I am ready to take Sumfest International Night 2’ – says DáVille

Fashozy international recording singer DáVille is very confident and optimistic that when the smoke is cleared at this year’s Sumfest ‘09 International Night 2 on Saturday, July 25, he will be the artiste who took the show.
“Fans can expect a special performance from me. I know it will be very challenging sharing stage with international acts such as Toni Braxton, Damian ‘Jnr. Gong’ Marley, Nas, Inner Circle and our very own stars Tarrus Riley and Etana, but I just have to stay focus, do my absolute best, win some more fans and give my ever faithful fans who are very supportive a very exciting and pleasing performance,” the singer said.
It will be DáVille’s second time performing on Reggae Sumfest. The first time was in 2007 when his career was in its prime. He gave an absolutely terrific performance that paved the way for him to perform on several local and international shows.
The singer who returned to the island for Sumfest said that after the show he will be heading to Europe for a few promotional stints, returning to the island for a couple days then off to do a few shows in the Caribbean.
His next performance will be at Mighty Crown anniversary in Yokohama, Japan. While in Japan he will also be doing some promotion for his ‘Icheban’ album on which he has the collaboration title song ‘Icheban’ with Japanese reggae group Fire Band. DåVille will then leave for a tour of Canada.
In between his busy schedule, the singer said that he is penning a number of lyrics going into the studios and putting the final touches to his next music video.
His ‘Missing You Right Now’ single that reached #1 on most local and overseas charts, is interestingly now #1 on Toronto’s Radio Top Ten Reggae & Dancehall Singles Chart aired on CHRY 105.5FM -The Beat with Richard Banton.
‘Missing You Right Now’ still enjoys heavily rotation in the dancehalls and on the airwaves. Another single ‘Never Gonna Cry’ looks likely to be his next big chart topping hit for the singer. Fans can also look out for a brand new album before the year's end from the singer.
Since leaving the group A.R.P. and going solo, DáVille has gone on to record household, chart topping hits such as ‘Always On My Mind’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘Can’t Get Over You’, ‘This Time I Promise’, ‘Storm’, ‘Missing You’ and ‘In Heaven’.

MONTEGO BAY IS QUEEN IFRICA'S FIRST ALBUM WITH VP RECORDS.

By: Mel Cooke
As she presented Montego Bay, her second full-length set, at her first album launch on Tuesday evening, Queen Ifrica's face and posture reflected the mood of the songs.
And there was ample time and reason for the changes, Ifrica explaining the background to almost all the songs on the 13-track set in an extended stint at the podium during which she got noticeably more comfortable as time went on, engaging the large audience at Kabana, Hope Road, St Andrew.
The trip through an outstanding album actually started with her voice alone, not the actual recording, as after a herald of horns, Ifrica delivered the album's title track a cappella, smiling, the audience cheering at the start and again when she hit the chorus.
After the recording was played, Ifrica explained, "Montego Bay is special to me. That's where my whole Rastafari development took place." Still, she noted, the inner-city communities do not see the benefit of the 'lush' from the tourism industry.
She was sombre for Streets Are Bloody, dedicating it to 20-year-old Ejaun, "a very close individual to Flames. He was gunned down by a soldier at a club". Ifrica described Ejaun's kindness, respectfulness and computer
wizardry, commenting that in the society "the people who do good are the people who die like this". The song has the line "none is immune, Ejaun gone to soon".

