Marvin Sparks

Marvin Sparks, the undefined guy (not a DJ/blogger/journo et cet) from Skengness (no typo) made a mix... In fact, he made it while his chicken wings and chips were in the oven (did you shout "Skeng chef from Skengness" as well? Nah). Well, he does get a lot of requests for mixes by friends who aren't dancehall/bashment-savvy thus making him comparable to bashment's Tour Guide. Despite not being a DJ, his mixes are tighter than a hipsters jeans that shrunk in the wash, because hipster was too busy practicing the dougie to bashment instead of the washing machine setting. He uploaded it at the request of Rubi Dan from the TheHeatwave.co.uk DJ gang upon hearing a preview in Marvin's car after Madd Raff Wednesday's at The Social (Little Portland Street, right there in the heart of London town... on Wednesday's. Try it one day). A firm believer of the words Jimmy Cliff sings "You can get it if you (really) want," he left it for anyone to hear or downlo...

Vybz Kartel returns to his famed British accent that brought him much attention in the mid-00's on Proper English. I'm feeling this. A LOT! The riddim is so sick. His whispering vocals are effective and quotables/wheel up points for dayyyyssss! Loads of references to Prince Wills and Kate Middleton, hip hop's Tim Westwood, dancehall DJ Robbo Ranx, Brixton, temperature ("I'm in the tropics, you in the freezer") and tea - obviously. And the accent is just jokes. "Come let's have a drink at the pub, yeah? Then later on we can party at the club, yeah?" Will be available on iTunes. I'll deffo post up that link (sly plug check my interviews with Vybz Kartel, Mavado, Serani, Gyptian, Busy Signal etc here) I love this riddim. Be interesting to find out who produced this after all the controversy surrounding the departure of in-house producer NotNice. I know he's working with Dre Skull on his album. If this is Dre Skull, he's the guy to produ...

Sun is in the sky, music sounds so much better with sun, especially my chosen genre, reggae/dancehall. Well obviously, it's made in the sun so naturally it feels summery. Anyways, I always get asked about hottest songs, 'cos many people don't keep up with dancehall/bashment and reggae like I do plus they appreciate my ears to the streets and the speaker box. I appreciate that trust greatly, there are DJs I rate that rate my opinion. My top 5 picks for summer from a Euro-centric point of view, as of songs released to date, in no particular order are: First up, the "Gully Gad" Mavado's seductive 'Come Into My Room' featuring vocals on the chorus from the Gully Squad's first lady Stacious. Guys you are guaranteed to get a slow whine this summer to this tune, unless it's the stush UK Funky girls that like high-tempo music so they can dance with their girls Next up, Gyptian's 'Hold You' . Bwoy, this tune has the reggae world in the Car...

Check out UK dancehall/bashment/reggae's hottest property Gappy Ranks' new video Rising Out of the Ghetto (Produced by Dolomite for Suncycle). (Filmed & Edited by Simon " Spliffberg " Favier) Taken from " RISING OUT OF THE GHETTO " - DIGITAL EP - IN STORES APRIL 16TH Check my interview with Gappy Ranks by clicking here (yes click what you are reading for the old dears) What you think? Good song? Bad song? Can gwaan? Mad decent? Shot? Sell weh?

Billed as a new beginning in dancehall, the Daseca ( Da vid Harrisingh, Craig ' Se rani' Marsh C r a ig Harrisingh) produced riddim, aptly titled Genesis (first book in the Bible, you know), has broken the traditional format of promoting songs distributed by email blasts to soundsystems, DJs, dem friend... Despite its success in gaining buzz, email blasts of download links usually lead to the whole riddim hitting popular forums used by anyone which meant less records sold. However, the Alliance camp decided on a relase date of 23rd March (today), sent out a press release sighting their intentions of a new day to blogs and forums, and selected leading radio DJ's in popular regions to premiere the riddim; first stop Jabba and Bobby Konders Hot 97 show in New York, followed by Robbo Ranx's 1Xtra show, in Jamaica where I think Johnny Kool on Kool FM played it. I'm not sure who else debuted it, but I'm sure Danny Pepperseed must have. This strategy seems to have had ...

