaica. “Chronixx and I make two different sounds,” he asserted. “Sonically our music sounds different, but we’re still under the same heading of reggae music.” He calls his current sound—which has amassed a huge following in Europe, where he will be touring this summer—”a real hybrid,” citing Junjo Lawes and Jimi Hendrix as infuences. Nevertheless, he goes on to state that he and Chronixx and s number of other like-minded artists and producers are all part of a cultural movement within Jamaica right now.  “There is a rising consciousness that’s obviously happening. There is a movement as well… 2010 to 2020 is our time to govern them music.”  Video and Summer Tour Dates After The Jump… (more…)