IN MY DREAMS

Ifrica smiled as she asked, "Any lovers? Any husband, any wife, any matie?", before In My Dreams was played, rocking away with eyes closed and clasping her left shoulder with her right hand.
And when she said "we ago step up the vibe" with Yad To The East, commenting "dis a di man whe dem sey inna Ifrica", Ifrica grinned gloriously as the rhythm hit and the crowd exploded at the opening line, "Selassie I never lose a fight yet".
And so it continued, Ifrica often merging her voice with the tail end of the recordings, playfully prodding the audience to more enthusiastic applause and dropping advice on hard work, focus, purpose and the importance of teamwork to younger artistes.
She has stuck to a team, as before she sang along to the recorded songs on Tuesday night, Ifrica sang the praises of Tony Rebel, giving the background to starting to work with his Flames Productions in 1998, after performing at a Garnet Silk tribute concert. And among the other persons Ifrica said thanks to was Penthouse's Donovan Germaine who "say I am a granddaughter of Penthouse, because Tony Rebel is a son".
Guest speaker Kay Osbourne, general manager of TVJ, heaped praises on Queen Ifrica and Montego Bay, which she described as an awesome collection that showcases the inner workings of Ifrica's mind and soul.
"It is clear that this unique woman of truth has something to say," Osbourne said, taking a closer look at many of the songs. "She expresses the personal universally," Osbourne said later in her address.
However, Osbourne is not impressed with much of Jamaican music being produced currently, pointing out the narcissism, exhibitionism, image manipulation and "the mere ability to attract attention is rewarded".
Tony Rebel, who welcomed all to the album launch, spoke about Queen Ifrica's development, from not being able to do a song properly in the studio and having to be told 10 times what to do, that being reduced to thrice, then twice and "now you don't have to say anything".
There was a time when she had to be asking producers to go on rhythms; now she is being requested. Long gone are the days when she was trying to get on shows; now there are so many offers she has to decline some.
"When you have someone like a Queen Ifrica standing up and not taking off her clothes I have to salute her," Rebel said.
Extensive exposure
In presenting Montego Bay, Ifrica noted the struggle that her song about incest, Daddy (which appears in English and Spanish), has been going through in terms of getting extensive exposure on the airwaves, although it has connected in the streets and at live performances.
When she was asked which track was her favourite Queen Ifrica did not name one, but said that the opening chant, TTPNC, is special, as "it is my whole Rastafarian belief ... That is who I am. I am a Niyabinghi woman".
The recordings ended with Far Away, Lady Saw, Assassin, I-Wayne, Capleton and Tarrus Riley embracing Queen Ifrica onstage. It wasn't all over, though, as there was one more a cappella song for her to deliver, the crowd whooping for Keep It To Yourself.
Source: Jamaica Gleaner

VEGAS IMPRESSES AT SUMMER REGGAE FEST IN FRANCE

Mr. Vegas kicked off his I Am Blessed European tour on July 13th with a rousing performance on a show dubbed Summer Reggae Fest at Fort de Saint Pere in France. Vegas, who had performed in France earlier this year, arrived at the venue at about 1 a.m. and hit the stage about 10 minutes later. Working on tracks, Mr. Vegas showed why he is one of the most in-demand artistes on the European show circuit each year with a high-energy set that had the audience in a flag-waving frenzy. He worked for an hour, doing a set peppered with dancehall hits Tek Weh Yuself, Raging Bull and Hot Wuk. The Raging Bull song in particular appeared to energize the audience and as he performed it, the energy level of the audience spiked as if an electric current was running through it. Vegas added the old-time dancehall favourites such as Nike Air and Heads High which are guaranteed forwards in most areas of Europe. He closed his well-received set with his most recent chart-topper, I Am Blessed, and then exited the stage to a rousing
round of applause to make way for Buju banton and his Til Shiloh band. Other acts billed who performed that night included Sister Nancy, Shinehead, Michal Prophet, General Levy, Sister Carol, Prince Malachi,
Daddy Freddy, Tairo, Mighty Ki La, Murray Man and Maracu’Jah.

Vegas performed in Italy on July 14th, after which he has a performance at the Le Mans Club in France on July 15th.. Vegas sweeps through the countryside of France, doing gigs at the Club Le Symbol in
Ploemeur on July 16th, and the Mega Macumba in Saint Jean de Luz on July 17th, before hopping over to neighhbouring Italy to perform at the Lamezia Music in Catanzaro on July 18th.

