Quickies: Asante Amen makes underground debut

After enjoying a one-month stay on KDVS 90.3 FM's Top 25 Reggae/African album chart earlier this year with an EP release, Asante Amen will be releasing the complete disc next Friday. Over the Years: The Underground Project contains 16 tracks of pulsating, authentic reggae music and captures Asante's formative years in the music business.

Some of the previously heard tracks on the album are Save Dem JAH, Not 4 Sale and Getting Enough?, songs which have done well for Asante since the start of his career and which he hopes will become favourites for many more people. Other solid numbers on the album are Ready Fi Di Gideon, Mek Mi Rich and Never Get Away.

This debut project has been years in the making for Asante. "To be honest, I have been asked many times if I have an album and the answer is always the same - no. I feel it's time to put something out there to represent my journey in the biz," he said. Collaborations with the likes of Lutan Fyah and Jah Thunder can also be found on this debut effort by Asante.

Over the Years: The Underground Project will be an underground release by Asante through his recently formed record label, High Priest Records. Next Friday will also see the launch of the record label's website, where Asante's underground album can be accessed and downloaded by everyone free.

Asante said: "This project to me is what a mixtape is to the next man. It is a collection of works that you want people to know about without necessarily paying for it. I have two studio albums working on right now, and singles like Wipe Your Tears, which is doing well overseas right now, will be on one of those albums. But there is a whole body of work before Wipe Your Tears that people who just a get to know me don't know about. So I thought it was appropriate at this time to bring my fans and well-wishers up to speed on my foundation, so they can get a clearer picture of who I am. And you don't really want to charge people for that."

The underground album will take the shape of a physical CD release with credit information, pictures and a thank you message - just in digital format.

On top of all that activity, Asante is also basking in the success of his single, Wipe Your Tears, a song he did for Nite Lite Productions late last year. Up to July 1 it was ranked 23 on the top 30 songs being played on Internet and satellite radio in the USA. This US-based national weekly chart is compiled by a site called Radio Wave Airplay Monitor, which records the number of spins and streams songs being played on satellite and Internet radio, received each week. A top-30 chart is then compiled and published at the end of each week.

Some of the other songs in the top 30 alongside Asante's track are Firework by Katie Perry, The One (w/Drake) by Mary J Blige, Right Thru Me by Nicki Minaj and One in a Million by Ne-Yo.

Zimbabwe response surprises Bramma

Forty thousand patrons crammed into the Glamis Show Ground in Harare, Zimbabwe, to see Elephant 'Energy God' Man in full flight on Friday, June 24. Dancehall recording artiste Bramma was invited along to perform at the event. Most memorable for Bramma was not only visiting an African country for the first time, but he had never performed for such a huge crowd and his music was well-known to the fans.

A pleasantly surprised Bramma said he was humbled by the audience interaction as they sang along with him word for word, including his current single Me Nuh Trus People. Bramma admitted that the manner in which dancehall fans in Zimbabwe reacted to the music takes some getting used to, as there were times when, in their celebratory mood, audience members threw liquid on stage.

"De people dem a rail, dem love it, but at the same time dem fling water, liquor and just about any thing dem have. It crazy, just mad!" he exclaimed.

Bramma said after his performance he was whisked away to his hotel because members of the crowd got overly excited in their efforts to greet him. While leaving the venue, he saw persons running behind the vehicle transporting him, shouting "Bramma, Bramma, Bramma!"

Bramma's overall experience "was great!" and the 24-year-old said he has to note that he has "heard other artistes speak about receiving the kind of reception that far outweighs that which is given here at home from audiences such as the Zimbabweans, but have never experienced it". Now that he has, "it is hard to not think about the times when the pressure got so intense here that I could not help thinking my work has not manifested enough to warrant any major acknowledgement".

However, his trip to Zimbabwe has proven otherwise and the valued lessons to be learned are "believe in what you do and keep pushing because someone is listening", as well as the importance of understanding the difference in culture between Jamaicans and the reggae/dancehall fans out there in wider world.

Mavado premieres DASECA track in NY

Since trumpeting Mavado's arrival on the dancehall scene in 2005 with Real McKoy on their Anger Management riddim, DASECA Productions has consistently found hit records with the Gully Gad. Dont Wana Be a Memory on their Category 5 riddim continues to rise and their last single with Mavado, When You Feel Lonely, hit on BBC 1Xtra in UK and many charts around the world, as well as selling units.

Mavado appeared on New York's number-one radio station, HOT 97, on Sunday night for his first interview on his return to the US after a 15-month absence, when Bobby Konders and Jabba gave the latest DASECA-produced offering - Gyal Wine, its world premiere. Footage of the interview can be found on HOT 97's website.

The song has now been released to select radio jocks and sound system selectors around the world, as well as made available for purchase on iTunes and all digital outlets today.

