Dancehall sensation Tanya Stephens is suing Hip-Hop artiste L’il Kim; a.k.a. Queen Bee, for royalties for using her Mi an Mi God in Kim’s Naked Truth album. According to Stephens, she used some of the lyrics and even had a West Indian rhythm in the song. Stephens says she should be paid past and future royalties for the use of her lyrics. There has been no word from L’il Kim’s camp so far.

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Bollywood here I come!! West Indies skipper Brian Lara, a man considered a prima donna by critics and fans, is set to make his Bollywood debut soon. According to news reports, Lara is set to appear in the million-dollar production of 'Dulha Mil Gaya,' or 'I Found A Husband.' The film is to be produced by Viveck Vaswani and and Mudassar Aziz and is slated to be shot in Trinidad, the hometown of the batting legend, later this year. Lara is set for the tri-nation series next month that will see the Windies taking on both India and Australia.

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Labor Day is aljost here and every island has released music for their respective festivals.  Music will still release as some artistes have realized it doesn’t have to be Carnival to release music.  This is the opportune time for ragga-soca and groovy-soca to come out.  Nevertheless, festival music for 2006 has essentially run its course for a couple more months.  By November, Trinidad and St. Kitts will begin pushing songs for 2007.  Then it starts all over again!

Listening to the music throughout the year, I must say there were some nice surprises as well as some disappointments.  Some of the usual heavy-hitters in music came strong.  Shurwayne Winchester finally won the International Soca Monarch in Trinidad with, “Can’t Wait.”  Machel Montano and Patrice Roberts came strong to win the road with, “Band of The Year.”  It was nice seeing some newer faces getting some rotation such as Russell Cadogan with, “Big Bottom Gyal,” newcomers Surge with, “In Your Timing,” and Miss Alysha with, “Party.”  Nadia Batson has been busy all year with her song, “One Island,” and writing for artistes abroad.  I look forward to hearing more music from these artistes as some have been in the industry for a while, but are now getting recognition.

One of the leading forces in modern roots Reggae, Morgan Heritage, will bring their special blend of music to this year’s Caribefest 2006 - “Keepin’ It In De Mix” - scheduled for Sunday, September 3, (Labor Day Weekend) 3:00 to 11:00 p.m., at Lakeshore Park, 8501 S. Sherman Circle in Miramar.

Staged annually by Caribefest Inc., and the City of Miramar, the festival is a free multi-cultural festival focusing on the music, food and culture of the Caribbean.  The festival has a tradition of featuring top Caribbean acts and the inclusion of Morgan Heritage to this year’s list is in keeping with that tradition.

Morgan Heritage, the popular reggae band formed by five children of famed reggae-artist Denroy Morgan is often referred to as "Reggae Royalty", having grown up in their father's music studio in the U.S.  The group has rapidly risen to the top and is rated as one of the leading reggae acts today with a number of hits to their credit, such as Reggae Bring Back Love; Down by the River and Don’t Haffi Dread.   Their latest CD Full Circle has been described as a combination of Jamaican Dancehall, Hip-Hop, Pop and Punk Rock fused in an unprecedented harmonious package.

The Reggae Community mourns the loss of one of our ambassadors and one of reggae’s true giants, Joseph Hill lead singer of the group ‘Culture’ an innovative genius, spiritual philosopher, family man and gentleman. Hill exemplified the artistic excellence, which has earned reggae music and Jamaica the respect of the world. Hill was an endless source of intellectual and spiritual insight and a keen commenter on society as well as a historian not only for his music but also for his culture. The music of Culture will echo in the annals of reggae history as one of the jost important catalogues created and his presence as an artist remembered for the style, elegance and class, which always distinguished Joseph Hill. Condolences to his wife and partner Pauline Hill, the family, band, friends and fans. You will be missed Joseph!                                                                                         

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Greetings to my soca-holics! That’s right, I’m in the beautiful island of Barbados, enjoying the Cropover festival, but I’ve managed to find time to report on some of the events of the season thus far. I’ve been to several fetes here, seeing performances by Krosfyah, Lil Rick, Contone, Pong, Peter Ram and a host of others. There’s a big lineup including 4 bands including Krosfyah, Electrik, Jabae, and Guyana’s Mingles. That’s just great!

It was the Mount Gay and Cable & Wireless Party Monarch Finals. What a long and hectic day! With attendance of over 20,000, the hot sun sure didn’t keep many people home. Last week I predicted that the strongest contenders would be Lil Rick, Edwin Yearwood, Khiomal Nurse, and Barry Chandler. I was correct in who would be the frontrunners, though competition always brings surprises. The start of the competition was good though you could clearly see who the crowd favored to watch. Kimberly Inniss, came out to perform her song, “Carnival Symphony,” though she wasn’t quite on key at all times. Her presentation included a string section of violins and a cello. It was a nice effort, though it was a bit hard to understand her clearly.