#caribbean music magazine

[ichunesentertainmentmagazine90]

Examining the Beats: An Adventure with Caribbean Music Magazine

Greetings from the lively realm of Caribbean music, where melody, rhythm, and culture come together to produce an unmatched musical experience. We take you on a rhythmic journey through the many sounds and rich traditions of the Caribbean islands in this first issue of our Caribbean Music Magazine. Join us as we celebrate the soul of the Caribbean via thought-provoking articles, rare interviews, and engaging features featuring everything from reggae to soca, calypso to dancehall. Disclosing the Melodic Tapestry: A Synopsis of Caribbean Music History Take a trip back in time to discover the origins of Caribbean music, from its African and European forebears to its development into a worldwide sensation. Discover the important musical subgenres, recognizable performers, and turning points that have influenced the Caribbean's dynamic musical scene.

The Ascent of Caribbean Carnival Music, or Soca Sensation Explore the vibrant world of soca music, which serves as the throbbing soundtrack for carnivals around the Caribbean. Discover the history, rhythmic components, and cultural relevance of this genre while we highlight the musicians and anthems that evoke the spirit of carnival throughout the Caribbean and beyond. Reggae Revolution: Examining the Musical Heritage of Jamaica Visit Jamaica, the birthplace of reggae music, to learn about the genre's continuing legacy. Discover the lives and songs of reggae's trailblazing pioneers, from Bob Marley to Buju Banton, as we examine the genre's enormous influence on music, society, and social change.  

Island Grooves: Examining the Variety of Music in the Caribbean Explore the diverse range of musical styles that are prevalent throughout the Caribbean islands by venturing outside the borders of Jamaica. Dive into the variety of sounds and customs that characterize Caribbean music, from the mesmerizing pulses of Cuban salsa to the contagious rhythms of Trinidadian calypso. Highlighting Caribbean Musicians: In-depth Conversations and Features Discover some of the most remarkable artists in the Caribbean up close and personal through our exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes looks, and in-depth articles. Learn about the inspiration behind the music and the enthusiasm propelling the Caribbean music scene ahead from up-and-coming artists to seasoned pros.  

As we come to the end of this first edition of Caribbean Music Magazine, we cordially encourage you to delve further into the region's rhythmic treasures in future issues. Come along on this musical journey with us as we explore the rich history, dynamic inventiveness, and contagious rhythms of Caribbean music—whether you're an experienced fan or a curious newbie. Get in touch with us to find out more!

[tavolgisvist]

Paul and drums

Our kid was first in a group with John called Quarrymen, and apparently, I’d forgotten the set of drums fell off the back of a lorry, as we say in Liverpool, and landed up in our house. So I was learning drums, and one of the Quarrymen came back and said, ‘I remember you’re coming down the house, and it was great when you played drums for us.’ I said, ‘Did I?’ I’d totally forgotten. But then I realized why I forgot. It’s because I broke my arm in a scout camp, and this hand dropped. It was dead, paralyzed. So it took several years to get it back, and at that time, those drums that I was learning on, first of all, my brother, no wonder the drums on the band on the road are good. That’s where he learned it from my drums. But I couldn’t play anything then. So I’d forgotten that I was even the drummer, and Ringo got the job.

(Mike McCartney)

Mersey Beat Founder and Editor, Bill Harry wrote a guest column for Beatle Fan Magazine in 2019. He stated “For their August 7, 1961 gig, the Litherland Town Hall classified advertisement in the Liverpool Echo carried the message: ‘Hear Pete Best Sing Tonight.’ Best had been talked into performing the song “Pinwheel Twist,” which Paul had written for him to sing. Pete recalled in a conversation with Spencer Leigh: ‘Paul wrote the song and asked me to do it. He coupled it with Joey Dee’s hit “The Peppermint Twist.’ I used to get up and do the twist onstage and Paul played my drums. It was a little novelty act and it went down well with the fans. When The Beatles performed it, Paul took over on drums, George played Paul’s left-handed bass right-handed and Pete sang.”

(Source)

I used to get on Pete’s case a bit. He’d often stay out all night. He got to know a stripper and they were boyfriend and girlfriend. She didn’t finish work until four in the morning, so he’d stay up with her and roll back at about ten in the morning and be going to bed when we were starting work…

(Paul McCartney, Anthology, 2001)

Q: When did you first play drums? A: My first recollection is in Hamburg. You’d get behind the kit to try and show the drummer what you wanted. That gradually grew to messing around on other people’s kits, which were lying around because there were a lot of groups playing in the places we played. You picked up the simplest beats very naturally. I remember one evening when Tony Sheridan’s drummer didn’t show up, so Tony said, “Come on, man, sit in!” I said, “No way! I can’t do this.” And he said, “Yeah, you can.” So I did it and then I was thinking, “Well! I’ve actually done a professional drumming gig!” Later, with The Beatles, there was a period where John, George, and I operated as a trio and picked up little bits of work. I remember playing in an illegal club in somebody’s basement on Upper Parliament Street in Liverpool’s Caribbean Quarter. One day this guy called Lord Woodbine, who ran the club, asked if we’d come in and accompany this stripper called Janine. We said, “Wow! Yeah, man! There’s a job.” He even paid us money. Q: It sounds like you would have paid him for that gig. A: Exactly [laughs]. So she came in and said, “Okay, I need you to play Ravel’s Bolero.” We said, “Oh, gee. Sorry, luv. We don’t read music. But we’ve got ’Raunchy.’ That might do.” I had somebody’s old drum kit, and I sat there with a broomstick between my legs, with a microphone tied to it so I could do a bit of vocals and drum at the same time. It was hilarious.

(Paul McCartney, interview with Robert L. Doerschuk for Drum!Magazine, 2005)

Q: When Ringo joined the band, that must have interrupted your emerging career on drums. A: Yeah, I was completely redundant. We loved Ringo so much. He was our favorite drummer in Liverpool, and when he joined the band, it was an explosion: Every song sounded new and fresh. He could pass what we felt was the true test for drummers, which was to be able to play “What’d I Say” — the cymbal work and the toms.

(Paul McCartney, interview with Robert L. Doerschuk for Drum!Magazine, 2005)

We did do a few little bits and pieces together before we all went our separate ways. John and I and Yoko did ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’. He enlisted me for that because he knew it was a great way to make a record. ‘We’ll go round to Abbey Road Studios. Who lives near there? Paul. Who’s going to drum on this record? Paul. Who can play bass? Paul. And who’ll do it if I ask him nicely? Paul.’ He wasn’t at all sheepish about asking. He probably said something like, ‘Oh, I’ve got this song I want to record. Would you come round?’ And I probably said, ‘Yeah, why not?’

