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Words by Jesse Serwer—
This year marks Freddie McGregor’s 50th in the music business, but don’t jump to any conclusions: he got his start at age seven, singing with vocal group The Clarendonians, back when he was known as “Little Freddie.”
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Photos by Martei Korley—
Rebel Salute is Jamaica’s most significant annual reggae festival. While Sting bottles all of its hype into a single night, Sumfest splits its focus between pop and dancehall and Jazz and Blues is something else entirely, Tony Rebel’s gathering sets the tone for the year in reggae and also dancehall. This year’s two-day edition of Rebel Salute (held Jan. 18 and 19 at Richmond Estate in St Ann) was one of the most diverse and star-powered editions yet with performances from Sizzla, Busy Signal, Beres Hammond, Tarrus Riley, Aswad, Chronixx, Richie Spice, I-Wayne, No-Maddz, Protoje, the return of Terror Fabulous and, of course, Tony Rebel and his wife, Queen Ifrika. Scroll through for Martei Korley’s photo series from Rebel Salute’s Day One, and stay tuned for Part Two.
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Words, Photos and Video by Martei Korley
Country star Larry Gatlin with Romain Virgo
On a hot, sticky day at the end of August, we traveled to Jamaica’s Breezes Negril resort to witness a unique intermingling of the country and reggae music worlds. If such an exchange strikes you as unusual, well then you’ve got a lot to learn about Jamaica, where country music has been a part of the nation’s cultural fabric since it made its way there through the radio back in 1950. (For more on the extent of its influence, see this primer). As reggae artists Freddie McGregor, Busy Signal, Duane Stephenson and L.U.S.T. (the quartet of veteran singers Lukie D, Thrilla U, Singing Melody and Tony Curtis) tell us in our latest LargeUp TV exclusive, country enjoys a place among their earliest musical memories.
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Words by Jesse Serwer
Supporting Japan relief efforts is a no-brainer for so many different reasons. For one, it’s just the right thing to do. For another, Japan is one of the biggest markets for reggae and dancehall, and arguably the most loyal. So hell yeah we’re down with the Reggae For Japan event that Japan’s No. 1 sound Mighty Crown and promoters Irish and Chin are putting on June 5 at York College in Queens. The lineup is extra heavy: Damian Marley, Freddie, Chino and Stephen McGregor, Tarrus Riley, Maxi Priest, Capleton, Etana, Tanya Stephens, Mr Vegas, among others. Even better, since we’re always scouring for styles that we can believe in, New York’s Deadly Dragon Sound Syatem and Mighty Crown have produced this limited “Reggae For Japan” tee, with the Japanese flag’s red sun represented as a turntable. Cop it here, or better yet at the show.
