MUSIC VIDEO; “PRISON LIFE” – I-OCTANE READY FOR DOWNLOAD

HER NAME IS DENYQUE DANCEHALL/REGGAE ARTISTE

Industry experts and fans alike are describing Denyque as “hard not to love,” and the

Denyque

dreamy island songstress has been putting her sultry vocals and melodic flows to work with the aim of making the world fall in love with both her and her music. Though there has been a resurgence of reggae in Jamaica, Denyque’s vocal style and range goes against the grain and lends itself to pop and r&b tracks, creating a sound like none other in the home of dancehall and reggae. After releasing successful singles such as “Summer Love”, “How To Rave” and “Make Me Believe You”, all of which hit top ten charts in more than 10 countries, Denyque is now focused on putting together a compilation that will appeal to an international market.

Denyque

The pasionate performer got her foot in the proverbial door in 2009 when she recorded her first single "Can't Breathe".  Since then, Denyque has grown tremendously and has firmly stepped into the entertainment stratosphere, picking up one of Jamaica's most prestigious accolades - the Excellence in Music (EME) award for Best New Artiste 2010 and The Manchester People’s Choice Award in 2014. It doesn’t stop there, the singer has also been nominated four times in the category “Young Hot and Hype Female of the Year” for the annual Youth View Awards 2011, 2012 and 2013 (the teenage award show in Kingston, Jamaica), and in 2015 nominated in three outstanding categories, “Young Hot and Hype Female of the Year, Female Fashion Icon of the Year and Favourite Local Female Artiste of the Year”.

She experienced grand stages such as Reggae Sumfest, where she shared the stage with Hip Hop Artist Nicki Minaj and made her debut on the African continent which saw her performing for more than 4000 fans in Kenya. Denyque is no newbie to putting on a show.

In 2014 she was selected to be a guest judge on Jamaica’s TV talent show Rising Stars and also capped the job for the Jamaica’s Premier League Football (soccer) Competition as their live TV host. Already listed as one of Complex Magazine's "Top 25 Sexiest International Singers”, Denyque has not only been honing her sound, but also her image. This confident risk-taker has always taken an experimental approach to her image and is not afraid to reinvent her look to channle her current style.

Denyque’s most recent single “Ring the Alarm” produced by multi-platinum artist Sean Paul is promising big things for 2015 and beyond, where the official video and upcoming EP will set the tone for an indelible future.

I-Octane drops Prison Life video amid controversy

Kingston, JAMAICA:- Right on the heels of shooting the video for his much-hailed social commentary piece, Prison Life, singer I-Octane quietly observed as the island has been plunged into a heated debate surrounding the questionable gift of a prison for Jamaica from former slave masters, Britain.

Whereas the award-winning reggae/dancehall artiste preaches earnestly about the ills of prison life in his song and begs his listeners to stay away from all activities which could possible land them in jail, here comes Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron with money to build another jail to fill up with offenders.

Cameron has been accused of insulting Jamaicans during his visit to the island by ignoring calls for discussion on the issue of reparations and announcing the controversial deal that will see the UK helping to construct a state-of-the-art prison in Jamaica to house Jamaica-born convicts created by the British system.

“Right now, we don’t need more prisons, we need jobs. We need more funds that we can spend on educating our youth and ensuring that school-leavers can be productive and can contribute meaningfully to society,” a thoughtful I-Octane opined.

He added, “Jamaica needs serious rehabilitation efforts for the persons who are now in prison so that once they regain their freedom they won’t become repeat offenders and can also help to keep their friends on the straight and narrow. This song, Prison Life, has opened up to me a whole new level of understanding. So many persons have reached out to me to share their personal stories of being behind bars and their feelings of horror, despair and loneliness … I could write a book,” the usually jovial entertainer said seriously.

Prison Life is  the first song from the DJ Frass-produced EP, New Chapter. Released less than four weeks ago, the single has catapulted its way into mainstream and has connected with the psyche of the people. The video, which is quite a creative piece which truly reflects the imagery of the song, is scheduled to have its highly anticipated premiere this week.