(Paul McCartney, The Lyrics, 2021, about Dear Friend)

Steve Miller happened to be there recording, late at night, and he just breezed in. ‘Hey, what’s happening, man? Can I use the studio?’ ‘Yeah!’ I said. ‘Can I drum for you? I just had a fucking unholy argument with the guys there.’ I explained it to him, took ten minutes to get it off my chest. So I did a track, he and I stayed that night and did a track of his called My Dark Hour. I thrashed everything out on the drums. There’s a surfeit of aggressive drum fills, that’s all I can say about that. We stayed up until late. I played bass, guitar and drums and sang backing vocals. It’s actually a pretty good track. It was a very strange time in my life and I swear I got my first grey hairs that month. I saw them appearing. I looked in the mirror, I thought, I can see you. You’re all coming now. Welcome.

(Paul McCartney in Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 1997)

I really had to ask myself, “Do I want to give up music, or keep going?” I got a four-track Studer recording machine, like the Beatles used for Sgt. Pepper, put it in the corner of the living-room at my house in London and tried a very simple technique of just plugging directly into the back, not going through a mixing desk. It’s a cool way to record because it’s pure. If, say, I was doing a drum track, I’d play the drums, record it with one microphone, listen to it back, move the mike a little if there wasn’t enough hi-hat or cymbal, and then re-record. Then I’d add bass by plugging the mike into track two and overdubbing while listening to track one through headphones. I’d do that with all with four tracks. It was very hands-on, primitive way of working. <…> It was funky, and still sounds good to me.

(Paul McCartney, “Wingspan” documentary, 2001)

We did not see Ringo until the next night when he arrived at the session. He walked in and went straight to his drums…fiddled with them, then fiddled with them some more. “Somebody did something to my snare drum,” he said irritably. “Paul was here last night. He played them,” explained John. “He’s always fucking around with me things!” It sounded as though Ringo were back in Liverpool and all of them were still teenagers and nothing in their lives had changed. I realized then, that no matter what might happen among them, this was the way they would always relate to each other.

(May Pang, Loving John, 1983)

(Krla Beat, pic by lisamarie-vee)

So, I got into my studio in Scotland and started working, doing the drum track. I normally start with the drums. I sometimes use drum machines, but I like to redo it with real drums. I enjoy drumming. Then I put some bass on it. I was just doing an experimental thing. I was messing around and experimenting. Slowing down tapes, or speeding them up.

(Paul McCartney, The Lyrics, 2021, about Coming Up)

Paul and I were in England, having dinner together [along with our wives]. I told him I was making an EP, and I said, “Why don’t you write me a song?” He wrote the song [Feeling the Sunlight] and put bass on it, he put piano, he put the drums on — and I had to take the drums off. [Laughs.]

(Ringo Starr, interview with Rob Tannenbaum for AARP, Nov 2023)

George was the first one to make a solo album [Wonderwall Music], and I was the drummer. John started the Plastic Ono Band, and I was the drummer. Paul likes to play drums himself, or I would’ve been on his albums too.

(Ringo Starr, interview with Rob Tannenbaum for AARP, Nov 2023)

Q: As strong as you are on bass, keyboards, guitar, and as a singer and writer, is it frustrating to play your drum parts at a more limited level? A: That never intimidates me, though it probably should. I just have so much enthusiasm when I do things that I don’t even consider it. I’m lucky, because some people would wrack themselves with doubt, but when I came to this project I was like, “Man, let’s just have a bit of fun!” It didn’t occur to me that I was some idiot jumping on the kit. I know that a lot of drummers can play rings around me, but as long as I keep it simple and don’t get too flash, I can play with a steady, swampy feel, and that’ll do the job.

(Paul McCartney, interview with Robert L. Doerschuk for Drum!Magazine, 2005)

@i-am-the-oyster, I hope you will enjoy :)

+ this

[la-guns]

An about me post that’s probably too long ♡ feat. my room ^^

I finally fully embraced my true love this year with the 80’s, and its rock/metal music scene. I’ve always loved the decade and its music, but have jumped between interests that didn’t hold me for long for most of my life. But now I’m here, and it feels right. And I can thank my dad.

He’s a metalhead. He had the classic long, shaggy hairstyle in the 80’s. I always remember him blaring his favorite Metallica and Alice in Chains albums from the garage, where he worked on cars and occasional motorcycles. He still does that.

Every morning before elementary school, he’d have the huge box tv playing music videos. My favorites were AC/DC. And while I watched, I had Pop-Tarts, but little me never had the heart to tell my dad I didn’t like them toasted when he brought them to me 😅

Growing up, he introduced me to the best classic movies from the 80’s. Back to the Future, Spaceballs, the Goonies, the Lost Boys (my dad loved vampire stuff, and I do, too), National Lampoon, Princess Bride, so much more. I grew up pure classic. And I like staying that way. It’s a huge comfort.

Now, not much has changed. I prefer 70’s, 80’s, and VERY early 90’s music (like Hollywood Vampires. I can’t do the grunge stuff, sorry! 80’s metalhead heart ♡). I rarely listen to modern music, and when I do it’s mostly for the novel I’m writing to get in the zone. I love Vlad Dracula (the historical Vlad), and have been writing a historical novel about him, and using the real facts in my research from Romanian sources (on here, I love the user @/vladdocs for info about Vlad).

L.A. Guns…the love I have for them came out of nowhere, and that kind of love is usually the best in my experience. I love their style. It’s metal/heavy rock but…in an L.A. Guns uniqueness. Bluesy, invigorating, rockin’. I wish they got to reach stadium level like Mötley Crüe.

I love the “classic” lineup of L.A. Guns. Mick, Phil, Tracii, Kelly, Steve. Love each them to bits, and miss Steve. Kelly is my comfort person, I’d say. I share common interests with him, and from what I’ve watched and read about him, I love how goofy and true to himself he is. Like he embraces his inner child, and I love that. He’s a cutie pie for sure, but his personality is what gets me most. He’s not afraid to be bold with what he likes (like pirates! I LOVE pirates. My dad raised me on Pirates of the Caribbean, and I love the overall history of pirates). Sometimes I wish I could just talk to Kelly about graphic design. That’d be so cool. I’ve been dabbling in it since middle school, and am now going to college for it.

So, my room is my safe space and I like to really have it just scream me. It’s full of original stuff, down to the cassettes, magazines, ‘89 Mötley concert bandana, and magazine pinups. The only original thing I DON’T own is the shirt. It’s a reprint. I love it all so much, and I’m still getting more. My favorite piece is the original Cocked & Loaded vinyl signed by the classic lineup ♡

The bands I love most are L.A. Guns, Mötley Crüe, Cinderella, Dokken, Danger Danger, Def Leppard, KISS, AC/DC, Billy Idol (got to see him in May!), Bulletboys, Poison, Van Halen, and so many more it’s a lot 😭 ♡

This definitely isn’t everything about me, but it’s a taste of the main part. I’d love to get to know others who love the 80’s scene. My inbox and dm’s are always open for polite chat. ♡

[silent-raven13]

Hey Miles! What's your type?

Miles looks at his friends, "Hmm?"

"What's your type?" Gwen asked, "Like what do you see yourself with?"