"Making music with DASECA is a straight family ting," said Mavado. "The musical chemistry is natural and the world seems to agree as we have made many big songs over the last six years. Whenever I'm in the studio I always try to sound different; I don't want any of my songs to sound the same and DASECA know how to help bring that out. I know the ladies are going to love this one."

DASECA is working on new material with Dexta Daps and will be releasing a new single from him in the very near future.

'Sky Grey' defies limits

Nicole Sky Grey, referred to as 'Sky Grey', is intriguingly enigmatic. Sky is passionate, driven and super ambitious, yet full of a joyful appreciation for simplicity and living in the moment. She is equally at ease in the canefields of rural Clarendon, Jamaica, where she spent some of her childhood, as she is on the Fashion Week catwalks of London, NYC or Paris.

Sky has accumulated clients like M.A.C, Diesel and Agent Provocateur. Editorially, she has graced the cover of SHE Magazine and has been featured in Self, Cosmopolitan, Pride, Essence and O magazines. Her modelling base has been outside of Jamaica for most of her career, with an initial stellar launch in the UK and a continued intensity in NYC.

It was her visibility as a model that prompted filmmakers Paul Bucknor and Storm Saulter to cast Sky as the female lead in the film Better Mus' Come. She was not content to relax during the accolades and rave reviews she received and immediately sought out and won another leading role in the New York-based independent film Restless City, a musical drama directed by Andrew Dosunmu which premiered in Spring 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival.

As a Brand Ambassador for Red Stripe Bold, Sky is one of the prominent faces of the 2011 Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest campaign which highlights her involvement in the music industry. With the recent release of her single Lollipop (a racy club song produced by Taylor Mayde), Sky has been circulating on the local and international musical stage.

Timberlake, Biel try again

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel are reportedly giving their relationship "another shot". In March, the couple broke up after four years together, but are said to be reconciling because 30-year-old Justin - who had previously dated Britney Spears and Cameron Diaz - decided being single was not as good as he thought it would be.

A source said: "They've been quietly seeing each other again. They have been talking the whole time and decided to give it another shot. Jessica really wanted to get back together with him and Justin realised single life is not what it's cracked up to be." The pair enjoyed a meal out at the Black Hoof restaurant in Toronto, Canada. The source added: "They're just spending time together and taking things slowly."

However, singer-and-actor Justin recently revealed he "enjoyed" meeting new women and doesn't look for any "particular" qualities in a partner. He said: "I don't know that I'm looking for anything in particular. "I think people are people and I enjoy meeting them. I don't know that there's a particular quality in a woman I would go for over any other.

"I think there's too much being made these days about being 'single' or 'not single'. There's too much drama about it when it really shouldn't be much of an issue at all. I'm just enjoying exploring my life right now and wherever that path ends up will be OK, because that's where I'll have wanted it to end up. 

I-Octane, Jadakiss for Amazura

Next week Friday, I-Octane and Jadakiss will be sharing the stage at Club Amazura in New York. I-Octane, who is no stranger to the Tri-State area, will be representing dancehall/reggae, while Jadakiss will provide the hip-hop mix.

Presented by I-Octane and Destine Media in association with Calico Music, Group C and Raygon Entertainment, the event will also see performances from Spragga Benz, Konshens, Munga, Frisco Kid, Richie Loop, Chi Ching Ching, Baby Chris and Kranium, as well as surprise special guest artistes.

I-Octane is currently enjoying a buzz with songs, such as Lose A Friend, Study Yuh Friend, Puff It and My Life, as well as the more recent Short Term Memory, Nah Wash, Badmind Fi Di Year and Nuh Ramp Wid Me.

Jolie, Parker tops among Hollywood women

Angelina Jolie and Sarah Jessica Parker were the highest paid actresses of the last financial year. The Hollywood beauties tied at the top of the list compiled by Forbes magazine, earning US$30 million each.

Angelina's earnings come mainly from her starring roles in two big-budget action movies - Salt and The Tourist, the latter earning US$280 million at the box office. Sarah Jessica made most of her money from the series Sex and the City, both from TV re-runs and the second movie, which took US$290 million at the box office.

As well as money from Sex and the City, the actress has a successful line of perfumes, including 'Lovely', 'Covet' and 'NYC', which made her US$18 million in 2010. She has also ventured into fashion, designing clothes for the Halston brand.

Taking joint third place on the list were Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, who each earned US$28 million. The former Friends star Aniston - who has experienced a string of flop movies, including 2008's Management, which generated less than US$1 million - took home high paycheques from The Bounty Hunter, which made US$136 million and Just Go With It, which was the fourth-highest grossing film of her career to date.

In fifth place, Julia Roberts tied with Twilight Saga actress Kristen Stewart, both earning US$20 million in the last financial year.

To calculate the stars' earnings, Forbes collated figures from agents, lawyers and producers and other movie industry figures. The earnings presented are estimates for the financial year running from May 1, 2010 and May 1, 2011 and consist of pre-tax gross figures, without management, agent and attorney fees deducted.