The annual Jazzfest took place in Jamaica recently. Erykah Badu was there doing her thing, here are some clips from her performance.

New video from Vybz that’s been making it’s way around the net. It’s only right that we join in. Check out the video below…

A glimpse into everyday Caribbean life, via GOOD.is. Check out the details below…

In 2008 and in 2009, the photographer Caroll Taveras ventured to Jamaica on two assignments, one for Culture and Travel and another for The Guardian. For the former, her work focused on the development of downtown Kingston, specifically as related to a youth art and cultural center known as the Rock Tower and the distinction between the areas of the city that are considered safe (uptown) and unsafe (downtown). After completing the assignment, Taveras developed a deep attachment for the area, and during her time there (and on her next assignment) Taveras felt compelled to keep taking photographs.

“When you get sent out on an assignment, even great assignments, you’re following a checklist,” she says. “But I always try to do something for myself. After I cover the ground I have to cover, I look for a few other things. Of course, music is such a big thing in Jamaica, and I, personally, was obsessed with dancehall girls.”

What follows is a selection of photographs from Kingston, Jamaica, through the lens of Caroll Taveras. This is a Jamaica you might not see in tourist brochures, and it’s all the more beautiful for it.

Check out the full feature here: GOOD.is / Picture Show: Kingston, Jamaica…

…or check out a preview below…

I just recently caught the video to Busy Signal’s “Nightshift/One More Night”, if you haven’t seen it press play.

Supreme releases a video interview with Lee Scratch Perry, Jamaica’s Musical Shaman. The interview gives us an overall brief history into the life of Lee Perry, one of the most important creative, artistic and musical figures to emerge from Jamaica in the latter half of the 20th Century. Along with his musical achievements, he has also directly influenced numerous important figures active in other genres, including everyone from Paul McCartney and Brian Eno to the Clash, the Beastie Boys and Jay-Z. For Supreme’s 2010 Spring Collection, they collaborate with Lee Perry on two t-shirt designs featuring his written word and original artwork

…via.

Just wanted to give folks the heads up that the legendary Gil Scott-Heron will be bring his live show to New York’s fabled Blue Note Jazz Club next week.

Gil will play a two-night engagement as celebration of the release of his new album I’m New Here , which Dom detailed a couple of weeks back.

To purchase tickets to either the March 2nd or March 3rd show, click here: Blue Note New York: GIL SCOTT-HERON & FRIENDS: CD RELEASE SHOW FOR “I’M NEW HERE” - 2 NIGHTS ONLY!.

Gotta give The Heatwave Blog their due for this one….classics never die….check the details below…

…Yesterday was 25 years to the day since Wayne Smith’s anthem Under Mi Sleng Teng was first played in a dance.

The tune was built at Jammy’s studio in Waterhouse before being unleashed during a clash with Black Scorpio at Waltham Park Road on 23rd February 1985. It flattened the dance and dominated the scene for months, with dozens (and later hundreds) of artists and producers rushing to record their own versions of the rhythm track.

Generally acknowledged as the first fully computerised dancehall riddim, Sleng Teng completely revolutionised Jamaican music and paved the way for all the ragga, bashment, dancehall or whatever you want to call it that I love so much….

Check the original below and peep a video medley after the jump….

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I brought you volumes one and two, so it’s only right I bring you the third volume of Walshy Fire’s DECADES series. Listen to the full mix below…

Click here to download: Walshy Fire, Frank 151 & Riddimstream presents: DECADES, Vol. Three - Slow Wine..

…via.

Check out the full tracklisting after the jump…

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I’m a little late on this one, given the date on the video, but given the fact that the opening ceremonies for this year’s Winter Olympics just went down, now is as good a time as any.

Check out the video of Kardi taking part in the relay for the torch below…

…via TSS.

After 16 long years Gil Scott Heron will release his come back album today “I’m New Here”. For those that don’t know about the legendary poet and artist, here is what has been said about him.

There are a great number of African American orators that have made their impact on many generations of people, both black and white; people like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Dick Gregory, Dr. Cornel West, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, and the list goes on forever. Gil Scott-Heron was and still is one of those people. This spoken word artist and poet was a massive influence on the development of hip-hop. His socially and politically conscious work in the late ‘60s and ‘70s as well as his performance style strongly anticipated the more brainy types of rap and even less obvious genres such as acid jazz. He’s been called ”the Black Bob Dylan” and the “Godfather of Rap”…terms he finds rather amusing.

- Examiner

You can listen to the full album stream here. I also included more goodies after the jump.

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