REFLECTION & REASON

February is Reggae Month, established in 2008 by Jamaica's Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sport , and the Jamaican Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) . It has been a joy to receive this extra dedicated month of teachings, events, and specialized celebrations for reggae music that can be enjoyed globally. It's another opportunity to showcase the brilliance of Jamaican music, culture, and to witness the ways in which these elements can contribute to Jamaica's international impact and local development. A nice precursor to the month was the announcement of the artist nominees for Canada's 2023 Reggae Recording of the Year Juno Award: Ammoye, Celena, Exco Levi, Kairo McLean and Kirk Diamond, and also Kairo McLean and Finn on January 31. Take a look at this ReggaeNorth.ca article for the overview (Juno nominee image via Reggae North). We're at an era in reggae music where it's just as easy to consume live music online as it is out in a venue. Nonet...

I feel it was a big weekend for Toronto dancehall. A couple of days have passed, and I realize it felt significant enough for me to keep processing what just happened. Two things in particular: 1) Spice performed for the Pride festivities during Pride weekend in Toronto. 2) King Turbo 's founding members reunited on stage at the Canada History Clash. It's possible that either event just passed you by this weekend. With the amount of outdoor functions, gatherings, pool parties, fetes, boat rides, and dancehall events, you truly could have been out celebrating the first week of summer with all of the energy and vibrancy you've been holding on to for months. Years. Last summer we were free, but this summer...we're FREE free. You could feel the vibration it in the air...folks in Toronto are ready to have a good time for the next two months, by any means necessary. I saw the footage of Spice performing live at Dundas Square, and it made me smile. It made me feel proud. I was...

For a good 20 years, I've wondered where my collection of flyers was. Thanks to some deep quarantine cleaning...I found my flyer book. Here are the highlights from 1992 - 1996, also known as my teenage years. Shout out to Pickering High...I'll start with that one:

Living in Toronto, you become accustomed to having your favourite artists perform frequently, close to home. In the summer in particular, every weekend plays host to reggae and soca artists, stage shows, special events, boat rides, and other celebrations featuring the singers and DJs we have grown to appreciate over the years. In Canada, we are blessed because our city is a definitely must on any island entertainer's tour itinerary. Over the years we've also, unfortunately, had to witness the closing down of venues in Toronto, the logistical difficulties for even the most experienced of promoters and event teams "due to circumstances beyond their control," and an overall decline in the availability of space and the decline in faith of some of the systems that used to be reliable. We've witnessed the closing, demolition, and gentrification of some of our favourite concert locations of the past (Guvernment and Kool Haus, for example). We've seen Richmond Str...

Roots reggae is the heart and soul of reggae music. While its mainstream popularity may fluctuate over the years, and it is often subject to trends and social movements, it still remains a staple of Jamaican culture, and an eternal asset to the genre of reggae music because its central tenets will never change. Roots reggae will never go out of style because by nature, it is rooted in messages of reality, Black/African pride, themes of spirituality, honouring God, and the preservation of social consciousness. It is an underground movement that continues to grow, indefinitely. Distinguished by its minor key melodies, strong vocals, smooth and soulful basslines, and "militant rockers rhythms," roots reggae is clearly defined by messages of politics, observation of the people, and a keen awareness of Jamaica's colonial past and global appeal. After the 1966 visit of Haile Selassie to Jamaica, political unrest became a common feature of roots reggae music, along with ...