Click here to view the embedded video.

Today, the world learned that Gregory Isaacs passed away from lung cancer at the young age of 60. He died at his house in London after a long battle with lung cancer. I have fond memories of when I first heard Gregory Isaacs and started to develop a liking for his music. People are right to say that his sound was just so cool. In reality, he has many hits such as Number One and Hush Darling, but the song that will always be associated with Gregory is Night Nurse. Night Nurse was so far ahead of its time and is an all around classic.

Besides making smooth and cool reggae music, Gregory Isaacs played a role in the Jamaican slang classic, Rockers. If you haven’t seen Rockers, you really must for so many reasons. A chance to see Gregory Isaacs and other reggae greats on the stage is definitely one of them.

Gregory Isaacs joins many of the reggae legends that have made the transition, you will be missed but not forgotten.

Here is a link to find out more about Gregory Isaacs.

England has long been connected to Jamaica and all of the other countries in the British West Indies. In the mid 20th century, people workers from the Caribbean started to flood England seeking better opportunities. Many West Indians worked in all kinds of fields and professions, but a good amount of the less educated West Indians ended up on the Estates (government housing). The West Indian influence and especially the Jamaican influence infiltrated all aspects of British Society, especially the music. Genres like Ska and Garage clearly have Jamaican musical elements. The lyrics of the music helped to instill Jamaican slang into the vocabulary of young Britons, but so did the contact with the increasing number of West Indians in everyday society.

Now, you can go to any part of London and hear someone who is not Jamaican and has no ties to West Indies refer to someone as a Rudeboy or a Gyal. For example, in the three movies I watched over the past three days, here is a rough list of the Jamaican slang words and expressions I heard:

• Gyal
• Rudeboy (Rudebwoy)
• Chat (Chat bout)
• Likkle
• Yaad (Yard)
• Yuh Dun Noh (You Already Know)
• Tings (Things)
• Batty Bwoy
• Badman
• Shotta
• Mash Her Up
• Yout (Youth)
• Wha gwaan?
• Wha ya deal?

There were many more, including some that are better of not mentioned here. And although, the language and music were the most apparent aspects of Jamaica’s influence in British Youth Culture, there were other things such as body language that contains hints of Jamaican culture.

So, if you live in England, you can easily get started mastering Jamaican Patois and if you are visiting England after learning some patois, you can get some proper practice in. Finally, make sure you watch the films, they are really interesting and a good break from the Hollywood blockbusters.

Folks, we were honored to do an interview with Jamaican Entertainer Fudgie Springer. The bottom line is this interview is filed with insights into Jamaican Culture, Jamaican Society, Jamaican Slang and it is RAW.

I have to thank Fudgie 1,000 times because he is a good dude, very generous, and a real source for insights into modern Jamaican culture. It is only my hope that we can link up in the future again soon to do something even more insightful.

Anyways, I’ll let the interview do the talking! Bless.

jacqueline-young-chin-choy-interviews-fudgie-springer

We’ve been really lucky to have some great interviews so far this summer (if you are north of the equator).  Give Thanks! First we connected with Riddim Express and now Scally Ranks.  Scally Ranks is really unique in the world of Jamaican culture, music and entertainment. The first thing that really stands out about Scally is his amazing art skill. Scally is the go to guy for claymation, especially dancehall claymation. Click here to see his stuff on YouTube! Secondly, Scally is so up on what is happening in Jamaica, it is almost scary. Especially for a guy from Manchester, UK.  Finally, you check out Scally on manchesterradioonline.com where he plays the biggest and best dancehall tunes.  Bottom line, Scally Ranks is doing it big and is someone you should definitely be on the look out for in the future. Here is the exclusive interview with Scally where we talk about dancehall music, claymation, daggerin and much much more. Enjoy:

Oh, and he’s an Arsenal fan. Big Up Scally!

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Have you ever met someone and just felt like you instantly would be friends with that person? Well, that is what happened when we did an interview with Selectas Jaw Breaker and Fyah Starter of Riddim Express. These guys are true music heads and focus on quality musical content in every podcast and mix that they do. No, these guys are not Jamaican, but they definitely know their reggae, dancehall, lovers rock and hip hop. Like so many people, their love for Jamaican music came out of a love for hip hop music. Right now, they have a couple of projects in the pipeline. There is even a top secret project that is soon going to take world by storm, so get over to www.riddimexpress.com to stay tuned to updates. Here is the exclusive interview Spliffy and I did with Jaw Breaker and Fyah Starter. Enjoy it and let us know your feedback!