GUYANA EMBRACES ELE

Following on his recent performance in Guyana, the Guyanese newspaper, Stabroek News, is heaping praises on local dancehall act, the Energy God, Elephant Man.
According to a story in that newspaper, Ele lived up to his top billing position at the recent Digicel’s D’ Summer Flex concert held at the Providence National Stadium.
Elephant Man was one-third of a trio of Jamaican performers which included Tanya Stephens and Tessanne Chin.
The report claims that Ele, whose real name is Oneil Bryan, was true to form, “leaping out onto the stage a little after 1:00 am, bouncing left, right and centre as he sped through a medley of hits including recent hits Nuh Linga, and Gully Creeper”.
"It was all love in Guyana and the fans embraced me totally. Dem know the songs word for word and dem have the dance moves down pat," he said of his recent Guyana experience.
Back home, Elephant Man gave another of his high energy performances at the recently-concluded Portland Jerk Festival. Ele pleased his fans at the festival, performing all his dancing songs which had the crowd in a frenzy.
Elephant Man is one of the top billed acts to perform on Reggae Sunsplash Dancehall Night, Thursday, July 23.

YOU'RE WATCHING HYPE TV LIVE OUT OF JAMAICA

Free TV Show from Ustream

QUEEN IFRICA TO LAUNCH DEBUT ALBUM THIS WEEK

Come this Tuesday, July 14, media personalities, industry players and fellow artistes will ‘Hail the Queen’, as dancehall’s Fyah Muma, Queen Ifrica will stage the official launching of her debut album, ‘Montego Bay’.

It is evident that the much anticipated album is poised for great success, as already, Queen Ifrica has been enjoying much success on both local and international charts, with a number of her singles from the album working their way up the ladder.

On the international scene, Lioness On the Rise spent two weeks at the #1 spot on the New York Reggae Charts and was this week replaced by Jah Cure and Phylisia‘s Call On Me. While locally, Far Away has landed the # 2 spot on the Hype TV top 20 charts, hot on the heels of Vybz Kartel's Dolla Sign, which is currently hanging on to the #1 position. Queen Ifrica also had a second song enter the Hype TV charts last week, as Lioness on the Rise entered the chart at the #20 position.

And after spending three weeks at the #1 spot on the South Florida Top 25 Reggae Singles chart, Lioness on the Rise was this week replaced by Still Water Run Deep by Richie Stephens and Maxi Priest, while Far Away holds firm at the #18 position.

In the meantime, Queen Ifrica’s Montego Bay album is currently holding the #5 position on the New York Top 20 Album Chart.

With all her chart success, in addition to a number of successful performances abroad over the last couple of weeks, Queen Ifrica has a lot going in her favour right now. She is also in high spirits ahead of her performance at this year’s Reggae Sumfest (International Night 1) which will be staged in Montego Bay (Friday, July 24) the place of her birth and ironically, the title of her album, Queen Ifrica’s debut album is released by VP Records and features 13 tracks, including popular singles like Daddy, Keep It To Yourself, Far Away and Lioness on the Rise, and already, the album has been creating quite a stir in the streets.

The invitation only album launch, is set to take place this Tuesday at the Kabana Restaurant and Garden Bar, 12 Hope Road, Kingston 10, and is set to commence at 7pm.

FLIPPA LOCKS THE CITY WITH FLOSSING

Let’s forget ‘Zagga’ and all that he professes to have done in terms of flossing. Right now, as it stands, if you look up the term flossing in Google, chances are you will find a picture or some information related to the Flossing King, Flippa Mafia.
So, it was not surprising that the flossing champ took things to another level when he headlined Flossing Pon De Gaza on July 4th in Club Enigma, Atlanta.
Actually, Atlanta is one of the States to which Flippa has the keys and he locked the city with a performance that was a great prelude to his impending Reggae Sumfest perormance scheduled for Thursday, July 23 in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Flippa, eager to please his fans, kick started his show with the hugely popular Bout Dem A Floss and went through his repertoire with ease and expertise. At approximately 4:30 am, he brought his set to a close with Look A Like, which also brought the curtain down on the show.
Also on the bill were artistes Black Ryno and Shawn Storm.