Pavtri nodded, "Yeah, what kind of boy or girl you like?" Hobie stood listening them, his whole body turning into a curious colors; like soft green, bright yellow and gray with magazine and newspaper prints all over with symbols of curiosity fonts, and imagery.

"Hmm, I always did like girls like Gwen; smart, funny, serious, and vulnerable like good way. Like shows her sensitive side, I guess..." Miles explains about the girls he dated being similar to his old crush, Gwen. This got Gwen blushing so hard her face turns tomato red.

"Awe, love you too, man!" She plays off her blushing as she pats harshly on her friend's back. The two did like each other at one point, but it was at the wrong time. She needed to heal herself before getting involved in a serious relationship. Miles needs to deal with his own traumas and wanted the Spider people he was close to, to gain back his trust. So, they never went for it and slowly became close friends instead of lovers. It's safer like that.

"Ow!" Miles rubs his arms feeling pain on his back being nervous.

"What about guys! You said your into guys too!" Pavtri got close to his friend's face while holding his hand, even Hobie got close to listen.

"Well... umm... never really thought about it. I guess, the same thing as Gwen- um..." His honey-brown eyes started to drift away from eye contact being flustered. "I kinda like tall guys! Like really tall."

Gwen saw Hobie being pink, then stood next to Miles with his hand measuring Miles' height against his own. Hobie is a freakin' tall dude, being six foot and four inches while Miles only six foot. This made the teenager girl giggle.

"What else?" Pavtri asked.

Miles wasn't paying attention to Hobie and Gwen assuming they were being goofy with each other. "Umm... I always saw myself being with a guy that's edgy, likes music..." Hobie did a happy pose, showing off his outfit being punk and his guitar being, "romantic." The punker pulled out a rose being the romantic type.

"Funny, smart, not afraid to be sensitive, sweet with kids!" Hobie putting on a goofy glasses with mustache, then a book by Albert Einstein and pulls out Mayday from the blue while holding her. Mayday giggles at the punker being surprised he grab her out of home from a portal!

"Kids? You want kids!"

"No, I mean... i dunno a guy that's nice with kids is a green flag for me." Miles rubs his chin unaware of Peter 616 coming out of the portal to take back his daughter from the punker and wag his finger. Mayday merely laughs agains before waving the punker goodbye. The two went back to their world. "Oh, I always saw myself being with a black man, someone Jamaican or Caribbean but I wouldn't mind an Afro Latino or African or just black." He rub his neck.

Hobie happily stood showing off his tattoo of a Jamaican and Haitian pride alongside his West African flag to represent his descendants. Gwen snickers seeing how clueless Miles is being with his type. "What else? No Indian or brown love, Miles." Pavtri pouts.

"Oh, I don't mind that! I'm down for anyone." Miles shyly said, "I do like guys like you, Pav. Like sweet, funny and always putting a positive attitude!"

"Ohh, Miles! You make me wanna date you!" Pavtri hugs him having to nuzzle his cheek, "Hehehe, if I wasn't dating my Gayatri, you'll be my bae!"

That made Hobie jealous, turning grey with newspaper labels with prints, "Do not touch! Warning!"

"Hahaha, awe Pav, you're too nice." Miles giggles, then he said, "Oh, I like guys that are kinda bad boys... like they break the rules."

Hobie turns pink again, that is him. "Oh, and he cares about social views like Black Lives Matter, Women's Rights, LGBTQ plus umm... you know people's rights, heh. I guess, that kind of guy is unrealistic, huh?"

The punker looks surprised and exaggerated his pose into a big WHAT, with hands in the air and squatting. Gwen burst out laughing seeing how this is the perfect description of Hobie Brown.

"Awe, really?" Pavtri's brown eyes glance over at Hobie looking confused and lost. "I mean, I feel like someone already exists."

"I dunno... the guys I meet always be bums, then again I haven't dated much." Miles explains, "Oh, maybe this being a stretched but a guy with a nice accent is hot, y'know."

Hobie threw his hands in the air, Miles' man is right here. Pavtri giggles, "Miles..."

"You describe Hobie?" Gwen hums.

Miles looking flustered at his crush but the sixteen year old look so lost, "I did! Oh..." He glances over at the punker, "It's because you're so amazing! Anyone would be so happy to be with you, man!"

Hobie had hearts with his grey pop into a blooms of pinks being so happy, he picks up his friend with a nuzzle, "Awe, I love you, too, Sunflower!"

"Huh! Where did that come from?" Miles felt his face so warm, he cover his face being embarrassed by all this.

Gwen said to Pavtri seeing Hobie happily carrying around Miles like a couple. "You know... they are taking their sweet ass time to date!"

"You know, Miles... our sweet Miles is too shy and naive!" Pavtri giggles.

[seriousbrat]

quite contrary: mary macdonald + historical context, music

this is my Mary MacDonald playlist and I'd like to talk a little about my interpretation of her and her cultural/historical context! it might not align with fanon, ive no idea but idc frankly haha. I hope to have done my due diligence in terms of research (i'm an absolute research fiend) and in general this is a topic I'm personally highly interested in. because it's highly interesting and (ime) little-discussed. I'll be providing links for further reading. tagging @goldenromione bc she asked me to do this!

so in my fic Mary is a muggle-born girl from a British-Caribbean family in Croydon. Her family owns a Caribbean restaurant in Thornton Heath. She's rebellious and punky and gets a lot of this from her two older brothers, both Muggles; Toby, the eldest, is part of the Race Today Collective in Brixton, dedicated to the publication of a political magazine (Race Today) on race relations in the UK. The middle brother, Lewis (who has a fling with Sirius as a matter of interest lol) is a musician/DJ very active in the Ska Revival/Two-Tone scene of the late 70s-early 80s.

All this is very influential on Mary; she is very outspoken about muggle-born rights at school, and her music taste reflects her background. I do think she would like women-led punk especially x-ray spex, but also in terms of ska a group I think she'd have liked is the selecter, which features pauline black the coolest female vocalist i've ever seen in my entire life. just look at her:

this will be explored in the upcoming 4th part of my fic, in which we see Sirius in his Brixton flat, and Mary and Lewis both spend a lot of time there. Specifically, he lives on Railton Road, which was a very important street in terms of both Black and LGBT history in Britain. It was the scene of the 1981 Brixton Riot and the location of many collectives at different points like the British Black Panthers, the 121 Centre (one of London’s longest running squats, also housed anarchist groups and other orgs), the aforementioned Race Today Collective, the Pink Fairies/South London Gay Community Centre, among others. It was also the home of many important Black British activists and historical figures like C.L.R. James, Darcus Howe and Leila Hassan. A few links:

A Radical History of 121 Railton Road By the Waters of Babylon; The Battle of Railton Road; International Centres Today in London gay history: the South London Gay Centre evicted, Brixton, 1976 Activist Streets (on history in Thornton Heath, linked above)

If anyone is interested in this topic I cannot, cannot recommend enough the miniseries Small Axe on Amazon, which covers a few different important moments in Black British history from the 60s to the 80s. It's so incredibly good and the soundtrack is SUPREME. Another good one to get a feel for the period is In the Long Run, created by Idris Elba and set in London in the 80s, loosely based on his own childhood.