You can find out more about Riddim Express at :www.riddimexpress.com  or riddimexpress.podomatic.com

Big Up Jaw Breaker, Big Up Fyah Starter and go ahead and subscribe to their podcast…it’s FYAAAHHHHH!!!!

1- Playground (Beenie Man is definitely the one who made this riddim “sell off” with Who Am I.)

2- Diwali (This might be the most successful riddim outside of Jamaica and it is rddim where Sean Paul really blew up abroad. This riddim showed the world the fun dances coming out of Jamaica. Stand out artists are T.O.K., Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder, Elephant Man…and should I add Lumidee? Uh No!)

3- Bookshelf (Every single song on this riddim is pretty much classic, but the people that stand out are Sean Paul, Beenie Manand T.O.K. This is also the riddim where Sean Paul dropped Dutty Yo on Deport Dem.)

4- Buy Out ( Sean Paul and Elephant Man did their thing on this riddim. This was a fun riddim and people were signalin’ di plane all the time.)

5- Showtime (This might be the best riddim of all time because nuff artist use parts of this riddim or the riddim to launch their career. Beenie and Bounty Killer definitely murdered this riddim.)

Even before finishing this post, I have people on my case that these riddims could be replaced by others. Leave some feedback of what you think should be on this list.

Elephant Man was dropped from the performance roster at this year’s Caribana Festival in Toronto due to his extremely homophobic lyrics. This is just one of several artists to suffer some sort of ban outside of Jamaica because of negative lyrics against the gay community with some of the lyrics promoting violence. Buju Banton‘s “Boom Bye Bye” was banned from several  radio stations in North America because the song was very offensive to gays. The truth is that being gay in Jamaica is not easy. PERIOD. In many cases, gay Jamaicans are “in the closet” because being gay is just NOT embraced by most groups in Jamaican society.

Rastas make it clear that homosexuality is forbiden and is subject to death. Dancehall artists like Elephant Man and T.O.K. have songs that blatantly diss homosexuals. You might ask, why is there so much anger and hate against homosexuals?

Jamaican lesbian activist Staceyann Chin believes the following explains why homosexuality is so taboo in Jamaica.

The macho ideal is celebrated, praised in Jamaica, while homosexuality is paralleled with pedophilia, rapists,” Chin said. “Markers that other people perceive as gay — they walk a certain way, wear tight pants, or are overly friendly with a male friend — make them targets. It’s a little pressure cooker waiting to pop.

Even though many of the other caribbean islands are very conservative, Chin goes on to say,

(But) what stands out about Jamaica is how absolutely, head-in-the-sand unwilling the authorities have been for years to acknowledge or address homophobic violence,” he said. “Most notably, three successive governments have completely, utterly, publicly refused even to talk about changing the buggery law — which expressly consigns gay people to second-class citizens and paints
targets on their backs.

The other thing that is not brought up by Chin is the African influence in Jamaica. Most African communities in the African Diaspora are very homophobic. For example, The Source magazine ran a piece on trying to find out who the gay rapper was. Even though, there are gay rappers, none that are openly gay are in the mainstream. Many believe being a homosexual rapper or athlete goes against the idea of being a thug or being tough. Additionally, Rastas and others continue to support the argument that it is not natural.

Although this is a much deeper issue worth exploring in depth, I think it is important that people new to Jamaican Patois and Jamaican Slang get familiar with some of the words typically used to refer to gays. Here are some of the main words:

Chi Chi Man

Batty Bwoy

Fassy

To read more about being gay in Jamaica, click here. And here is the song that cause Elephant to get banned from Caribana.

Elephant Man – Log On

Yes, the Major Lazer Essential Mix is nothing new now. In a matter of 5 days, it spread all over the internet, but the truth is that it is MAD (good thing). Basically, the Essential Mix is a BBC Radio 1 show that consists of the best DJs in the world doing Dance mixes. The most recent Essential Mix was done by Diplo and Switch, the DJs/Producers behind Major Lazer. This mix is just too good. It is not a pure reggae mix nor is it a dance mix. Rather, it is a mix done in the typical Mad Decent manner, all over the place. Despite being all over the place, this is just a a quality mix with many dancehall, reggae and mash up gems! If you can get your hands on the complete thing, do it, but if you aren’t go to the Mad Decent website to get the Diplo half of the mix. Click here to listen to the full Major Lazer Essential Mix.

