The versatile selecting duo – Razz & Biggy have been hard at work over the past few weeks; touring, thrilling audiences, starring in feature films and in between that they found time to compile a themed mixtape centred around one of the hottest topics in dancehall/reggae culture – Marijuana.

The Mixtape dubbed – ‘Weed Smokerz Anthem’ since it’s release just a few days ago has already become a favourite among fans and enthusiasts alike. One can easily see the pulling power of this mixtape with just about an hour of their time. The tracks used were carefully selected and covers elements of Jamaican Entertainment for over 3 decades. Voices of Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Red Rose, Sugar Minott, Eka Mouse, Barrington Levy, Super Cat, Bounti Killer, Buju Banton and many more.

The blend of entertainers and songs is a testament to the diverse knowledge that Razz & Biggy have of the dancehall/reggae culture.  Download Tracked here.  Download one track here

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By Colin Channer for Wall Street Journal

Bob Marley died of cancer on May 11, 1981, at the age of 36. To mark the 30th anniversary of the death of the reggae legend, the Wall Street Journal asked Jamaican-born novelist Colin Channer to share his thoughts.

The first time I saw Bob Marley perform I was eight years old. It was 1971. A Saturday afternoon. I was sitting in a Danish couch with beige cushions and maple arms in a new development of pre-fab homes in Kingston. He was a glowing presence on a 13-inch black and white Sanyo.
His bandmates Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh were on either side of him, I guess. They must have been; but memory hasn’t saved their bodies, only their sound–their falsettos whinnying as Bob cantered through “Duppy Conqueror,” voice rearing wildly at the end of some lines.

I knew the song. Had heard it in trickling from the doors of rum shops; had heard the postman hum it as he sat on his red bicycle by the wrought-iron gate, half hidden by the crotons, waiting for the helper to come outside for a slack-mouth chat up. I’d also heard it chuffing from the wooden Grundig stereogram owned by my mother’s friends Owen and Alma Dixon, the party couple. They lived in a modest home with a shingled roof and wooden floors on Mountain View Avenue, about two miles away from Harry J’s recording studio, where Bob would go on to record “Natty Dread,” his first album without Peter and Bunny. Island Records released “Natty Dread” in 1974.

So, yes, I knew the song. In fact, I knew it very well. But before this moment in 1971, I’d never thought about who sung it. I wasn’t into music yet. Music was something that washed over me. And in those days in Jamaica one couldn’t depend on the island’s two radio stations for much information about local singers. Like the media in many former colonies, the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Jamaica Redifusion Limited rationed how much local music they played. Standards, man. Standards. Standards must be maintained. When the JBC and RJR did play local music, well, they played it down the middle. Girl, I love you. Boy, I love you. Girl, I miss you. Boy, you’re gonna miss me. Off brand Motown. A genre called rock steady. Good kids singing clean music. Check out the best Music by Bob Marley (
Bob Marley).   Read the rest of the article

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Recording artiste Buju Banton says that Bob Marley is not the greatest Jamaican musician and that this fixation on the reggae icon has hurt the growth of the music.
Banton... I want Jamaican music to be seen not through the pretext of some man that died 20 years ago Banton respects Marley's music but argued that calling him the greatest logically implies that no better can follow.

"I want Jamaican music to be seen not through the pretext of some man that died 20 years ago, but as a pretext of a living being, working earnestly. If man cannot do what others have done in these times we might as well die," he told a mixed crowd at the launch of Rasta Got Soul, his new album, at the University of the West Indies on Thursday. "You know they say that the greatest musician in Jamaica is Bob Marley. I don't believe that, because we have greater musicians to come. Bob was the most promoted, and well promoted and we have to appreciate that because its our culture but don't kill our culture with one living one. Enough is Enough."

Currently Bob Marley's album Legend continues to top iTunes reggae charts in every major reggae market except Japan, even as Mavado, Banton and Jah Cure released new albums this month. Downloaders in 19 of the 22 listed countries are buying Marley's 1984 album above any other reggae album on iTunes, arguably the Internet's most popular online music store. These online sales will add to the album's sales which have surpassed 20 million. Comparatively, the average reggae album sells some 5,000 units worldwide.