“The video shoot was real…almost too real. Respect to Bling Blang and the crew for a job very well done. This is not about getting ‘likes’, this song/video is a gift which I hope will help even one person to stay away from prison,” the Never Sell Out singer stated.

I-Octane takes on Europe

STARTING tomorrow reggae singjay I-Octane is set to kick off his month-long tour of

Europe with a performance at the Salle Fado in Paris, France.

The string of gigs on that continent will see him making 19 stops across nine countries -- France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy and The Netherlands -- before it culminates in Rotterdam, on November 8. The stops will see the Clarendon-born artiste performing in some of the major cities in these countries.

I-Octane told the Jamaica Observer that he is looking forward to returning to Europe, a major market for his brand of reggae.

"I have matured as an artiste and expanded my repertoire and I'm looking forward to sharing that with my European fans. I am also going as a solo act this time and that is a great accomplishment for me," he said.

For him, Europe holds a pride of place due to the loyalty of the fans on that side of the 'pond'.

"Europe has done a lot for artistes in general, not just for reggae. Even though each market has its own unique advantages, Europe is one of those places that is extremely loyal. Once they accept and love you, they love you for life. It doesn't matter whether you are current or considered to be in the top 5. Europe is more focused on the music itself instead of the hype that surrounds it. That is important in an industry where great talent can easily be overshadowed by other things. It is great that there is a place that is always willing to accept and stand by positive music," I-Octane explained.

-- Richard Johnson

Source: Jamaica Observer 

I-Octane rocks St Vincent; conquers St. Petersburg

In his continued quest to musically conquer the globe, reggae and dancehall star, I-Octane added two firsts to his exciting journey last week.

On Thursday, the tiny southern Caribbean nation of St Vincent & The Grenadines came alive to the pulsating beats of reggae and dancehall music when Octane made his rollicking ‘Vincy’ debut, after which he headed straight to St Petersburg, Florida, where he performed on Saturday for the very first time. Such was the impact of the I L.O.V.E. Y.O.U.  singer that even Saints Vincent and Peter, after whom both places are named, must surely have found their celestial dancing feet and rocked to the beats wherever they may be.

It was a very upbeat I-Octane who arrived at the St. Vincent airport near to the capital, Kingstown on Wednesday and proceeded to do a flurry of radio interviews, visiting Boom FM, Xtreme FM and Star FM. Keeping his legions of fans up-to-date on his activities via social media, the internationally acclaimed artiste promised his fans in St Vincent – affectionately called Vincy by the citizens – a night to remember. Well, they took him at his word and flocked to the venue in their thousands.

In front of a sold-out audience, the Digicel and Busta soft drinks ambassador made good on his promise and reeled off a multitude of hits, among them My Story, Once More,  L.O.V.E., Y.O.U., Hurt By Friend, Wine and Jiggle, Buss A Blank,

Lose A Friend, Study You Friend, Never Sell Out,  Gyal Ting, Gal A Gimme Bun, Puff It and Prison Life. Feeding off the high energy from the massives, Octane was at his best as he found his comfort zone and kept the excitement level at its optimum.

As one fan accurately summed it up on Facebook, “Octane prove himself to Vincy tonight… buss a blank!”

Still relishing the Vincy vibes, the in-demand entertainer flew out of the island on Friday and made connections into Tampa, Florida for his fun-filled St Petersburg date, where his eager fans embraced him enthusiastically, as they made a big deal about his debut performance there.

prison life video shoot

“At the end of the day, it’s the fans who are the really important people. They could have been anywhere, but they chose to spend their money and time to be with me,” Octane said, flashing his trademark disarming smile. “I cannot thank them enough…and of course maximum respect to the promoters. They, too are an important factor in this equation. Lots of love to Vincy and St Petersburg. Looking forward to performing at both places in the near future,” he declared.

prison life video shoot

Meanwhile, I-Octane recently concluded the video shoot for the song which has started a much-needed and timely conversation, the exceedingly popular, Prison Life. The video, shot by Bling Blang in Tivoli Gardens on Saturday September 19th and Monday September 21 will be released in a few weeks.  

