A passenger’s Account Of American Airlines Flight AA331 Crash at Jamaica Airport

Passengers leaving AA31 after crash in Kingston, Jamaica

At the end of this is Jamaica Observer briefing but first I will tell you that I just left the hospital because my cousin Vicky was on Flight AA331 that left from Miami and crashed at Norman Manley Airport in Kingston, Jamaica last night. Her account is as follows from her seat in row 10…

Buju Faces US Federal Court Today

EMBATTLED reggae star Mark Myrie, better known as Buju Banton, is scheduled to appear before a US Federal Court in Miami, Florida today for arraignment before a grand jury. Myrie, was held by undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents in South Florida on Thursday after a drug deal allegedly went awry. The Jamaican entertainer, who is facing charges of possession, with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, was being held at a Federal detention centre in downtown Miami.

Rock Jamaica Holiday Party w/Red Stripe & VP Records

It has been our pleasure at Free i Entertainment to have brought you a party week this year since May 19th when we kicked off ‘Reggae on the Roof’ at Kress every Tuesday for the Summer months. Our goal this year was to bring the Jamaican vibe to the real Hollywood scene and we think that was accomplished. No other reggae party has ever merged the authentic uptown Kingston scene into Hollywood’s ‘A’ list night life as was done with ‘Rock Jamaica’ this year. For us to promote the positive movement of Reggae culture is always our main objective and we thank all of you who supported the vibe.

Usain Bolt – Man of the Year – Lightning Strikes Twice

Lightning seems to strike twice in many ways for Usain Bolt. Breaking the 100m world record at a major championship, the Olympics in Beijing, China, in 2008, and doing the same a year later in 2009 at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany. Check.

Decimating the 200m world record in Beijing in 2008 and repeating the feat in 2009 in Berlin. Check again.

Now, he has done the same by copping the Gleaner’s 2009 Man of the Year Award for the second year in a row.

Rockers Takes Over Saturdays Inside Kress Restaurant

After many requests to bring back a weekend party for our fans we are proud to announce the launch of ‘Rockers’ this Saturday August 15th inside Kress restaurant.  Last Saturday’s success of the ‘Rock The Bells’ after party hosted by Damian Marley showed us the potential of the Kress restaurant to bring our dancehall/hip hop vibe there on a weekly basis. ‘Rockers’ will feature monthly live shows, live art, the best in reggae, dancehall, hip hop, crazy remixes and mash ups. Our goal is to make the restaurant have a totally different feel than the rest of Kress on Saturday nights which currently has a typical Hollywood club vibe.

Nesta Garrick’s Graphic Artwork Coming to a City Near You…

Click images to view enlarged images.

The Rock Jamaica family is proud to announce that Nesta Garrick has been contracted to handle the Damian Marley & Nas graphics for the ‘Rock Bells” tour. When Nas and Damian take the stage all over the United States this summer take a close look at the back drop during the performance and the posters used to market the show. The back drop stems from a conversation Nesta had with Damian where he described

Major Lazer Brings Electro To Dancehall And To Rock Jamaica

This Tuesday July 14th on the roof top of Kress 6608 Hollywood Blvd. 90028

Two weeks ago I got an email from Filter Magazine asking me if I would be interested in hosting a ‘Major Lazer’ listening party at Rock Jamaica. We were right in the middle of planning our reggae Michael Jackson tribute and the Chali 2NA album release party so I didn’t respond right away. Once my time freed up and I spoke to Wes over at Filter magazine who he explained that Major Lazer is a Jamaica record at heart that has been produced by Diplo and Switch of Mad Decent Records. These guys produced MIA’s hit ‘Paper Planes’ and have a grammy for the T.I. version of the song. They are heavy hitters who fell in love with Jamaica on a trip there and decided to make a dancehall album that echos Jamaica’s current obsession with dramatically futuristic riddims.

Filter sent us the album to review and to see if Rock Jamaica would help in hosting a listening party for the album. Meaning we do our regular ‘Rock Jamaica’ vibe but throw in songs from the major Lazer album through out the night. We listened to the album and got blown away by the electro beats and the way the danchall artists such as Lexx and Kartel flowed so smoothly over them. ‘Rock Jamaica’ was created to forward Jamaican Culture and this Major Lazer album is definitely on some next level sh*t.  So we invite you to step into the future of dancehall music this Tuesday night at Rock Jamaica under the stars with Major Lazer and Filter Magazine. Filter will be doing some really cool Major Lazer giveaways throughout the night so at leaset come for for the free gear. Below is an article from the Jamaica Gleaner that will give you a good back ground on how the album and collaborations came together.

Chali 2NA Record Release Party This Tuesday @ Rock Jamaica

This Tuesday @ Kress – 6608 Hollywood Blvd. 90028

Rock Jamaica is proud to host the album release party for Chali 2Na formerly of the hip hop group Jurassic 5 this coming Tuesday July 7th on the roof top of Kress in Hollywood. July 7th is the same day the album drops so it’s going to be a great vibe on the roof especially once Chali takes the mic to perform some of the new tracks from the album. The Rock Jamaica family got to know Chali when he was in Jamaica working on the track ‘Guns Up’ produced and featuring Damian & Stephen Marley.

Chris Blackwell & Wayne Marshall Say Payola Ruining Jamaica’s Music Biz

Cris Blackwell                                         Wayne Marshall

‘Payola mashing up the business,’ Wayne Marshall

Dancehall artiste Wayne Marshall has voiced the opinion that payola (pay for play) spans 80 per cent of the industry and silences talented artistes whilst supporting Chris Blackwell’s view that Jamaica’s golden era of music is finished.

“Payola is very prevalent part of the business now,” said Marshall who is in the Alliance group of artistes headed by Bounty Killer. “Money is all over the place on the charts, the radio stations … payola is all over and that contributes to the stagnant nature of the business.”

Wayne Marshell Signs To Damian Marley’s Ghetto Youths Label

Dancehall singjay Wayne Marshall has recently signed a deal with the Marley’s Ghetto Youths label. Marshall’s first album will be produced by brothers Damian and Stephen Marley with who he has been working with over the last year. Read more…