Diplo Mix:

Shut Up And Dance ‘Ravin I’m Ravin’
Barrington Levy ‘Reggae Music Dub’
Barrington Levy ‘Send A Moses’
Alton Ellis ‘Africa Descendants’
Burning Spear ‘Live It Out’
Artibella ‘Unknown’
Toyan ‘African Thing’
John Holt ‘100 Weight Of Collie Weed’
Barrington Levy ‘Murderer’
John Holt ‘Police In Helicopter’
Clint Eastwood & General Saint ‘Another One Bites The Dust’
Yello Man ‘Mr Chin!’
Unknown ‘Sweet Dreams’
Don Carlos ‘Ababa John I (Father Majesty)’
Johnny Osbourne ‘No Ice Cream Sound’
Admiral Bailey ‘Big Belly Man’
Wayne Smith ‘Under Me Sleng Teng’
Bruk Up ft. Shaggy ‘Sunglasses At Night’
Ricky Blaze ‘How Mi Look’
Martyn ‘Seventy Four’
Black Eyed Peas ‘Boom Boom Pow’
Seductive ‘Underground Sound’
Major Lazer ‘Jump Up’
Party Quad ‘Pull Up’
Digital Manges ‘Manges (Sharkslayer Club)’
Major Lazer ‘Pon Di Floor Beatacue Mix’
Major Lazer ‘Pon Di Floor’
Nirvana ‘Lithium’
Wamdue Project ‘King Of My Castle’
LBG ‘Don’t Stop The Music’
Solid Groove ‘This Is Sick’
Mavado ‘Weh Dem A Do’
Dandy Livingstone ‘Rudy, A Message To You’
Unknown ‘Unknown’
Unknown ‘Unknown’

Switch Mix:

Mr. Oizo & Sebastian ‘Arrival’
Major Lazer ‘Lazer Theme’
Artist Unknown ‘Mash Up De Place’
King Jammys ‘Judgement Day’
Bjork ‘Nattura’ (Switch Remix)
Ace Of Base ‘All That She Wants’
Ninjasonik ‘Pregnant Accapella ‘
Major Lazer: ‘Baby Riddim’ Feat. Prince Zimboo And M.I.A (Switch Remix)
Donny ‘Symptomless Coma’ (Current Value VIP)
Major Lazer ‘Rebellion (Anything Goes) Accapella’
Leftside ‘Shi Nuh Wahh’
Terror Fabulous & Nadine Sutherland ‘Action’
The Shadow And The Ventures ‘Hawaii Five-O’ Feat. Andy Milonakis
Major Lazer ‘Hold The Line Accapella’
Shawna Feat. Twista & Ludacris ‘R.P.M’
Unknown ‘Unknown’
Rye Rye ‘Shake It To The Ground’ (Switch And Santigold Remix)
Major Lazer ‘Cash Flow’ (Subskrpt Remix)
DJ Malvado ‘Puto Mekie’
Major Lazer ‘Can’t Stop Now Accapella’
Switch & Crookers ‘Untitled’
Mapei ‘Belly’
White Label ‘F***in’ House’
Major Lazer ‘Pon De Floor’ (Drop The Lime Remix)
Unknown ‘Unknown’
DJ Sega ‘I’m A Flirt’
Major Lazer ‘Pon De Floor Beats’
Par-T-One ‘I’m So Crazy Accapella’
Amanda Blank ‘Something Bigger, Something Better Accapella’

So for those that don’t know, there is a party happening everyday of the week in Jamaica. Here are the top 10 places to be if you are anybody worth anything while you go to Jamaica. If you want to stay in your nice cozy resort, then this list is NOT for you neither is Kingston. However, if you are brave and willing to mingle with the real people of Jamaica, then you MUST go to these places. Big UP Spliffy!

Fiction – Wednesdays @ the market place

Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffetts

The Quad

Passa Passa (Tivoly Gardens) – Downtown

Medusa’s – a Bar

Blitz on a Tuesday – by the office (a club)

Prendy’s on The Beach – Restaurant @Hellshire

Limekey

Morgan’s Habour

Escape – Bar (New Kingston)