Mi Deh Yah!

Mi deh yah ah tink and realize seh, dere are sometings yuh
woulda neva see we a do, hear we ah seh or even attempt fi try...
Tek fir instance...Yuh eva see Jamaicans a climb mountain wid flag and claim victory when dem reach di top?
Yuh ever see we ah hang out inna di miggle of di Amazon jungle?
Fi wa reason??? Yuh ever see we a jump outta plane wid one parachute or a
boast seh we going bungee jumping next Sunday?
Yuh eva see we inna sea bout we looking fi di Great White
Sharks? No sah we wi watch it pon TV.
Yuh eva hear a J'can man seh, "My best friend is a batty
man, and mi nuh shame fi seh so??????"
Yuh eva hear a J'can in ah Search & Rescue pan mountain.
A mi sen dem up mountain? Dem find dem way up, dem fe find dem way
dung again. Idiat dem! A nature way fe feed de weak and any hungry
animal up deh!
Yuh eva see a Jamaican acting pon big screen going nto a haunted
house and asking..."Trevah yuh in deh?" If him foolish
enuf fi go ina di haunted house him an di duppy dem caang fight it out
in deh.
Yuh eva hear a Jamaican man seh.."no honey...no need
to cook rice and peas wid oxtail and a little chicken pon a Sunday......
mek we order in a pizzza nuh?" Try yu best.....not pon yu life.
Yuh eva si a J'can man wearing tight pants or speedos on the
beach???? ahhhmm, errr, heeem.. yes .. ah tink dem call dem
chi chi man?
Yuh eva si a jamaican come a work an tell everbaddy dem bizniz
how dem neva bade dis mawning, jus brush teet and wash face....
Yuh eva si a jamaican wey luv talk ova ppl food, put dem face
inna it an sey dat looks and smell good. No sah! Dat wi cause a
fight.
Yuh ever see a Jamaican go inna di company fridge, and go
tek weh next person sangwige and nyam it off?
Yuh ever hear Jamaican pickney tel! l dem madda fi shut up,
and di madda go tek seat inna kitchen, tek out cigarette start smoke
and seh she nuh know wah fi do wid di pickney? NO! One bax crass
him face fi sure. An if dem live in New Yaak dem sen dem to Jamaica
fi di Summer and den di adda relatives fix dem bizniz and dem
go back wid mannaz.
Yuh eva see Jamaican tek meat outta fridge and stick it inna
oven widout lickle seasoning?
Yuh eva hear Jamaican inna di werkplace ah talk bout how much
tiyme him wife mek him sleep pan di couch? Crazy tings dat, cause
even if she shut di door she expect im fi kick it half.
(Had to share this with those of us "exiled" in foreign, GOOD STUFF!)

Shameless Plug

I am selling these for anyone interested. Only $4 each (8"x3", magnetic), free shipping for the U.S and Canada. Email me at SoundsandPressure@email.com I man affi eat too!