Haven't blogged in a while, and for that I apologise. Thought I'd share this tune with you whilst I'm here. Been bubbling for a good month now, hasn't quite buss in England yet, but it's only a matter of time - even if that time is about 3 months from now, you know how these top 40 commercial urban DJ's take forever. Got that slow whine/scrubs against the nearest wall/ pilar/ mampi (2010 is the year of using mampi's as leaning posts. Obese girls need love too even if it's only 2nd hand). It annoys me that he says Votswana instead of Botswana, unless there is a new country in Africa I'm unaware of. Send answers on a stamped & addressed postcare to marvin.sparks220@gmail.com At this point I would like point out they used a Kylie chorus Now you may or may not remember this blog post from my " Real Badman Never Afraid " series where I showed examples of the urban world under the influence of Kylie, and you probably LOLd. But as the young wi...

I'm sure you've heard all about Simon Cowell pushing a bunch of his X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent artists with a few others here and there. You will have seen Jay-Z, Bono & Rihanna on George Clooney's Haiti thingy that I boycotted (I saw the video listed on WorldStarHipHop for the smart ones). But believe it or not, Haiti is in the Caribbean and guess what? "What?" There have been Caribbean artists paying tribute to the thousands of unfortunate Haitian's who have lost their homes limbs or lives. Not only that, nurses and doctors have been flying over, as have volunteers. That leads me onto why I boycotted (exaggeration - I mean I didn't care for it) that ceremony. Why was Rihanna the only Carib to pay tribute (besides Wyclef obviously)? I heard she did Redemption Song which is quite a funny/apt song choice considering the reason Haiti are in a mess. Point is: surely Damian & Stephen Marley could have done the job instead! I mean, excuse the...

Heard this tune last month, but didn't blog it in fear of lobbyists pickiting my blog. However, I've changed my mind This Munga tune sell the r**s off! Voiced on Karim's Duffle Bag riddim. Riddim also features Busy Signal's 'Question' how his money went so fast. He isn't being rude or 'phobic, he's just setting the law according to him. Also feelin this 10 Long 10 Strong riddim Leftside is a big jugglin tune, Bugle is probably my favourite on there. Kartel is a good one too. Who says they don't make what's commonly known as dancehall sounding anymore?

Another day, another vid (no WorldStarHipHop) After releasing two singles at approximately 138bpm (that's like really fast), dancehall's flag bearer Sean Paul slows it right the way down with this lovers anthem Hold My Hand Finally the Sean Paul 'Imperial Blaze' success can begin. Rated this song from I first heard it at the listening session back in July (click for album listening party review) . I actually prefer the solo version over the duet with Keri Hilson. Here's a blog where I asked for this song to be released . Glad to hear my prayers were answered. Nice video too

For a brief (in comparison) on point review head over to my dargette NewsyChick . For one of my in-depth play-by-play, continue. I was excited when I first heard the show announced via @HanifBoogie's twitter back in August/early September. Not only would this be the first Shabba show in 13 years, it would also be the first dancehall show at Brixton Academy in almost as long. However, with the excitement came curiousity as to what this Shabba in 09 will be like. "Will he be off his head on drugs like so many of our legends are? Will he be overweight and lack the energy we all came to know? Has his time away turned him into a recluse and mad at the world?" were some of the questions that ran through my head at the time. Undoubtedly the biggest one was "Will the show actually happen?" We all remember the well-documented interview on The Word. Surely Peter Tatchell and his gang will come out in full force, won't they? Well they didn't and praises to Jah for ...

I used to do a chart for a magazine. Judging by what I've seen by the new DJ, it isn't quite as up to the times as mine were (it's really old infact). I've also been asked by a couple people what my fave tunes are right now. They are not all new, they are my current faves. 1. Mavado - Fall Rain Fall (Survivor riddim) 2. Merciless - Di Letter (England Town riddim) 3. Queen Ifrica - Officer Nuh Kill Him (Serve and Protect riddim) 4. Ding Dong - Holiday. If you don't like this tune, find a cliff and chuck off 5. Vybz Kartel - Go Go Club (Strip Club riddim) 6. Laden - Never Bow Out 7. Chan Dizzy - Nuh Sell Out 8. Vybz Kartel featuring Stephen 'Di Genius' McGregor- Careful 9. G- Whizz - Life (Mood Swing riddim) - I don't care how old it is, this is motivational music right here. 10. Chino - Never Change - once again, I don't care how old it is, this is motivational music right here.