Lastly, a few images of how I see Mary under the cut:

this is simona brown, my mary fancast, though the image I used for my playlist is of brenda sykes who I also think is an absolute Mary vibe.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Harry Belafonte on His Artistic Values and His Activism

In interviews and articles in The New York Times, Mr. Belafonte, who died on Tuesday, spoke about the civil rights movement and his frustration with how Black life was depicted onscreen.

Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and activist whose wide-ranging success blazed a trail for other Black artists in the 1950s, died on Tuesday at age 96.

A child of Harlem, Mr. Belafonte used his platform at the height of the entertainment world to speak out frequently on his music, how Black life was depicted onscreen and, most important to him, the civil rights movement. Here are some of the insights Mr. Belafonte provided to The New York Times during his many decades in the public spotlight, as they appeared at the time:

His music

Mr. Belafonte’s string of hits, including “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” and “Jamaica Farewell,” helped create an American obsession with Caribbean music that led his record company to promote him as the “King of Calypso.”

But Mr. Belafonte never embraced that sort of monarchical title, rejecting “purism” as a “cover-up for mediocrity” and explaining that he saw his work as a mash-up of musical styles.

He told The New York Times Magazine in 1959 that folk music had “hidden within it a great dramatic sense, and a powerful lyrical sense.” He also plainly conceded: “I don’t have a great voice.”

In 1993, he told The Times that he used his songs “to describe the human condition and to give people some insights into what may be going on globally, from what I’ve experienced.”

Sign up for the Watching newsletter, for Times subscribers only.  Streaming TV and movie recommendations from critic Margaret Lyons and friends. Get it in your inbox.

He said that “Day-O,” for instance, was a way of life.

“It’s a song about my father, my mother, my uncles, the men and women who toil in the banana fields, the cane fields of Jamaica,” he said. “It’s a classic work song.”

His views on film and television

Mr. Belafonte’s success in music helped him become a Hollywood leading man. In the 1950s and 1960s, Mr. Belafonte and his friend Sidney Poitier landed more substantive and nuanced roles than Black actors had previously received.

Nonetheless, Mr. Belafonte was left largely unsatisfied.

Writing for The Times in 1968, he complained that “the real beauty, the soul, the integrity of the black community is rarely reflected” on television.

“The medium is dominated by white-supremacy concepts and racist attitudes,” he wrote. “TV excludes the reality of Negro life, with all its grievances, passions and aspirations, because to depict that life would be to indict (or perhaps enrich?) much of what is now white America and its institutions. And neither networks nor sponsors want that.”

Mr. Belafonte emphasized that his 10-year-old son saw few Black heroes on television.

“The nobility in his heritage and the values that could complement his positive growth and sense of manhood are denied him,” he wrote. “Instead, there is everything to tear him down and give him an inferiority complex. He will see the Negro only as a rioter and a social problem, never as a whole human being.”

Roughly 25 years later, Mr. Belafonte was circumspect, suggesting in an interview with The Times that little had changed.

“Even today, on the big screen, the pictures that are always successful are pictures where blacks appear in the way white America buys it,” he said in 1993. “And we’re told that what we really want to express is not profitable and is not commercially viable.”

His politics and activism

Even as Mr. Belafonte was in the prime of his entertainment career, he was intently focused on activism and civil rights.

“Back in 1959,” Mr. Belafonte told The Times in 1981, “I fully believed in the civil-rights movement. I had a personal commitment to it, and I had my personal breakthroughs — I produced the first black TV special; I was the first black to perform at the Waldorf Astoria. I felt if we could just turn the nation around, things would fall into place.”

But Mr. Belafonte lamented that by the middle of the 1970s, the movement had ended.

“When the doors of Hollywood shut on minorities and blacks at the end of the 70’s,” he said, “a lot of black artists had been enjoying the exploitation for 10 years. But one day they found the shop had closed down.”

Mr. Belafonte remained outspoken about politics in his later years. In 2002 he accused Secretary of State Colin L. Powell of abandoning his principles to “come into the house of the master”; he called President George W. Bush a “terrorist” in 2006, and lamented in 2012 that modern celebrities had “turned their back on social responsibility.”

“There’s no evidence that artists are of the same passion and of the same kind of commitment of the artists of my time,” he told The Times in 2016. “The absence of black artists is felt very strongly because the most visible oppression is in the black community.”

In 2016 and again in 2020, he visited the opinion pages of The Times to urge voters to reject Donald J. Trump.

“The vote is perhaps the single most important weapon in our arsenal,” Mr. Belafonte told The Times in the 2016 article. “The same things needed now are the same things needed before,” he added. “Movements don’t die because struggle doesn’t die. ”

[singeratlarge]

MY SONG OF THE WEEK: “Night Garden” https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/night-garden-featuring-mike-garson-beyondo I was playing cruise ship gigs and a bass line kept flowing out of me. Every time I played this groove, musicians would start jamming, people would start dancing… It turned into this psychedelic Cuban-jazzified pop song. Latin and Caribbean music is animated and easeful to me, rhythmically and harmonically, making me feel I’m moving with confidence no matter what’s going on in the world. My lyrics were inspired after reading an airline magazine article by Lee May, a journalist from Atlanta who was passionate about gardening. His wonderful words about “plant life that blooms at only night” left an impression. As to the lyrics, Donald Fagen says he chooses words because they suit the shape of his mouth and the lure of a melody—words flow and find their own meaning. That was my approach: Like winding tendrils, words and melody twined into “a song novelette” about a pair of lovers heading south of the border, on the lam because of an unspecified crime. 

 

The music bed was recorded in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Williamsport PA (final mix by Xavier Francis). It features the brilliant drum/trumpet/co-production work of Eric Biondo (a.k.a. Beyondo) + magnificent piano by Mike Garson, a composer-artist in his own right but also known as David Bowie’s longtime keyboardist. 

https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/night-garden-featuring-mike-garson-beyondo

 

#nightgarden #gardening #flowers #davidbowie #mikegarson #leemay #atlanta #journalist #caribbean #latin #cuba #mexico #psychedelic #piano #exotica #ericbiondo #beyondo #trumpet #donaldfagen #steelydan #airline #cruiseship #johnnyjblair #singeratlarge #dance #brianwilson #smile #beachboys #kokomo 

[intriguingpeoplebyangelafloyd]

FIONA HORNE

FIONA HORNE

24 June 1966

DEF FX

            Fiona Horne is an Australian singer who is best known for being the lead vocals in the band Def FX who had hit songs with I’ll Be Your Magick (2003) & Psychotic summer (1995). She also did a duet with Paul McDermott with Shut Up / Kiss Me (1998) which is one of my favourite songs. She appeared on Celebrity Survivor in 2006 and is a self-confessed witch who wrote the successful book Witch: a Magickal Journey: A Hip Guide to Modern Witchcraft (2001).