Reggae's Return

Been reading stuff here and there about the return of real reggae music, AKA the return to conscious type, roots reggae. Recently read MadBull’s Oct 16 piece and also a bit by one Ms Leach in the Ja Observer about Conscious artists not really being genuine along with Jah Cure’s wanting out of GP.
Is it only me, or does "True Reflection" by Cure not sound like an indirect admission of guilt? Not exact quotes of the lyrics (but you get the idea) "…I was young and unwise…", "…I swear I can be a better man…", "…I’m oh so sorry..", "…all they see is the boy they left behind…". Is it just me? Should he have had some serious legal council before having Down Sound release this? As Ms Leach wondered, why are people now pushing for his early release (from GP that is) just because he has had a string of local hits? Though he probably will get it because money talks LOUD in Kingston town and it opens locked doors in our justice shystem. Nah fight down Cure still, but his rape victim, (alleged, but wait can no longer be alleged, he was actually convicted of the crime), must feel a way. Not saying he did or did not do it, not a lawyer, was not in the court room, I have seen no evidence for or against, but if he did….she must really be suffering and re-living the act daily now.
Anyway lets get off the Cure tangent (luv de song still!). Me, like most aging idlers of my era, are glad to see the studios putting out real music again for a change. The sequencer/Protools thing was really losing all sense of credibility with less and less of it being able to pass under the label of "Dancehall" as the months and years slipped by. In my opinion dancehall music really peaked back in 96/97 and has been sliding down hill ever since. Yes in this conscious oasis a lot of crap is still being put on the market, but a lot of crap gets released in all markets and genres of music both locally and in foreign. Studios probably release about 85% garbage and only 15% songs that can truly stand the test of time.
Some great stuff is really coming out on the reggae scene now though! I mean dem man de really a get wicked!! A lot of "filler" on the riddim series, but usually about one third of the singles on any particular riddim are worth the (recycled) wax they are printed on. Good thing is it is making the diehard dancehall producers work much harder at putting out much better quality music just to compete for air time in dances and radio.
But what am I talking about radio?? WHEN IS THIS CORRUPT PAYOLA BS GOING TO STOP IN JAMAICA?????? He who pays the most to the disc jockeys gets his music played on the air, no matter how good or bad the production is. EVEN THE CHRISTIAN STATIONS do it now!! Also he who pays the most $$ gets his song moved up high on the many bogus charts around.
Speaking of charts, yes MadBull "Serious Times" is a wicked tune and obviously deserves all the attention it has been getting. The producer needs to now try and get back his $$ for the initial push out the door that he had to "let off a lickle ting" for.
Enough ranting for one nite, Later massive.

Broward/Fort Lauderdale Carnival

Just got back from this South Florida lyme. Had a great 3 days away from my real world. Guess what? Had to take the dawg....as far as Orlando to stay with in-laws so as to avoid wasting good carnival dollars on boarding fees. De ting is like another dyam picknee! What has life come to?!?
Anyway lets get back on de Soca track. I used to frequently support the actual Miami Carnival back in the 90's, taking the nine hour drive down faithfully every year from the Atl. But I had to go and marry a 100% Soca-dissing Jamaican woman who migrated from the island just before the Jamaica Carinval really got off and running, leaving her with no real appreciation of the other major force of music that we West Indians have birthed and nurtured over the years. It was hard to persuade her that it was a trip worth making. Fortunately for me I grew up fairly close to the UWI campus at Mona so the whole Ring Road jump up ting was always an annual event I grew to appreciate and love over the years. Not to mention the few trips to T&T every now and then to tek in de real ting! Once you go to T&T and experience that there is no looking back, you are hooked, period, end of all resistance.
Okay, back on track again...the wife and I, (still can't figure out what made her want to make the trip this time), took the drive down, dropped off the dependent baggage in Orlando, and headed south for some fun. Why the Broward and not the Miami? Well these North American carnivals are all born in the actual downtown areas of their host cities, and as the years go by and they begin to grow in magnitude (along with the "noise" and garbage, etc). They eventually fall victim to tougher restrictions from city officials that are basically trying to protect the cities image externally. The usual case is 15 to 20 years ago they thought they were just getting a colourful exotic parade with the occasional noisy float and a few "rowdy" guys having a good time. But in a few years that quickly morphs into a real bachanal jam, leaving blue-blooded American officials muttering "Who the hell let so many of these people in the country anyway? This wasn't what we signed up for!". The result: a carnival, quite crowded, but also leashed and muzzled by too many roving cops and very limited noise ordinances, etc. Net result: It splinters off to the suburbs where West Indians have grown in political and social influence, yes, where wi a run tings now! As with South Florida it is not long before prodigal carnival out in the suburbs actually fast becomes the sweeter lyme; more ethnic respect from law enforcement and politicians goes a long way. The economic injection of literally millions of dollars over a few days doesn't hurt either.
Anyway, went to a couple fetes, went to the street & park thing on Sunday, had a GREAT time. Hats off to the Broward Carnival Committee for a great 2005 production, top notch! Incident free, unlike its Miami sister. This is the one to attend folks, not too small and not yet too big, in clean civilized Fort Lauderdale.
And guess what? The wife that hated Soca was humming all the 2005 soca hits during the nine hours back to Atlanta, and planning for 2006!