A brand-new year is about to start, so it’s high time we review the year 2018
Musically-speaking, it hasn’t been the greatest year for Caribbean music in my opinion. It’s not 1968, with the rise of Rocksteady, nor 1998, filled with exciting Dancehall riddims. It’s 2018!
There is no riddim has been particularly better than another. We have run a little poll, and no name stood out. And personally, I haven’t heard any riddim that really caught up my attention. Nevertheless, Buju Banton has finally gotten out of jail, so we hope to hear some new material from him in 2019.
Besides, a few good albums were released too, such as the latest albums of Protoje, “A Matter of Time,” and King Kong,“Repatriation,” produced by Irie Ites.
Culturally-speaking, 2018 has been an interesting year. Thanks to the work of Olivia “Babsy” Grange, Minister of Information, Youth, Sports & Culture, Reggae music has been added to the list of UNESCO’s global treasures. Hopefully, this will improve Jamaican Reggae music’s exposure, and get people to learn more about it.
On a sad note, Reggae music has lost a couple contributors in 2018. Larry Silvera aka Professor Bassie, bassist for the Ishand People, died at the age of 69, on June 12th. Irvin Jarrett, percussionist for Inner Circle, died at the age of 69, on July 13rd. Wesley Tinglin, founder, and lead singer of The Viceroys, died at the of 75, on September 18th. Joseph Hoo Kim, best known for his work at Channel One, died at the age of 76, on September 20th.
On our side, we have kind of changed the editorial line. We have focused on events, and interviews. If you have missed any, we invite you to check out our interviews, and pictures. Hopefully, we’ll bring you more interviews, and pictures of events this year.