Marvin Sparks

Came across this tweet today, (big up @MervinMartin_) the kinda songs I listen to on a daily basis. pic.twitter.com/HZNlKJUQAb — Zeena Xena (@ZeenaXena) September 11, 2014 Memories. The date was week commencing 20/August/2004. I remember these times because I was in New York when these songs were everywhere. Took me back to the year Sean Paul was nominated for Best New Artist Grammy. When dancehall videos by the likes of Elephant Man, TOK, Wayne Marshall etc., were all over MTV Base and Channel U. When Elephant Man was on every remix. When hip hop videos had dancehall dances and dancers. When r&b songs had a  dancehall groove. Number 1 on the US chart as pictured above, Fat Joe "Lean Back" Dancehall-friendly groove + dancehall dance (the rockaway). Elephant Man said "Them thief all me rockaway... cos we just dance it down [here]" referring to the above on "Father Elephant" Number 4: Kevin Lyttle "Turn Me On" This song is...

Yep, you read correctly. Bob Marley's thirty year old greatest hits collection, Legend, sits in the top ten both sides of the Atlantic. "How?" I hear you ask. Well, that's mainly down to Google Play selling the album for 99¢ in US . Not sure what happen but I'm guessing 99p in England? "Oh, that's obvious then," well, kinda but not really. Two questions I ask, why Bob Marley's album and why now? Is it the "Rude" effect ? "We love to celebrate artists like Bob Marley whose music is timeless and beloved," says Google Play head of global music partner management Gwen Shen. "Our hope is that this promotion ... will introduce his music to the next generation of fans and continue his legacy." For the record (pun intended), the set already peaked at #29 over here in the UK without any such promotion and has spent the last couple months in the top 75 (as it does every April to Sept/Oct when big guns come out). It is the...