            Horne was born in Sydney, Australia and started playing in bands when she moved to Adelaide, South Australia in 1984. In 1990, she co-founded the alternative-dance-rock band Def FX. The band played at the Big Day Out (1994) and later disbanded in 1997. Horne went on to appear on Good News Week with Paul McDermott and started releasing her own solo music. Def FX reformed in 2012 for a national tour as well as in 2019. In 1994, Horne featured in the well-known Black+White magazine and then moved to Los Angeles in 2001 and worked regularly in the Caribbean at resorts. Today she lives in Western Australia with her boyfriend.

            Horne is a vegetarian and wrote her autobiography The Naked Witch (2017). Horne is a commercial pilot, humanitarian aid worker, skydiver, fire dancer, yoga instructor and free diver.

#fionahorne #DefFX

[somewheric]

240619 "THE BOYZ Younghoon's Blue": Younghoon Interview for BEAUTY+ July 2024 Issue [Full Translation]

This is already the magazine’s July issue. Summer is here. What comes to mind when you think of “summer”?

Younghoon: I have a vague memory of jumping off the diving board in Everland’s “Caribbean Bay”. I can’t forget the first time I challenged something like that in my life.

This is also the season of vacation. What kind of traveler is Younghoon?

Younghoon: “Spontaneous traveler”. (laughs) I’m the type to not do anything during travels and just rest while looking at a beautiful view. That’s why I like resorts/holiday destinations. Recently I went on a trip to Gangneun with New and Q, and they made all the plans instead of me.

Do you match well with those two members?

Younghoon: Q has a similar style to mine, New is a bit different, but thankfully he followed us well. So we could really enjoy ourselves comfortably.

If you were to go on a trip with another member(s), who would you like it to be and where do you want to go?

Younghoon: I want to go to Sapporo or Okinawa with Sunwoo. Sunwoo is also the spontaneous type so we match well, and surprisingly, if I follow Sunwoo, the place always ends up being beautiful. So I think it would be fun to travel with Sunwoo.

You’ve been accumulating experiences, but what is something that is still difficult?

Younghoon: Everything I do for the first time is difficult. Of course that I think I’m less nervous than I used to be, but even so, whenever I challenge something new, for instance, a variety show, or being an MC for <Show! Music Core>, or a pictorial, things that I’m doing individually instead of as a group activity, I still get a little nervous.

You’re challenging a variety talkshow with actor Kim Heesun and comedians Lee Soogeun and Lee Eunji for the first time, right?

Younghoon: I knew that I would be together with some really incredible sunbaenims, so for the first episode I was truly so worried. But the PD had trusted and chosen me, so I wanted to do my part well. I think the most important thing when participating in a show with such a comfortable atmosphere is exactly that, not worrying too much. If I get worried, there’s nothing I can do. But Soogeun hyung, Heesun noona, Eunji noona, the writers and PDs were so nice that now I don’t feel burdened and can just enjoy the vibes of the gathering. It’s a recording, but I treat it with the mindset of “hanging out”, “chatting” with friends. Since I’m the maknae, everyone is so kind to me, and that’s something I’m thankful for.

It seems like there are moments when you miss your members while doing individual activities. (laughs) What do you think is a positive aspect you receive from the members?

Younghoon: We do many things together, so there are moments when I’m tired or struggling in which just having the members by my side is enough to give me strength. When I’m alone, I need to comfort myself and get up on my own. (laughs) I tell myself “you can do it, you gotta try”. But when the members are there, they’re the ones doing that kind of comforting and cheering. So by receiving that kind of energy I can work hard together with everyone.

You’re known as an idol who communicates very earnestly with fans. What kind of existence are the fans to Younghoon?

Younghoon: I’m also receiving love every day, and for that reason I want to repay the fans with love every day as well. Moreover, on my birthday so many fans congratulate me, while I can’t actually congratulate those who like me on their birthdays. So I started sending messages daily because I wanted to wish them a happy birthday. I’m like a sprout that’s still growing. (laughs) The fans are an existence like the sun. I will keep growing even bigger while looking at the fans.

Like the fans keep sending Younghoon warm love, is there anything Younghoon has been falling in love with recently?

Younghoon: There have been many things like that recently. With a mindset of trying to spend my time alone productively, I’ve been trying to put that into practice with a few different things. One of those is boxing. I’m working out diligently too. Instead of spending a day doing nothing, I think it’s important to make sure to do something and get a sense of accomplishment, to feel “I achieved that”. Even if it’s something really small.

Half of the year has already passed by. How do you want to spend the rest of the year?

Younghoon: Starting now, I’m about to get really busy. We’re doing a world tour until September. I’m looking forward to all the concerts in different cities around the world, and as a team we’re hoping that we can develop even more than how we are now. Personally, I want to fill the remainder of the year with happy memories.

Now for the last question. In order to spend this tiringly hot season, please recommend us Younghoon’s personal summer playlist.

Younghoon: “Blue Island (파란섬)” by Airman (공기남). If you listen to it, summer just seeps into your mind. And I start smiling without reason. I’ve recommended it a lot to the fans, but I hope everyone, no matter who, can listen to it. (laughs)

-

(source; translation may contain inaccuracies!)

[keyki421]

Erica Mena is the example of when pretty privilege doesn't work for you. Being pretty is nice, but you also gotta have a personality to match it. You gotta be likeable. You gotta have some type of substance. According to society, a woman like Erica Mena should be living a very lavish life, with a rich or wealthy husband.

I think there are many reasons why this hasn't happened for her.

Her attitude is nasty. Rich men don't want a wife who is loud and obnoxious. That makes them look bad. A trophy wife is supposed to be quiet and look pretty.

She marked herself to black men and urban entertainment. She was in rappers music videos and mostly modeled for urban magazines and brands. She never branched out. She was okay with black men lusting after her.

Erica Mena is mad because black men have been putting her on a pedestal since birth. So when a black man, would rather spend time with a dark skinned black woman, than her. She just can't accept that. She is like a little child having a temper tantrum. She believes she should be the chosen one, not Spice.

I also don't think Spice and Safaree have anything going on. They are both from the same country, so they are just doing what Caribbean people do when they run into each other.

[ichunesentertainmentmagazine90]

Exploring the Rhythms: A Caribbean Music Magazine Journey

Welcome to the vibrant world of Caribbean music, where rhythm, melody, and culture converge to create an unparalleled musical experience. In this inaugural issue of our Caribbean Music Magazine, we embark on a rhythmic journey through the diverse sounds and rich traditions of the Caribbean islands. From reggae to soca, calypso to dancehall, join us as we celebrate the heartbeat of the Caribbean through insightful articles, exclusive interviews, and captivating features.

