Stone Love makes UWI date historic

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

When Stone Love Movements played at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, for the first time at a early 1990s 'Spectrum' concert, the Students' Union was crammed. A scaled-down version of the sound system played at the UWI for the umpteenth time on Sunday night, but with Geefus at the controls and the party people gathered in the cultural village of the 2008 ACS Crossroads Conference outside the Undercroft, Senate Building, the focus was as much on musical history as it was on pleasure.

Good Balance

In the end it was a good balance, as Jimmy Cliff's Miss Jamaica was included among the songs from the earlier era of Jamaica's recorded music, while a touch of Mavado's I'm On The Rock, from the most recent, sent hands in the air, before the CD player jammed briefly.

"Don't be afraid of Mavado," Geefus had warned the visitors, before putting the 'Gully God's' song on. And in the 'up to the time' phase things were kept squeaky clean, Kartel's I Never mixed out before it got to the more graphic part and Charlie Black's Loving Time chosen over the rawer version. In the beginning were Simmer Down and Carry Go Bring Come, then came 54-46 and Harder They Come, followed by Cherry Oh Baby and Stick By Me.

There was a Ballistic Affair with Leroy Smart and Black Uhuru asked Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Burning Spear's warning about Marcus Garvey closing off the outright pre-dancehall segment. And in the dancehall segment, which dominated the night, there were many different styles of dance from the participants, as nearly 70 countries were represented at the conference. So one man in an orange headwrap seemed determined to swim upwards in the air, while an older pair of women twirled happily together on the grass.

A couple of young men had their fair share of attention as they did the No Linger and Gully Creeper, dropping co-ordinated moves, one's extended tip shoes a good match for his long, unfettered hair. So, Murder She Wrote soon gave way to Greetings and a host of dance songs moved the gathering of academics, among them Signal The Plane, Row Like a Boat, Pon De River, Pon De Bank, Bogle and World Dance, as Geefus effortlessly switched between eras and styles. When the bus for the Jamaica Pegasus, Four Seasons and other hotels in New Kingston arrived there were strong protests, a collective no answering Geefus' query "are you ready to go home?"

In the end no grades were given out and, as THE STAR left the UWI, Busy Signal was happily stepping out on Stone Love's turntables.

Summer of Unfinished Business

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter The Star

The summer has just begun and selectors say Work Out and Unfinished Business rhythms are increasing the summer heat.

The Work Out rhythm is produced by Stephen 'Di Genius' McGregor of Big Ship while the Unfinished Business rhythm is a TJ Records production. "Work Out, Work Out, Work Out," says a vibrant Nikki Z, Zip FM disc jock. "Every song on the Work Out rhythm. Work Out is the bomb it comes first. Almost every single on it is a hit. Even the younger artistes did very good." She says rhythms like Unfinished Business, Record Shop by Jam 2 and Leftside's Sand Fly are also doing well.

For Biggy, of the selecting duo Razz and Biggy, Unfinished Business is also a favourite as it features 'hot' songs like Serani's No Games, So Special by Mavado and Assassin's Jah Guide and Protect Me.

Nuff Gal Song

Nonetheless, he likes Work Out because "a nuff gal song deh pon it". "Is a rhythm for di girls. Mi love when di girls dem move," he says, while noting that it features Laden's Do Your Thing, Vybz Kartel's Touch Me and Mavado's Push David Push. Though he says those songs will only get more airplay as the summer progresses, he believes singles like the remix of Mama Still Hungry with Serani and Mavado and Stepping The Future by Mavado will strongly impact the dancehall scene when they are released.

Stephen 'Supa Hype' Davis agrees that Work Out encourages women to dance. "When di girl dem hear Work Out dem ben' ova same time," he told THE STAR as he praised his rhythm Club Fusion as a rhythm that will be hot for the season as well. He says both Unfinished Business and Work Out are favourites in the dancehall and he believes the response to them will grow. "Dem bad, dem have di vibes and dem move di crowd. From di people dem like it, wi (selectors) a go like it 'cause wi nuh out deh fi mek dem like it," he says.

