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Words by Jesse Serwer—
At the top of the year, we told you how Notice, the production duo of Wayne “Unga Barunga” Thompson and Jason Welsch, were stepping out from behind the scenes and positioning themselves as a producer/group a la Major Lazer.
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Words by Natalie Weiner—
Jamaican dancehall artist Assassin isn’t exactly known for sunny reggae tunes—he’s built his reputation going in hard on tracks like “Idiot Thing That,” “Anywhere We Go,” and helped bring the edge to Kanye’s dark Yeezus track, “I’m In It.” After all, they didn’t start calling him Assassin for nothing.
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Omari Banks is Anguilla’s best-known athlete and the son of its best known musician, the “Anguillian Bob Dylan,” Bankie Banx. After a 10-year cricket career in which he played regionally for the Leeward Islands; in international competitions for the West Indies; and for the Somerset Country Club team in the U.K., Banks hung up his wicket to focus on music a few years back.
2012 saw the release of his debut single “Move On,” with production by legendary engineer Steven Stanley and drums by Sly Dunbar, followed by an EP of the same name. Banks, whose latest video for “Jehovah Message” was shot in locations across Anguilla by LargeUp’s own Ravi Lloyd, will be our guest tonight’s edition of the LargeUp Sessions on RadioLily.com from 6-8 p.m.
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Words by Erin MacLeod—
If you are a reggae fan, you should know about Alpha Boys’ School. Run by the Sisters of Mercy, it’s been a refuge for disadvantaged youth for almost 150 years. It’s also been a wellspring of musical talent dating back to the 1950s, when Sister Mary Ignatius decided it would be good to bring contemporary tunes into music classes. This transformed Alpha Boys School into a musical powerhouse. We’ve written about Alpha here more than once!
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The U.K.’s Gappy Ranks had a big year in 2013, returning to a more roots-y sound with his LP Shining Hope after focusing on dancehall for much of the last few years. “Carpenter” was one of the big singles off of that album, featuring Ranks’ authoritative flow over a tough, dubwise riddim —in fact, we had it as one of the year’s Top 10 reggae tracks.
Produced by King I-vier, the force behind tracks like Protoje and Chronixx’s “Who Knows” and “Selassie Souljahz,” (with the latter also featuring Kabaka Pyramid and Sizzla), “Carpenter” has been picking up momentum since its release last fall, thanks in part to an abundance of strong remixes from the likes of Deejay Theory and Suns of Dub.
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Words by Natalie Weiner—
Bob Marley’s image has become almost as important a part of his legacy as his music—both are ubiquitous worldwide, and accordingly represent many people’s first exposure to Jamaican music and culture. Now, Bob Marley: Giant, an exhibit currently at the Known Gallery in L.A., aims to shed new light on the face that’s inspired so much more than just countless red, yellow, and green t-shirts.
