"Reports surfacing is that Gyptian is now the most popular artiste in North America. Yeah man that means he has surpassed the likes of Vybz Kartel, Shaggy and Sean Paul.

According to a story in the Jamaica Observer he has become the most popular dancehall artiste in North America and third popular globally based on online searches, amidst the prerelease of his charting album.

He is more popular than rivals in the US and Canada (the world’s largest music market) according to data from search engine Google analysed by the Observer. Over the last 30 days, every 100 searches for Gyptian saw a corresponding 67 for Shaggy and five for Sean Paul, zero for Kartel in the US

Globally, however, Gyptian has half the online popularity of Sean Paul and Shaggy who are still the most popular deejays.

That is not bad for Gyptian, as last June he did not even register on Google Trends.

Gyptian’s global rise to third place occurred in May and June when he beat Kartel and Matisyahu respectively. It indicates that more persons worldwide are searching for news and music from Gyptian than ever.

His hit single Hold Yuh is currently topping five territories including US, UK, France, Canada and Belgium based on iTunes Reggae Songs chart up to Saturday.

His single is also charting at number four on Billboard’s Heatseeker’s singles chart. Whilst his new album on VP Records debuted at number two on Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart this week (despite his album’s official release in August

Reports surfacing is that Gyptian is now the most popular artiste in North America. Yeah man that means he has surpassed the likes of Vybz Kartel, Shaggy and Sean Paul.

According to a story in the Jamaica Observer he has become the most popular dancehall artiste in North America and third popular globally based on online searches, amidst the prerelease of his charting album.

"He is more popular than rivals in the US and Canada (the world’s largest music market) according to data from search engine Google analysed by the Observer. Over the last 30 days, every 100 searches for Gyptian saw a corresponding 67 for Shaggy and five for Sean Paul, zero for Kartel in the US

Globally, however, Gyptian has half the online popularity of Sean Paul and Shaggy who are still the most popular deejays.

That is not bad for Gyptian, as last June he did not even register on Google Trends.

Gyptian’s global rise to third place occurred in May and June when he beat Kartel and Matisyahu respectively. It indicates that more persons worldwide are searching for news and music from Gyptian than ever.

His hit single Hold Yuh is currently topping five territories including US, UK, France, Canada and Belgium based on iTunes Reggae Songs chart up to Saturday.

His single is also charting at number four on Billboard’s Heatseeker’s singles chart. Whilst his new album on VP Records debuted at number two on Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart this week (despite his album’s official release in August"

Source: Yardflex.com

Read more »

Collie Buddz, the Bermudian Reggae star with the dancehall sound that crosses genres from pop to hip-hop, announced this week that he was forming his own touring company, CB Touring, to handle all booking for his live appearances. CB Touring embraces the trend of artistic control in every aspect of life on the road by aggressively pursuing a touring schedule that allows Collie to connect with his fans and bring his hard hitting live show to more locations across the globe.

The value of an artist’s intellectual property has declined significantly in the age of file sharing, and Collie is determined not to devalue it as it relates to touring. “Every venue we play, every promoter we work with, all the numbers, when we tour, what songs we play… I want my own organization to be in charge of those decisions, and own that information,” says Collie in between signing autographs for fans during his current tour with Slightly Stoopid and Cypress Hill.

On the road through the end of August, Collie is playing the official pre-party for Lollapalooza on Thursday night at House of Blues Chicago before continuing on the Legalize It 2010 tour, which finishes in Florida. Collie will hit a small East Coast and West Coast run in September including headlining the West Beach Festival in Santa Barbara. The fun continues with a secondary market jaunt in November. Collie will then take some much-needed rest to be with his family in Bermuda as he prepares for the birth of his first child. In 2011 expect a nationwide US tour kicking off on the East Coast in late March and ending on the West Coast in Late April followed by extensive international touring.

Touring is the product of a unique collaboration between Collie Buddz, his management team, Mojiza Management, headed by industry veteran Dino Devaille, and Ineffable Music Group, a Bay Area firm specializing in artist infrastructure solutions. “We have taken the philosophies of the best agents and touring operations in the business and molded them into something that allows Collie to be the touring artist he wants to be, on his terms.” Says Thomas Cussins of CB Touring. “ Tech N9ne’s operation with Mark Reifsteck, and the model of Aaron Pinkus at Paradigm are major influences on how we approach our booking philosophy. We also have to credit the strategies of Ari Bernstein, formerly of WLA, and the genre –bending packages and artist development of many other agents.”

Collie Buddz will be releasing a follow up record to his self-titled release that has sold almost half a million copies worldwide in January 2011. The album will continue to bend the paradigm of what a reggae artist is supposed to sound like. Collie, who credits his brother Smokey with introducing him to the beauty of reggae music as a youth in Bermuda, will nonetheless experiment with his beats and flows as he lays down track after track of pure “Fyah.” Collie’s long time manager, Dino Devaille, who helped to mold the concept of CB Touring had this to say about Collie’s new music, "For the sophomore release it's pure vibes man: the energy you feel when you find that person that practically makes your heart stop, for good or for bad; the crush of walking by someone without food to eat, clothes to wear, or a roof to shelter them and telling yourself you can do something, or you won't, and time stops in that moment while you decide to walk by them or to walk beside them; the feelings of bliss when you thank The Almighty for giving you life; the feelings of devastation when you feel like you can't move on. Collie's sophomore album makes you feel like someone understands you and you don't exist alone. It's sound magic". He also commented on what fans should expect from Collie in the next year, “in the future the fans should come to expect Collie Buddz to become a brand artist, and a movement that caters to the ever changing music fan. Collie Buddz is the people’s artist.”