According to Alton 'Fire Blacks' Cos, of Area Code 876, Work Out is also doing well based on the response he gets when he plays the rhythm at different events. He says Unfinished Business is gaining momentum and believes that by the end of the summer it will be extremely popular. 

Heineken Green Synergy Jamaica 2008

Kandre McDonald, Freelance Writer

The lush and tranquil setting of the Jamaica Pegasus hotel garden was the venue for the launch of Heineken Green Synergy Jamaica 2008. The turnout was not anything to write home about last Wednesday, however, the atmosphere was quite enthralling and the mood awesome. DJ Inferno ensured that the music set the tone for the launch of what was later described as the best disc-jock competition there is in the Caribbean.

Deidra James of FAME FM was given emceeing duties, and she executed well as she introduced the audience to the sixth staging of the Green Synergy Competition. The concept for the 2008 Heineken Green Synergy Competition will be more interactive as it will seek to make the public more involved in the competition. From information disclosed by the emcee, THE STAR has learnt that Green Synergy will take on a reality television format. Reality TV has become a craze worldwide, and the idea is that it will become a tool to broaden the audience base of the Green Synergy competition.

Auditions for this year's competition have already been completed and the 16 finalists were chosen from over 80 entries islandwide. Jamaica and the rest of the world will get a chance to see how the auditions went, as CVM TV is onboard as television partner and will be showing clips of the auditions, as well as the brewing moments leading up to the finals. Simone Clarke-Cooper, executive producer, FAME FM, described the 12 weeks leading up to the local finals as tense, while Frederique Asberg, country manager of Heineken, said it (Heineken Green Synergy Jamaica 2008) would be the best yet.

CVM Television's Winford Williams reiterated their sentiments. The competition will be staged over 12 weeks with weekly play-offs on CVM TV and FAME FM. The judging panel will include the likes of Kurt Riley and Colin Hines who will have 66 per cent say, while the remaining 24 per cent belongs to the public.

This year's winner will receive an internship with FAME FM, a state-of-the-art DJ console and a cash prize of $500,000. The regional Green Synergy champion will be crowned in Curacao on October 27. 

Japanese To Clash At Fullyloaded

Top Japanese sound system, Barrier Free, is set to make its debut at the exciting Fully Loaded event which makes its return to Fort Clarence Beach, Portmore, on Sunday, July 27, 2008.

Fully Loaded, staged by Solid Agency, will be making a return to its original base, Fort Clarence Beach, after a 5 year sabbatical. Barrier Free will be lining up against other heavy weight sounds such as: Red Diamond from the Cayman Islands, the top sound from the west, Interceptor, Swatch, Area Code, Sky Juice, Black Kat with the 'war tanka' himself Pink Panther, the remix masters Renaissance, Code Red, Razz & Biggy, Bass Odyssey and the immortal Stone Love.

There will also be live performances from: Bounty Killer, Mavado, Busy Signal, Elephant Man, Macka Diamond, Bling Dawg, Demarco, Wayne Marshall, Aidonia, Voicemail, Spice and 'Mr. Fully Loaded' Tony Matterhorn.

The Barrier Free crew consist of Doctor and K.S.K. The two friends were fascinated by the sound system business, and with little funds did various manual jobs to raise funds to build the system. Their sound system has been established for 7 years now and recently won two of the biggest sound clashes in Japan.

Unlike other Japanese sound systems, Barrier Free is from the ghetto of Osaka, Japan. Commenting on the concept behind the name Barrier Free, Doctor said, "There are lots of barriers from languages (and) races. We come to break down all barriers through music."

They are very much looking forward to appearing on Fully Loaded. "I am happy on being on Fully Loaded, Wi ready to buss the place with bad dub plates, bad talk and special costumes," K.S.K said.