Unveiling the Melodic Tapestry: A Brief History of Caribbean Music Embark on a historical odyssey tracing the roots of Caribbean music, from its African and European influences to its evolution into a global phenomenon. Explore the key genres, iconic artists, and pivotal moments that have shaped the vibrant musical landscape of the Caribbean.

Soca Sensation: The Rise of Caribbean Carnival Music Delve into the electrifying world of soca music, the pulsating soundtrack of Caribbean carnivals. Learn about its origins, rhythmic elements, and cultural significance, as we spotlight the artists and anthems that ignite the carnival spirit across the Caribbean and beyond.

Reggae Revolution: Exploring Jamaica’s Musical Legacy Journey to the birthplace of reggae music, Jamaica, and uncover the enduring legacy of this iconic genre. From Bob Marley to Buju Banton, delve into the lives and music of reggae’s trailblazing pioneers, as we explore its profound impact on music, culture, and social change.

Island Grooves: Exploring the Diversity of Caribbean Music Venture beyond Jamaica’s shores and discover the kaleidoscopic array of musical styles that thrive across the Caribbean islands. From the infectious rhythms of Trinidadian calypso to the hypnotic beats of Cuban salsa, immerse yourself in the diverse sounds and traditions that define Caribbean music.

Spotlight on Caribbean Artists: Exclusive Interviews and Features Get up close and personal with some of the Caribbean’s most talented artists as we bring you exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes insights, and in-depth features. From rising stars to seasoned veterans, discover the stories behind the music and the passion driving the Caribbean music scene forward.

Conclusion: As we conclude this inaugural issue of our Caribbean Music Magazine, we invite you to continue exploring the rhythmic wonders of the Caribbean through our upcoming issues. Whether you’re a seasoned aficionado or a curious newcomer, join us on this musical odyssey as we celebrate the rich heritage, vibrant creativity, and infectious rhythms of Caribbean music. Contact us to learn more!

[is-she-suffering]

29/04/2000 - KERRANG! MAGAZINE “New York Doll”

New York Doll

According to Courtney Love, Katie Jane Garside is the original Riot Grrl. According to her detractors, she’s a new age nutter with volatile tendencies. As her band prepares to storm the Big Apple, one thing’s certain - the QUEEN ADREENA frontwoman isn’t about to change for anyone…

“WE’RE ON a planet in the middle of infinity.” Katie Jane Garside observes, not unreasonably. “Nobody really knows what the hell is going on, but as long as I’m properly chewing on life, I’m okay. Happiness or sadness isn’t the point to me. That’s why it’s good to come to a place like New York. It keeps you right on the edge of creation. To realise your mortality is great.” Katie Jane is in New York with her band Queen Adreena to their first US gigs. The slender vocalist has certainly been chewing on life in the few hours since she arrived. Last night her performance mesmerised a 100-strong audience at Brownie’s club, after which the band moved on to a trendy, hole-in-the-wall bar in a rundown part of the city where a drunken Katie made such an arse of herself that she was put in a cab and sent back to her hotel by her bandmates. “I have no dignity today.” she croaks over a lunch of coffee and water in the Big Apple’s chic Paramount hotel. “I shredded it last night. When I’m drunk, to repress any of my urges seems like a crime against God. I can become quite dangerous to myself.”

IF YOU believe Courtney Love, Katie Jane Garside was the original Riot Grrl. In the early ‘90s, she fronted Daisy Chainsaw, whose screechy, punky rock was an innovation to Courtney and others. But there were problems. Because she didn’t write any of the songs, Garside left frustrated in Daisy Chainsaw. “I was unable to articulate myself,” she sighs. “It became a bottleneck of violence. I took it out on myself to a dangerous degree. That’s why I left. My silent witness, the one up there that sits by my right ear, just told me to out.” Spooked by the music business, she headed for the solitude of the Lake District where she stayed, along, for several months. “I went away to find what was at the bottom of the well,” she explains solemnly. “I had to be very quiet and far away from everything in order to hear something that wanted to speak to me. I just walked up and down mountains. That’s all I did. Walk and write and scream into the wind. It was very magical. When you subtract from your life, it creates an altered state just as drugs do by adding something. I was able to lost myself. On good days it was divine. I write from that place. It’s a personal mythology. It’s very real.”

She toys with the fake flower in her hair and gazing down at her feet. Momentarily, she’s lost. “Where am I going?” she questions herself. “Let me see…” A long pause. This happens often when Katie Jane Garside is grappling with a big idea like art or creation. She strives hard to be understood.

When she returned to London from the Lakes, Katie put a new group together with former Daisy Chainsaw guitarist Crispin Gray, plus drummer Billy Freedom, and tall, cross-dressing bassist Orson Wajih. Named Queen Adreena after a premonition of Katie’s, they have produced the most startling rock debut of the year in 'Taxidermy’, a record full of volatile emotions and uncommon beauty. “Music is the only thing that’s been consistent in my life,” Katie explains. “It’s been my sanctity, my lullaby that’s kept me same.”

KATIE JANE has never been like the other girls. As an army child, her adolescence was disrupted each time her father was posted to a new country. Always the new kid at school, Katie remembers: “I was very angry about something and I didn’t know what it was. I don’t think I was great to know.” Between 12 and 15 Katie’s family lived mostly on a boat in the Canary Islands and in the Caribbean. Now 31, her closest friend is her younger sister Mel, a singer-songwriter who also lives in London. “I don’t really know many people,” Katie shrugs. “I know my sister and usually about one other person at any given time. We’re very connected. In fact Mel and I are almost the same person.”

Katie feels the same way about the late Anais Nin, author of some of the most celebrated erotic writing of the 20th Century, although Katie prefers Nin’s journals to her erotica. “I love her,” Katie smiles. “Something strange happened to me when I read her. I met myself. You don’t often meet yourself. It gave me a lot of comfort. Her stuff is so timeless. Her diaries are extraordinary. She was really alive every minute of her life.”

DESCRIBED BY The Guardian as “a complicated heroine”, Katie Jane Garside is an unusual rock star. She gave up drugs, she says, because they got her into too much trouble. “I’m too open,” she confesses. “They’d finish me off.” In the past, Katie Jane has been written off as a nutter, but while many of the things she says will read like so much kooky new age nonsense in the pages of a rock magazine, when she speaks of the power of nature and her desire to be alone with it, there is a fire and a genuine belief in her clear eyes. “I’m very happy on my own,” she says.

“That makes it difficult to have any relationship with any sense of permanence, but it doesn’t make it difficult for me, it makes it difficult for them. It does make me sad, but I can’t be any other way. "My religion is nature. I’m at the mercy of it, and when I feel my best is when I feel most insignificant, when I become a grain of sand, nothing. That’s my religion. Everything is temporary. There is an omnipotence. I felt that in the most real way possible.” People hate me for saying things like that, but if you truly lose yourself there’s nothing that anyone can do to you. As soon as I see a no-go sign, I have to go there. “I’ve woken up and been God,” she says. “It was a long night when everything collapsed, and it wasn’t drug-induced. There is real magic. It’s something that manifests very visibly.”

