Quickies: Shawn raises a football storm

Upcoming deejay Shawn Storm is an avid football fan. So when he was approached by Flow and SportsMax to create a theme song for the Flow Champions Cup (FCC), he jumped at the opportunity to remix his popular My Life to help mirror the excitement of what is now considered one of the most exciting football events on the island.

Storm said, "I'm a good goalscorer, mi bad! So if they want someone to play in a celebrity match, mi ready. If I wasn't doing music, I'd be doing football."

Storm sees this opportunity as a door opener into corporate Jamaica, where he hopes to do more work in the future.

Round two of the Flow Champions Cup came to a close in matches held on March 23 and March 24. There was a demonstration of some of the season's most breathtaking football playing, with a total of 24 goals scored. This brings the total for the season so far to 48 goals.

As part of the charity arm of the competition, Flow and SportsMax have been providing funding for the Youth Upliftment Through Empowerment (YUTE) initiative, which seeks to empower young adults in inner-city communities, through skills training and job opportunities. For every goal that is scored in the 2011 Flow Champions Cup, the sponsor and organiser of FCC will donate $4,000 to YUTE. At the end of round two of the Champions Cup, the donation total stands at $96,000 - with more to come.

VP makes sizeable bids

VP Records joined forces with Celebrity Apprentice to give back to charity, as the company purchased US$7,000 worth of items at an art auction during the show's The Art of the Deal episode, which aired Sunday on NBC. The label's CEO Christopher Chin, President Randy Chin and Vice-President Cristy Barber participated in the auction to help raise money for Celebrity Apprentice contestant John Rich (of acclaimed country music group Big & Rich), to benefit his charity, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis, Tennessee.

The label bought Gary Busey's painting for US$5000 - a sale Busey personally brokered with the label's heads, as seen in the episode. The painting now hangs in the VP Records boardroom in New York. Additionally, Barber purchased Richard Hatch's final painting for US$1,000 to help the men's team, Backbone, sell every single painting in their auction. She also nabbed a New Era baseball hat artistically decorated by John Rich. The hat was donated to Rich's young son, Cash.

This Celebrity Apprentice involvement materialised because of the partnership between Cristy Barber and John Rich, who have teamed up for a trailblazing project where the name says it all - Reggae's Gone Country. The highly anticipated compilation album features various artistes from both reggae and country music and is scheduled for release this summer as a joint venture between VP Records and Rich's label, Warner Brothers Nashville.

"Classic country music is very big in Jamaica, which is what influenced me to do this project of having reggae artistes cover classic country songs," reveals Barber. "It was natural to go to my friend John Rich, whom I have known for six years, to be my partner in this dream project."

Tarrus shares 'Nature' with Squire

Tarrus Riley has responded to Sophia Squire's nature call on a sexy remix of Squire's single, Nature. The song, produced by Bredroc Music, is a smooth, sultry lover's rock track that rocks from start to finish.

Squire recently released a track titled Love, produced by Don Corleon, which is also getting heavy airplay. According to Squire's manager, Audley Allen, "We will be dropping at least three more singles soon."

Ryno is 'Garrison' top man

Deejay Ryno (formerly known as Blak Ryno) is the new chief executive officer of his own Garrison Records. The Carpenter
singer, recently back from his Central America assignment, has been
toying with the idea of forming his own label since exiting his former
camp, but decided to make it official last week.

Ryno
said, "There are many aspects to music and you have to think beyond
just being an artiste. At some point in time, a new wave of young talent
is going to take over, so creating my own label is just another way I
intend to contribute positively to the development of the industry.

"Making
music is good, but as I have come to learn, the industry is more about
the business than the music itself and many artistes fail to recognise
that," he added. Ryno's protégé, Kaliba, who is featured on the single Say Dem A Friend, will be the second official act on the label, joining his mentor Ryno.

Since returning to island last week, the Garrison CEO has released his fifth single for the year, One Burner, produced by Armz House Records on the Gully Stream riddim. 

Iley Dread tours US

The
month of April will see reggae singer Colin Levy, aka Iley Dred,
crossing the border from Canada into the United States, as he launches
his one-month promotional tour. Levy, who is a songwriter, producer,
promoter and, more recently, author, joined forces last year with some
of reggae music's elite producers for his current album project, Unleashed.
Among the top producers who have worked on the album are Barry O'Hare,
Bobby Digital, Dean Fraser, Stephen Marley and Stephen 'Di Genius'
McGregor.

As
Levy gets ready to hit the road, he confesses to being totally fired up
and eager to unleash all the positive and uplifting tracks on the
album. The debut single from the project, the Barry O'Hare-produced Lover's Holiday,
has been embraced by radio and is proving quite popular in reggae
circles. "I feel good to know that my work is being appreciated and that
this song is having the impact I had envisioned," Levy said.