Banton's comments received claps from the crowd. He then evidenced his point with reference to Marley's sons who receive the brunt of the comparisons. "Bob had nine sons, allow the youths to be who they are destined to be, because once you do that they automatically fade away. Don't line me up with anybody. Don't parallel me and then you find you kill I. I can learn from the great ones and can learn by the wheel, but I don't want to be that someone who you only see in that shadow," said Banton who had been compared to Marley with his 1995 release Til Shiloh.
That album had songs in the reggae folk tradition with Untold Stories being its classic hit. Even 14 years after the release it's frequently compared with Marley's Redemption Song. Til Shiloh had set the standard for subsequent Banton releases, but Banton has been torn between two lovers: dancehall and reggae. But on his new 15 track album both genres are included. Banton released Reggae Got Soul via his own record label Gargamel Music Inc, via a Tommy Boy distribution deal. Source

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Mr. Richard J. Kaplan, Mayor of City of Lauderhill will be the Honorary Guest Speaker at the Reggae Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony on April 10, 2009, 7:00PM in Lauderhill at a Black Tie Fundraising event to fund the Bob Marley School for the Arts Institute Community Radio Station FREE-I RADIO-Falmouth. Falmouth and Lauderhill is Sister Cities.

Ky-Mani Marley, a son of Falmouth, will join his brother Ziggy, Third World, Barrington Levy, Culture, Tony Rebel, Charlie Chaplin, King Yellowman, Cynthia Schloss, Bongo Herman, U-Roy, Half Pint, Josey Wales, Ranking Joe, Selector Jah Screw, Inspector Willie and Joe Higgs on the Reggae Walk of Fame. The fundraising event will take place at the Inverrary Vacation Resort Hotel, 3501 Inverrary Blvd. Ft. Lauderdale. The Bob Marley School for the Arts Institute knows that life is complex and the one thing that the Institute can do to assist is to provide the community with the very best professional and life-long learning opportunities that help to compete in our rapidly changing economic environment.

The Institute is committed to providing the tools needed for success, whether the focus is on a new career, looking to advance in current profession or wanting to explore a hobby or leisure-time activity. The Bob Marley School for the Arts Institute dedicated to help make a difference in life. The Bob Marley School for the Arts Institute is also committed to the public and private sectors of the community. Our goal is to provide avenues to meet current and emerging needs through timely and relevant workforce training and human resource development programs. Investing in self and workforce is an investment in the future success of organizations. The Bob Marley School for the Arts Institute is in the business of building futures. For more information, please contact: Ras Astor Black, Founder/Chairman of the BoardBob Marley School for the Arts Institute, Flamingo BeachFalmouth, JAMAICA. http://www.bobartsinstitute.edu/E-mail: reggaewalkoffame@gmail.com

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OVER 200 NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN IMAGES OF BOB MARLEY TAKEN BY ACCLAIMED PHOTOJOURNALIST, DAVID BURNETT PUBLISHED IN: SOUL REBEL: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT OF BOB MARLEY

"Burnett captures the haunting Misty Mornings of the Isle of Springs, and the private Jamming and cloudy studio wizardry of its musical magicians. We see intimate portraits of Burning Spear; the Bush Doctor, Peter Tosh; the irrepressible producers Jack Ruby and Lee 'Scratch' Perry; and most impressively, the Prophet Bob Marley, deep in thought and serious as a heart attack, in the process of creating and sharing his immortal Redemption Songs."
—Roger Steffens, Chairman, Reggae Grammy Committee; founder, The Beat magazine; author of Reggae Scrapbook

For any reggae lover, music history buff, or Bob Marley admirer, Soul Rebel presents a unique view into Marley’s life just a few years before his death from cancer in 1981. Burnett, who has gained behind-the-scenes access to Presidents and celebrities throughout the world, remembers Bob Marley’s warmth and generosity. “I was a stranger covering him for an international news publication. Marley was especially hospitable and very forthcoming. We sat for a couple of hours speaking about everything from politics, to music, and the whole scene in Jamaica, and why it would give birth to a movement like reggae. His suspicion of politicians kind of mirrored by own, though his view was colored by the hard times he'd known growing up in Trenchtown. In a way, that is the beauty of his music, that from such harsh beginnings came such spiritual understanding and musical poetry.”

To celebrate the genius of Bob Marley on what would have been his 64th birthday, beginning February 6, 2009, and continuing through March 28, 2009, Govinda Gallery in Washington DC will present an exhibit of Burnett’s Marley images curated by Soul Rebel editor Chris Murray. Original limited edition prints of David Burnett’s photographs are available to collectors through the gallery.

SOUL REBEL: An Intimate Portrait of Bob Marley
By: David Burnett
Insight Editions
InsightEditions.com
Hardcover, $39.95 ($45.00 CAN )
160 pages, 9¼”x 12¾”
ISBN-13: 978-1-933784-26-7
Over 200 black-and-white photographs
Publication date: February 6, 2009
Distributed by Publishers Group West

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