As Hurricane Melissa barrels toward Jamaica, the Marleys’ Welcome to Jamrock Reggae Cruise has been rerouted. The five-night event, set to take place Oct. 27 to Nov. 1, was originally slated to set sail from Miami with stops in Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. The cruise has since been rerouted, …
Read More »Jamaican Singer Lila Iké Announces Debut Album, Gets 'Romantic' With Masicka
Since 2019, Lila Iké’s releases like the single “Where I’m Coming From,” EP The ExPerience, and feature on Samory I’s “Outside” have shown her talent and promise as an emerging reggae and dancehall star. Now, the Jamaican singer-songwriter is ready to step into the spotlight with her debut album, Treasure …
Read More »Dancehall Legend Vybz Kartel on Life in Prison and His Miraculous Return
I t’s New Year’s Eve, and the roads that lead to Jamaica’s National Stadium are filled with food vendors manning their oil-drum grills. Some sell orange bandannas like the pair Vybz Kartel wore when he walked out of the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre five months earlier, on July 31, …
Read More »Joe Biden Pardoned Marcus Garvey. Is It Enough?
The last time Dr. Julius Winston Garvey saw his father, Marcus, was in London in 1938, when he was just five years old. Dr. Garvey remembers glimpses of his life with him, like their trips for ice cream or the times his dad looked on as he ran through the …
Read More »Masicka Has Big Dreams for Dancehall's Future
The first sign that Masicka doesn’t stick to any preconceived path arrives when the new-generation Jamaican dancehall artist talks about some of his favorite musicians, like Bob Marley, Shabba Ranks — and Lukas Graham, the sensitive Danish pop band that scored a string of hits in the 2010s? “I like …
Read More »Stephen and Damian Marley's Brotherly Love
On a warm evening last month, inside a cluster of nondescript office spaces south of Miami, a rehearsal studio with a giant lion’s head painted in red, green, and gold on the concrete-block wall hums with activity. Long after the businesses surrounding them have shut down for the day, Stephen …
Read More »'Bob Marley: One Love': Inside the Making of the Bob Marley Biopic
Filming a scene as the title mystic in Bob Marley: One Love, Kingsley Ben-Adir was striding across a room in Jamaica when he heard, “Cut!” Marley’s son Ziggy, who was on set, had some input: He told the actor that his father wouldn’t have walked that particular way. “He was …
Read More »Jamaican Star Teejay Goes From 'Drift' to 'Dip' Ahead of His Debut EP
Rising dancehall star Teejay is prepping to release his debut EP with single, “Dip,” featuring fellow Jamaican singer, Tommy Lee Sparta. The song, which dropped Friday, opens with an ominous intro as Teejay joins in for his verse. “It was inspired by the streets and the skankers,” said Teejay of …
Read More »