Rihanna says she would never join Taylor Swift on stage

In a new interview, Barbadian pop sensation Rihanna has candidly stated that she would never join fellow pop and country star Taylor Swift on stage.

But this is not because of any bad blood between Rihanna and the Shake It Off hitmaker, but simply because Rihanna doesn't think she and Taylor Swift go well together.

"I don’t think I would [join Taylor Swift on stage]. I just don’t think it makes sense.

I don’t think our brands are the same. I don’t think our audiences are the same. In my mind she’s a role model, I’m not," said the 27-year-old Pour It Up hit-maker who is known for her care-free attitude and racy outfits.

Taylor Swift however is known as a sweetheart among her young fans who are drawn to her songs which are mostly ballads that speak about relationships.

Swift is now on her 1989 World Tour, and has been making headlines for the number of high profile guests who join her on stage during her performances.

Among those who have joined Swift on stage are Avril Lavigne, Kendall Jenner, Justin Timberlake, Selena Gomez and Jamaica's very own Omi who performed cheerleader at one of Swift's concerts.

Mr. Vegas, Red Rat at odds

Dancehall artistes Mr Vegas and Red Rat have been at loggerheads since Sunday, following an incident at the Irie Jam Anniversary Festival in New York.

In a video uploaded to his Facebook timeline, Vegas held nothing back as he spoke about the incident and what may have caused it.

A video, which surfaced online on the weekend, showed Red Rat performing on the event's stage when Mr Vegas, who was the next billed acts, tried to collect the microphone from Red Rat. But Red Rat would have none of that, instead, dismissing Mr Vegas and handing the microphone to his young protégé to perform. When Mr Vegas finally performed, he questioned Red Rat's actions and whether he came to war or work.

Following the incident, Vegas took to social media and posted a picture of the Irie Jam Anniversary Festival flyer with a caption that said, "Irie Jam Flyer yesterday. Look if unu see nuh rat on this."

Years ago

On his MV Corner blog, Mr Vegas added, "It was Mr Vegas time to perform and this artiste was performing in my time slot, so I ran up like he ran up. I waited until he finished his song and I stretched my hands out for the mic and the man box weh mi hand."

When the STAR contacted Mr Vegas, he said Sunday's incident may have been stemming from something that happened years ago.

"It's just a sad reality because he's carrying feelings from the days when his label, Main Street, recorded the song Heads High, which put a dent in his career. It oust him as an artiste and build me so him a carry feelings. He needs to be different and not desperate, just move on," he said.

He added, "Anuh di first time him do supm like dat, but mi neva take it serious until now when mi see it a get outta control. I think he has a serious problem and he may need therapy. He's stuck in the past, he's a big man now with a little rat voice and he needs to find a way for that to work for him now."

Mr Vegas also said he hopes Red Rat can use this attention to get a hit song and make his comeback to the dancehall scene.

However, in a video that surfaced online yesterday, Red Rat said he saw the need to set the record straight. Red Rat added that Sunday's incident linked him not supporting Mr Vegas' relationship with his now ex-girlfriend, Shelly-Ann.

"Dating the girl of your friend is a big no-no in dancehall, and when you realise that I wasn't condoning your actions you make an argument that day and from that we nuh talk to each other," he said.

Shelly-Ann and Mr Vegas were recently involved in a scandal which revealed that she was cheating on the I Am Blessed singer in the presence of their child.

"You are a hypocrite, Mr Vegas," Red Rat said, adding that he accepts that he is a 90s artiste. "Check yourself, you and everybody inna war and yuh always play this victim like everybody want to attack Mr Vegas. You a talk bout me desperate fi attention. Really yute? Remember seh a you bring dis pan social media in the first place, once again trying to break down another artiste."

Source: Jamaica Star