Veteran selector and producer Rorystonelove, who produced Jah9’s exceptional and acclaimed debut album New Name, has sneaked out two strong one riddim EP’s over the past months. Both Braveheart and Zeen are outstanding and superbly arranged.
Zeen comes with seven cuts and includes strong cuts from and number of up and coming singers, including Jesse Royal, Skygrass and Samory I, who’s Take Me Oh Jah was listed on Reggaemani’s best tunes in 2015 so far.
Braveheart comes with a statement. It includes six songs. All sung by female vocalists and no one is particularly well-known. But all cuts are minor masterpieces, especially Mamad’s Do Your Best, Racquel Jones’ Inna Di Giddeon and Kristine Alicia’s Freedom Fighter.
These sets have been released with virtually no marketing or promotion, so don’t worry if you haven’t heard about them.
Island Pop singer Shalli is on a musical roll. She has been spending time between Canada and Jamaica as she makes it her business to claim her share of the world music pie.
Shalli, the Princess of Island Pop
The talented artist, who is always seeking ways to diversify her product offerings, recently collaborated with Rory of Stone Love on a remix of her culturally defining single, Down In Jamaica. The dancehall remix was produced by Belize’s own Certified! The single will bereleased on digital retail as of June 24th.
Accolades have already been heaped on the music video, which shows off the immense beauty of Jamaica and the sincerity of Shalli’s mission. On her visit to Jamaica in March, Shalli went into the studio with Rory and the result was a remix that is totally captivating.
“It was really a pleasure working with Rory, as he is someone who I have admired for a long time. He is a top-class Dj, so it is easy to understand that, with his knowledge of the music, he is also a great producer and has that ear for hit songs. And we all know just how important that is,” Shalli said.
Armed with a mission to give fans uplifting music, Shalli has also done a collaboration with Trinidad’s own Orlando Octave entitled Fire, on the ‘Happy Feet’ rhythm.
Wasting no time, the video for this was shot and both artists and their management are happy with the outcome. A very uptempo offering, this could have been specifically made to celebrate carnival in Trinidad, and with the natural chemistry between the artistes, the song and video jelled perfectly.
“The rhythm is called ‘Happy Feet’ because it is just that, happy. The single is already getting a lot of love, especially in the Caribbean. We are working on a dance remix now to support the video launch in the fall.” Shalli explained.