Watching Collie as he performs on stage with his band New Kingston at a recent show in Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, it is clear that despite his reputation as an artist’s artist with the most complete reggae album of the last ten years, nowhere is he more comfortable than on stage. As he flashes his trademark smile and waves in unison with five thousand fans, he is in complete control of the stage and the next move is up to him. We get the feeling that is exactly what he had in mind.

Tour dates announced soon at www.colliebuddz.com

Source

Read more »

August 2010 New Riddim!
Smokin' Riddim by CR203 Records

Tracklist:

01. BEENIE MAN – GREATEST GYAL INNA DI WORLD
02. CECILE – WOOT WOOT
03. CHINO – NO STYLING
04. DI GENIUS – WHINE UP
05. ELEPHANT MAN – STEP OVA
06. LADEN – MY LADY
07. MAVADO – STULLA
08. MR. VEGAS – COVER GIRL (FILTER MIX)
09. MR. VEGAS – COVER GIRL (STRAIGHT MIX)
10. SEAN PAUL – TURN ME ON
11. TIFA – MOVE UR BODY
12. TONY MATTERHORN – BLACKBERRY PIN
13. VOICEMAIL FEAT. DING DONG – RESULTS ARE IN
14. VYBZ KARTEL – DUMPA TRUCK (RADIO)
15. VYBZ KARTEL – THAT SWEET YUH

Smokin' Riddim Videos available on Riddimtube.com
Read more »

Most dancehall artists' careers have crashed and burned on American shores. From Yellowman to Shabba Ranks to Buju Banton, some of Jamaica's most definitive vocalists couldn't break through to a larger audience due to unwise collaborations, questionable judgments and bad advice.

Busy Signal, who boasts a collab with M.I.A. on the new Major Lazer EP, is determined not to follow that path.

"I've learned from their mistakes, " the man born Reanno Gordon tells Spinner. "I try to think outside the box, beyond Jamaica. I mean, we sing gun lyrics here, and burn fire on this and burn fire on that, but that won't bring you to the level that you need to go. I've seen this over and over again with artists from Jamaica. You sing those songs locally, people go crazy, but at the end of the day that won't bring you to the wide level of exposure cause you're probably lashing out against those that would be accepting you."

Busy has managed to create huge domestic hits while pursuing hybrid rhythms and cool foreign collaborations. Nothing in his rapidly growing catalog sounds like the watered-down crossovers of years past, which saw hard-as-nails dancehall artists recording urban radio-baiting slow jams.

His new album 'D.O.B.' (which stands for "Difference of Busy" may contain covers of Phil Collins' 'One More Night' and a one-drop revision of the Commodores' 'Night Shift,' but both versions cut deep and don't feel like blatant sellouts.

Within the rest of the album's context, it's clear these represent just one side of his personality, alongside the Latin-flavoured 'Picante,' the fierce 'Summn a Go Gwaan' with his mentor Bounty Killer, and the digital string flourishes of 'Opera.'

"I'm not just about one track in my entire career," he says. "I sing gun songs -- I sing plenty of them -- and I sing sex lyrics too. I mean, sex sells. I still sing conscious songs -- I even sing a gospel, so I try to keep it well-rounded".

Busy is crossing over differently than previous generations by tapping into the hot electro-tropical scene and spreading the results online, rather than through radio. Poirier remixed Busy's ultra-minimal 'Cool Baby' into an anthemic dancefloor track -- and gave it away as a free download. The African-inspired single 'Jafrican Ting' blew up earlier this year thanks to support from trendspotting magazine The Fader. However, he is best known outside dancehall circles for his work with Diplo's Major Lazer project -- which contributes the bonus track 'Pon Me' to 'D.O.B.' Busy finds great common ground with such producers.

"They fuse stuff and do different types of beats, it's a good experience for me," he observes. "I'm not really trying to change dancehall, it's more trying to fuse it with different styles -- getting a different taste but at the same time keeping it Jamaican dancehall culture, reggae music culture."

More than ever, his approach is paying off, with big names increasingly coming to him. "I'm always in the studio, constantly doing tracks. I did one with Stephen Marley yesterday," he recounts. On the way are vocals for beats supplied by Timbaland, Scott Storch and DJ Khaled.

"I'm lifting the culture on a wider scale of exposure," Busy maintains, stressing once again that his self-directed musical diversity will help him go further. "There are all different types of people in the world. When people can choose, that's always a good thing."

Source

Read more »

The management team of deejay Mavado is tight-lipped on alleged negotiations with US record label Def Jam.

"If and when negotiations are complete we will make an announcement," stated a source who declined to be named for fear of jeopardising possible negotiations. "We talk to many labels...and as a businessman I cannot comment on that."

The source called the allegations "mere rumours" but at the same time would not deny that Mavado is exploring options for a new label.

Def Jam, ultimately owned by major label Universal Music Group, has great marketing and reach. It would also allow Mavado to maximise his record sales in the US (which is the world's largest music market) as his performance income was hurt following the revocation of his US Visa earlier this year.

Mavado described as the Gully God has a loyal following and the best Billboard chart performance among locally based hardcore deejays. His 2009 album Mr Brooks topped the reggae charts and his 2006 single Weh Dem A Do peaked at 20 on the rap songs chart.

Def Jam artistes include Kanye West, Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Rick Ross, Nas and others, but has no major reggae artiste under its roster. However the current number one reggae album on Billboard, Distant Relatives by reggae artiste Damian Marley (Tuff Gong) and US rapper Nas (Def Jam) was released jointly on Universal Republic and Def Jam Recordings. Additionally, Elephant Man has released singles under Def Jam UK. The label was founded by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons.

Source

Read more »