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The Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival has proven to be an important tool for marketing Jamaica throughout its 15 year history. The Festival’s ability to do this was further augmented this year with the premier of the HBO documentary special titled One Love: JAMAICA Jazz and Blues Festival, which widened the Festival’s audience from the several thousand who attend annually to the over 300 million viewers of the cable network. The One Love documentary eases aside the curtain to the spectacle and entertainment at JAMAICA Jazz and Blues and takes the Festival audience behind the scenes where it allows them to delve into the making of one of the Caribbean’s premiere music events. One Love provides an acute lens through which to explore the...

House of Marley, the reggae brand inspired by Bob Marley has made its debut at Computer Electronic Show (CES), showcasing a variety of audio equipment made from enviromentally friendly and sustainable materials like Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) approved wood, hemp and canvas. The company released 52 styles of headphones, last year according to Digital Trends and showcased three docks at CES.The most expensive product showcased at CES is what they've named the One Foundation AirPlay system which sells for $599.99. It will be available in the summer of this year. The system is designed for environmentally conscious music listeners. It features an Airplay system and is made from FSC-certified wood. It has two aux-in connections...

Wiz Khalifa is being sued for more than $2 million by Max Gregory Warren, who claims Wiz and his team stole his idea for their hit song “Black and Yellow.” Warren says he wrote a song called “Pink N Yellow” and several versions with other colors in November 2007. But, he claims, Wiz jacked the idea before he was able to file for copyright protection in February 2008. Warren’s suit accuses Wiz, his labels, the song’s producers and its publishers for fraud, copyright infringement and other infractions. It won’t matter that he didn’t file for a copyright right away, if he can prove that he created the material, the copyright is enforceable.

50 Cent tweeted he had signed a distribution deal with Pepsi for his energy drink Street King. And for each bottle of SK purchased around the world, Pepsi will provide a meal to a hungry child through the United Nations World Food Program. 50 Cent Tweeted Monday Janaury 02, 2012 However pure Growth Partners' co-founder Chris Clarke has lent some context to business partner Curtis 50 Cent Jackson's Twitter message that his company had signed a deal for Pepsi to distribute Street King energy shots. According to Clarke, Street King has landed a key independent Pepsi distributor, the Honickman Group, which is known for its powerful execution in the New York and Mid-Atlantic regions through component companies Pepsi Bottling Co. of...

Blackstreet Entertainment, Inc., Files Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Against Two Former Work for Hire Singers with the Grammy Award Winning Group Blackstreet. There is nothing more valuable to any world renowned recording artist than legally protecting rights to their brand. “My clients icons Teddy Riley and Chauncey Black d/b/a Blackstreet Entertainment Inc., have retained attorney Duncan G. Byers of the Byers Law Group in Norfolk, Virginia to file a Trademark and Copyright Infringement Lawsuit. The “Blackstreet” brand must be protected from misuse by two former work for hire artists,” says Monica Anders PR/Media Strategist. A lawsuit was filed on December 1st, 2011 in the United States District Court in the State of Virginia...

Jamaica's youngest prime minister is battling to keep the ruling party in power Thursday in a closely contested general election.Whoever wins Thursday's election will face significant hurdles to rebuild a tourism-dependent economy that has failed to grow over the past four years and been hit hard by economic troubles in the United States and Europe. It is expected to be a close election battle between Jamaica's two parties, the ruling Jamaica Labor Party, or JLP, led by Holness, and the opposition People's National Party, known as the PNP, headed by Portia Simpson-Miller Jamaica's debt load stands at more than 120 percent of gross domestic product, with debt payments gobbling up nearly half of the country's budget and leaving...

Adidjah "Vybz Kartel" Palmer, who is facing two murder charges, has been ordered by the Supreme Court to pay J$15 million in damages to Jamaican promoter Alton Salmon for his failure to perform at a concert in the Turks and Caicos Islands in August 2009. Salmon said he paid Vybz Kartel a deposit of US$8,500 and the balance was to be paid at the end of the show. Salmon said he honored the agreement however Kartel breached his contract by not appearing to perform at the show. After the suit was filed in the Supreme Court, the defendant Vybz Kartel was served with the court documents in relation to the suit on December 23, 2009. Kartel failed to file acknowledgement of service or made any attempt to defend the suit brought against...

Mark "Buju Banton" Myrie is appealing his federal drug conviction, insisting there was not enough evidence to prove he was involved in a cocaine conspiracy. Banton's attorney filed appeal papers on Friday December 16, 2011 claiming his client was the subject of entrapment by a federal informant who hounded the singer. Buju Banton appealed for a shorter jail term earlier this year in June and the judge presiding over the case received several letters from Banton's children, Jamaican officials and celebrities including actor Danny Glover, asking for leniency. Buju Banton is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence following his conviction in February 2011. He was taken into custody two years ago after he was arrested with two...

Volvo Buses has received an order for a total of 230 city buses from Kingston, Jamaica. The first 65 buses will be delivered at the end of 2011. The transaction is worth just over 16 million euros. The order encompasses 210 conventional Volvo B7R buses and 20 Volvo B12M articulated buses. The vehicles will be delivered over a three-year period starting this year. The purchaser is JUTC, the Jamaican Urban Transit Company. Alexandre Selski who is handling the transaction on behalf of Volvo stated: Volvo Buses currently has about a 60% share of the Jamaican city bus market.