ALL OF a sudden, Katie looks up. She has a story to tell. She thinks it probably won’t make sense if the story is printed, but she tells it in the hope that somebody will understand. “I was in a very difficult period of my life,” she reveals. “I was more frightened that I’ve ever been. I was walking on Hampstead Heath and I was singing to myself, and I looked up and saw a bird which I felt was looking right at me. "Then as I crossed over a bridge, this flock of birds descended on me. I was cloaked in it. I was crying and crying and this man was staring at me through this haze of birds. "This really happened,” she exclaims. “The God experience. I’m part of creation. I wasn’t born and I don’t die. I’m here forever. And in that moment the universe rushed to me and enveloped me and let me know that I’m not alone.”

[underthecitysky]

Linda McCartney: a life through the lens

As a collection of Linda Eastman's best photographs - as chosen by her family - goes on display in a London gallery, her daughter Mary McCartney tells Roya Nikkhah that her mother's motto was always "Keep it simple"

By Roya Nikkhah and Royanikkhah

04 June 2011 • 9:00pm

Mary McCartney, who has curated an exhibition of her mother's photographic work: Photographs by Linda McCartney

In May 1968, Linda Eastman became the first female photographer to feature on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine with a portrait of Eric Clapton. Less than a year later, she married one of the most famous men in the world to become Linda McCartney, and was thereafter known primarily as a Beatle’s wife.

“No one knew I was a photographer,” Linda once said. “When I married Paul, to [the fans] I was an American divorcee.”

McCartney died of breast cancer in 1998 aged 56, but her family are determined to ensure that her accomplishments as a photographer live on. For the last year, McCartney and his daughters Mary, a photographer, and Stella, a fashion designer, have sifted through Linda’s archive of more than 200,000 images, to collate Linda McCartney: A Life In Photographs, a book of some of her best work, accompanied by limited-edition prints.

The retrospective encapsulates her work as a leading music photographer, with iconic images of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, the Rolling Stones and, of course, The Beatles. But while it covers studio sessions with the likes of Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, it is also an intimate family album, with touching and many previously unseen pictures of the McCartneys raising their young children – Heather, Mary, Stella and James – at their farm in Scotland, on holiday in the Caribbean and at home in London.

Mary, who talks openly of her mother’s huge influence on her own career, is wandering around the cavernous white space of the Phillips de Pury gallery in London, where a selection of the prints are being hung, among them Linda’s famous photograph of a baby Mary peeking out from inside her father’s sheepskin jacket, which later illustrated the cover of his first solo album, McCartney, in 1970. “It looks so cosy, doesn’t it?” says Mary. “That’s how they’d go riding together – zip me in there and go for a little horse ride.”

Mary speaks movingly of her regret that her mother’s work wasn’t more widely recognised, so often overshadowed by the McCartney name. “She didn’t self-promote or do lots of interviews, she never blew her own trumpet, and so she was often pigeonholed as a celebrity who dabbled in photography, which isn’t how it was at all.

“People didn’t realise that it was through her photography career that Mum and Dad met and that she was a photographer way before she had a family with Dad. But she wasn’t that bothered about what other people thought about her, it’s more probably us, her kids, who got irritated.”

Linda’s break came in 1967, when she was the only photographer allowed on to a boat on the Hudson River in New York where the Rolling Stones were performing. The candid photographs of the band at work and at play paved the way for commissions from Rolling Stone and other leading glossy magazines.

“People know quite a lot of her Sixties work, but Stella, Dad and I were interested in showing a broader spectrum, as well as those iconic images,” says Mary. “When she got married, she stopped being a jobbing photographer doing all the bands in New York. When she moved to London, she carried on with a very similar style and eye, but her subject changed. She was still photographing the people around her, which were her family and friends.”

A previously unseen photograph of Twiggy shows the young model relaxing off-duty during a visit to Linda in London shortly after Mary was born in 1969. Another shows her young brother, larking around with McCartney in a bubble bath in 1983. “This one really shows her style,” says Mary. “Mum’s motto was always 'keep it simple’ which I stick to. She would never pose us all.

“With Dad and James in the bubble bath, she would just walk by and have thought visually that was quite strong and have taken the picture. She’d always have the camera on her so these are all like pictures she’d take as she was wandering through life.”

Mary moves towards a black-and-white picture taken at their farm in Scotland in 1982, showing Paul standing on a fence in his dressing gown, while Stella crouches on the ground and a young James, in his pyjamas, leaps off the family Land Rover. “This one is genius, but she won’t have set it up – it will have just been everybody there. That fence was really wobbly and we used to have a competition to see who could walk the longest along it before you fell off. It wasn’t very stable. I never, ever got all the way along.”

Mary remembers watching her mother at work; her subjects would barely register they were being captured on film. “She would have the camera with her but wouldn’t hold it up in your face for a long time, so she wouldn’t be clicking all around you – she’d chat with you, take a snap, put the camera down, so you didn’t have time to start posing and feeling self-conscious. She never intimidated people.”

Linda herself spoke of always trying to penetrate beneath the “veneer” of celebrity subjects like Jim Morrison, lead singer with The Doors, and her friend Jimi Hendrix. “People could confide in her, because she wasn’t a gossip,” says Mary. “Hendrix in particular became a bit disenchanted [with photographers] because they always wanted him to 'perform’ – be all rock and roll – but she was friends with him because she loved his playing, so he didn’t need to be like that with her.”

I wonder if Linda ever regretted relinquishing her successful career in New York after marrying Paul? “Talking to Mum, she had become a bit disenchanted with the music industry by that time,” says Mary. “She found that as the years went on, there were more lawyers and PRs around the record companies, who were more and obstructive.

“She was also being asked to get much more sensationalist pictures, which she wasn’t interested in doing. She told me people would try and get her to go to Andy Warhol’s Factory and take pictures of people shooting up, which wasn’t her style. It was enough to make her feel uncomfortable. She needed to be enjoying it to stay stimulated, so I think she’d got to a point where she’d done her bit.”

One of Mary’s favourite works in the gallery is Whisky and Milk, Scotland 1978, a black-and-white shot of an empty whisky bottle and a milk bottle side by side on the kitchen table. “I love that and it’s one of Stella’s favourites, too. It shows her quirky side and her sense of humour. She always thought that was quite entertaining, you know, the contrast of both bottles equally enjoyed by different age groups.

“This is one of my favourites too,” she says, moving over to Paul’s Feet, where McCartney grips a glass with his feet, toe-nails varnished in rainbow colours. “It kind of says a lot about Mum and Dad.”

Mary published From Where I Stand last year, a retrospective book accompanying an exhibition of her own work. While editing the book and show, she noted the similarity between some of her pictures and her mother’s. “I looked at some shots and thought, 'that was a picture Mum could have taken,’ but the difference between us is that she wouldn’t care about missing a shot, whereas if I see something and I haven’t got a camera, I can get quite stressed.