I found this on a popular dancehall forum. Not sure about the validity of it but I'll take it as legitimate. If it isn't erase his name from the text and imagine someone else said it (mi nah tek back no talk!) Mr. Cee Says Squash The Beef Aug 17th, 2009 by robk007. A Hip Hop Legend says “Caribbean Music Can Be A Monster,” However… I got a chance to reason with a Hip Hop Legend last Friday, the one and only Mr. Cee. Depending on the depth of your knowledge of hip hop culture, you may know Cee as Big Daddy Kane’s DJ, or as the man who recorded the demo tape that got Biggie Smalls his deal with Puff Daddy. Or you may just know him as the influential radio personality at New York’s #1 radio station, Hot 97 FM. Besides playing great hip hop and R&B, Cee has been influential in helping break many dancehall records on the international market. Hot 97 plays more reggae than most of the urban format stations in America. So I had to ask him the $64,000 question: You were involved in ...

Introducing to you, two of the hottest young talents in the Dancehall business; Laden, a finalist in Digicel's Rising Star (Jamaica's equivalent to American Idol/X-Factor) and Chino, son of reggae legend Freddie McGregor and brother to serial hitmaker Stephen 'Di Genius' McGregor. With both artists popularity rapidly rising both on radio and in the dances from uptown to he ghettos, you'd be hard pushed to find two artists with clean songs making as much noise. Marvin Sparks caught up with the two Big Ship stars Laden and Chino whilst on a tour with Freddie McGregor to discuss the effect the radio ban in Jamaica has made on their careers, if it's harder to make it without controversy and Michael Jackson's passing. Chino speaks on working relationship with brother Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor, the possible adverse affect of carrying the McGregor name and the beef with Munga. Laden explains why he took the reality show route, linking with the Big Ship camp and ...

Produced by Stephen "Di Genius" McGregor, this is sure to be one of the elite riddims for Summer 09. I feel he made mistake last year by releasing Day Rave too late for ATI/RTI. Should still be fresh for then! As many fans of the young hitmaker will know, there is usually a thought process behind naming his riddims. This is called the Fitness and sounds similar to the Work Out from last year which featured Mavado's 'Inna Di Car Back' amongst others. Geddit? Both futuristic dancehall (I think that's what they call it) merging dancehall artists with dance/housey 4x4 music. I wonder if Sean Paul will have a piece for his album. If I were him this would have been the canvas for my first single. Features pieces from Mavado, Beenie Man, Vybz Cartel, Elephant Man and many more but my pick is Aidonia. Most probably won't ring off in UK 'cos people seem to be slow on Aidonia and usually judge songs more on the name of artist than quality of song. Yes, 100 Stab ...

Energy God Elephant Man The Gully Gad, Mavado Will update when I find a full Serani

Although it is a response to Sixteen riddim (see below) Cartel calls names and counteracts subliminals directly "Me a claart Sixteen before me touch 15" (listen Mavado -Sixteen) "Di bwoy say him just make a duppy, well a lie that" (listen to Bounty Killer - Just Mek A Duppy) hence re-ignites. No idea why he goes at Bling Dawg and Marshall again when Serani and Bugle sound like they are taking it to him What's good with Killer? Flippa Mafia is dissing Bounty about his unfinished house, now Kartel blatantly calling him out. Killer declared he is turning a new leaf at a concert (possibly Follow The Arrow) in about February/March - he is past the clashing time and is moving on. Does everyone see him as an easy big fish victim now or something? Will go back on his word and respond? He hasn't been the most active in recent years so boyyy, its going to be interesting Vybz Cartel obviously fears no one right now, with no reason to either. I can not see anyone who po...

Yes, yes (no Munga), I slipped on this. Feeling the concept of rewind for this video. Absolutely Nothing Need Be Said About The Tune

First Bounty Killer video in years (can't even remember the last one).