Reggae singer Siccaturie 'Jah Cure' Alcock and Kamila McDonald, co-host of CVM TV's On Stage and university student, became man and wife at the luxurious Tryall Club Sandy Bay Hanover on Sunday. Jah Cure says he sees himself in the light of a role model for not just entertainers, but for real men who believe in showing their women how special they are. Jah Cure is set to tour Africa for the first time in coming weeks. It is not clear if that’s where the singer is planning to have his honeymoon.

Vanessa "Gaza Slim" Saddler has been charged by police with conspiracy to pervert the court of justice. Gaza Slim turned herself in to the Constant Spring Police on Monday after being named as a person of interest. She placed herself under investigation after reporting to cops that she was robbed by Clive Lizard Williams, the same man her Portmore Empire boss Vybz Kartel is charged for murdering. Police say they have seized a cellular phone which contains a message instructing her to report the story that she was robbed to the police.

Philip 'Fattis' Burrell, 57, died at Kingston's University of the West Indies Hospital on Saturday Dec. 3. Burrell, CEO of the Kingston, Jamaica based label Xterminator Records, suffered a stroke two weeks ago and was admitted to the hospital; his condition deteriorated last Tuesday when his doctors discovered a blood clot near his lungs; Burrell fell into a coma on Friday night from which he died from. Born in the Trench Town area of western Kingston, Burrell was raised in England but returned to Jamaica as a teenager. His production career commenced with singer Sugar Minott's 1984 single "More Dogs To The Bone", which Burrell released on his own Kings & Lions label. Two years later Burrell created the Vena imprint, releasing early...

Vanessa "Gaza Slim" Saddler has turned herself in to police on monday after being named a person of interest regarding a murder case involving her mentor Vybz Kartel. Gaza Slim reported to the Constant Spring Police Station on Monday afternoon, accompanied by her attorney. She was initially summoned by Jamaican Police to report to the station on Friday to face questioning in the regards to Vybz Kartel case. Gaza Slim faces a charge of perverting the course of justice after allegedly filing a false police report; claiming that she was robbed by Clive “Lizard” Williams, one of the men Vybz Kartel stands accused of killing at a Havendale, St. Andrew premises in August. Police officials insist they possess a cell phone containing a...

A stellar career continues for international icon Shaggy as he receives the 2012 Grammy Award nomination for best reggae album - the ultimate recognition for his latest studio effort, Summer In Kingston, released on his own Ranch Entertainment label, on July 19, 2011. The 8-track digital album was heavily marketed with a focus on fan-targeted promotions, and Shaggy has been touring non-stop since its release as he continues his global dominance. Shaggy This marks the tenth album from the diamond-selling artist, already a Grammy winner for his breakout album Boombastic, back in 1996. He has received three previous Grammy nominations, as well as multiple American Music Awards and MOBO (UK) nods.

(AP) A Jamaican anti-corruption agency opened a probe Tuesday into a troubled government office that is already undergoing an independent review of its alleged mismanagement of a stalled $400 million road program. Contractor General Greg Christie's staff is investigating the National Works Agency for its purchase of $720,000 worth of new office furniture using contract funds from the renovation of a narrow strip of shore road leading to Kingston's international airport. The shoreline work is being done by a Chinese company, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd., under a $65.3 million contract awarded by the National Works Agency. The project began in September 2010. Investigators with the contractor general's office, which...

Dancehall artistes Bounty Killer and Aidonia have officially buried the hatchet and recently recorded a collaboration called Mack 90. The Alliance and J.O.P bosses officially made the move towards unity when they recorded the song. According to Bounty Killer, who Aidonia credits as being his main influence in becoming an artiste, there has never been a real conflict between the two. "Killer and Aidonia been doing songs before and there was never a conflict between us. You have never heard I say nothing negative about Aidonia, likewise, he has never said anything bad about me," he said. According to Bounty, Aidonia made a bad decision splitting from the Alliance along with Vybz Kartel, however, it, understandable considering...

Jamaican investigators looking into a murder allegedly committed by Vybz Kartel and members of his crew say they have video evidence of the crime. Vybz Kartel, Shawn Storm, fashion designer Moonie and Kiera Jones are all being accused of murdering Clive Williams on August 16th. Prosecutors are alleging that the Clive Williams was taken to a house in Havendale, stabbed and beaten to death over a missing gun. They also say they have witness statements to back up their claims

Streets is saying Killer has the lead. The dynamic of this clash is completely different to Mavado vs. Kartel last year. Both artists were at the top of the game, one a singjay, the other a deejay. Nobody really gave Mavado a chance due to his style. Kartel have most of Jamaica screaming "Gaza mi seh" including many artists (Flippa Mafia, Beenie Man and even Usain Bolt ahead of 100m semi-finals in Berlin), there isn't anyone in the game with a big enough name who possess the war lyrics to dethrone him - but is Killer that man? I don't think this will be settled until Sting. Vybz Kartel - Nuh Bore Tongue <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.reggaeme.com/mediaplayer/flashaudioplayer.swf" width="400"...

Hip hop artist Heavy D died yesterday November 8th 2011 at the young age of 44. Dwight "Heavy D" Arrington Meyers collapsed outside his Beverly Hills condo after he suffered difficulty breathing while returning from a morning shopping trip, according to police. When paramedics arrived, Meyers regained consciousness and was transported to Cedars Sinai Medical Center, where he later died. The case was referred to the Coroner's Office to determine an exact cause of death. Heavy D was born in Jamaica.

DeAndre Cortez "Soulja Boy" Way was arrested Tuesday Oct. 18, 2011 outside Atlanta during a routine traffic Stop. After searching the car police found a felony amount of marijuana, firearms and a substantial amount of cash in the car.