“She was very chilled, she’d say: 'It’s a soul camera moment’. Now, if I get annoyed that I’ve missed a shot, I try and think, 'Don’t worry, it’s on the soul camera’. I say it and don’t really mean it, whereas Mum could really let it go. She had everything captured in her soul camera.”

* Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs is at Phillips de Pury (Howick Place, London SW1, www.phillipsdepury.com) from June 7 to June 16. The book is published by TASCHEN and available for £44.99 at www.taschen.com

Mary McCartney, 6/4/11 - Telegraph (x)

[ireadyabooks]

Celebrate Galentine’s Day with our fave strong, female protagonists! 💞

In the words of Miley Cyrus: “I can buy myself flowers!” 🌹 Celebrate self-love & female friendship this Galentine’s Day with our fave leading ladies in YA! 💘

ELIZA: THIS TIME IT’S REAL 

When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin’s essay about meeting the love of her life unexpectedly goes viral, her entire life changes overnight. Now she has the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, a career-launching internship opportunity at her favorite magazine…and a massive secret to keep. Eliza made her essay up. She’s never been in a relationship before, let alone in love. All good writing is lying, right?

Desperate to hide the truth, Eliza strikes a deal with the famous actor in her class, the charming but aloof Caz Song. She’ll help him write his college applications if he poses as her boyfriend. Caz is a dream boyfriend -- he passes handwritten notes to her in class, makes her little sister laugh, and takes her out on motorcycle rides to the best snack stalls around the city.

But when her relationship with Caz starts feeling a little too convincing, all of Eliza’s carefully laid plans are threatened. Can she still follow her dreams if it means breaking her own heart? 

DAISY: YOU, ME, AND OUR HEARTSTRINGS

Daisy and Noah have the same plan: use the holiday concert to land a Julliard audition. But when they're chosen to play a duet for the concert, they worry that their differences will sink their chances.

Noah, a cello prodigy from a long line of musicians, wants to stick to tradition. Daisy, a fiercely independent disabled violinist, is used to fighting for what she wants and likes to take risks. But the two surprise each other when they play. They fall perfectly in tune.

After their performance goes viral, the rest of the country falls for them just as surely as they're falling for each other. But viral fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. No one seems to care about their talent or their music at all. People have rewritten their love story into one where Daisy is an inspiration for overcoming her cerebral palsy and Noah is a saint for seeing past it.

Daisy is tired of her disability being the only thing people see about her, and all of the attention sends Noah’s anxiety disorder into high speed. They can see their dream coming closer than it’s ever been before. But is the cost suddenly too high?

LEELA: DEBATING DARCY

This Pride & Prejudice retelling brings New York Times bestselling Sayantani DasGupta’s trademark wit and insight to her bright and funny YA debut!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Leela Bose plays to win.

A life-long speech competitor, Leela loves nothing more than crushing the competition, all while wearing a smile. But when she meets the incorrigible Firoze Darcy, a debater from an elitist private school, Leela can’t stand him. Unfortunately, he’ll be competing in the state league, so their paths are set to collide.

But why attempt to tolerate Firoze when Leela can one-up him? The situation is more complicated than Leela anticipated, though, and her participation in the tournament reveals that she might have tragically misjudged the debaters -- including Firoze Darcy -- and more than just her own winning streak is at stake…her heart is, too.

Debating Darcy is bestselling author Sayantani DasGupta’s reinterpretation of beloved classic Pride and Prejudice -- imaginative, hilarious, thought-provoking, and truly reflective of the complex, diverse world of American high school culture.

CICELY: A GIRL’S GUIDE TO LOVE & MAGIC 

Perfect for fans of The Sun Is Also a Star and Blackout, this YA novel from Debbie Rigaud is a celebration of Haitian and Caribbean culture, and a story of first love, vodou, and finding yourself, all set against the backdrop of the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn.

Cicely Destin lives for the West Indian Day Parade, the joyous celebration of Caribbean culture that takes over the streets of her neighborhood. She loves waving the Haitian flag, sampling delicious foods, and cheering for the floats. And this year? She’ll get to hang with her stylish aunt, an influencer known for dabbling in Haitian Vodou.

And maybe spot her dreamy crush, Kwame, in the crowd.

But fate has other ideas. Before the parade, a rogue, mischievous spirit seems to take possession of Cicely's aunt during a spiritual reading. Cicely hardly knows anything about Vodou, or how to get someone un-possessed. But it’s up to her to set things right--and the clock is ticking. She'll have to enlist the help of her quick-thinking best friend, Renee, and, as luck would have it...Kwame.

Cicely, her friends, and the reckless spirit who is now their charge set off on a thrilling scavenger hunt to gather the ceremonial items they need. And along the way, will Cicely discover surprising powers of her on?

[celebchatter360]

Busta Rhymes and Jamaica: Separating Fact from Fiction

Busta Rhymes, born Trevor George Smith Jr. in Brooklyn, New York, is a legendary rapper and hip-hop artist known for his fast-paced, energetic flow and unique style. With a career spanning several decades, he has become one of the most recognizable figures in the music industry. However, there has been much speculation and debate over his nationality, with many people questioning whether he is Jamaican.

The short answer to the question is no, Busta Rhymes is not Jamaican. Despite his use of Jamaican patois in many of his songs and his frequent collaborations with Jamaican artists, Busta Rhymes was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, both from Jamaica, immigrated to the United States before he was born, and he grew up in a household where Jamaican culture was celebrated and embraced.

Busta Rhymes has spoken openly about his Jamaican heritage and the influence it has had on his music. In an interview with Complex magazine, he explained that he grew up listening to reggae music and was heavily influenced by Jamaican artists such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Buju Banton. He also noted that his use of patois in his music was a way to pay homage to his Jamaican roots and to connect with his fans in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Despite not being Jamaican, Busta Rhymes has maintained close ties to the island and its music scene throughout his career. He has collaborated with many of Jamaica's top artists, including Sean Paul, Elephant Man, and Bounty Killer, and has even performed at major reggae festivals such as Reggae Sumfest and Rebel Salute. His love for Jamaican culture and music has also been reflected in his music videos, many of which feature Jamaican dancers and showcase the island's vibrant culture.

However, it is worth noting that Busta Rhymes has been criticized by some for his use of Jamaican patois, with some accusing him of cultural appropriation. The debate over whether non-Jamaican artists should be allowed to use patois in their music is a contentious one, with some arguing that it is a form of tribute to the culture, while others see it as disrespectful and inappropriate.

In conclusion, while Busta Rhymes is not Jamaican, his music and his career have been heavily influenced by Jamaican culture and the island's music scene. His use of patois in his music has been both praised and criticized, but regardless of the controversy, it is clear that his love for Jamaica and its music is genuine. Busta Rhymes has become a cultural icon and his contributions to hip-hop and reggae will be remembered for years to come.

Deveondi music on Spotify