Reggae in Pop Culture Series......Bad Boys (Inner Circle)

I heard this song yesterday at the Reebok Grand Prix just as Tyson Gay ran that superb 200m race. Lol..... couldn't help thinking about Usain Bolt as the song played. He would have definitely beat Tyson Gay......

Anyways back to the music. Bad Boys is one of those reggae songs you probably heard before and might have not known that it was a reggae song. The song was first released in Jamaica in the 1980's and then re-released in the early 90's in the US.



Inner Circle - Bad Boys

If you like the video and want to know more about Inner Circle check out their website for more samples of their music, pictures, videos and a terrific bio about the group.
http://innercircle-reggae.com/

My all time favorite song from this group is a very fun, upbeat pop sounding song. every time I watch the video I just want to be partying in Jamaica Spring Break style (beautiful beach, beautiful weather, great music and some sweet rum punch). Here is the link to the video on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kfTuNdku3A

Number 1 (Tide Is High) by Kardinal and Keri Hilson is a Reggae Cover

So this song is very hot. Everyone loves it and the video is great.

Well it is a reggae cover. The original version, "Tide Is High" was written by John Holt and performed by The Paragons with John Holt as lead singer in 1967. This is one of those songs that perfectly illustrates the universal appeal that reggae music has on people. Its been decades since the first release and the lyrics are still relevant to us today. How many songs can we say that about? This recent cover by Kardinal is not the first for this song. It has been covered many times over the years. Chances are that you heard the 1980 cover by Blondie or the pop version by Atomic Kitten in 2002.

Well check out the original version. Couldn't find actual live footage, but I will definitely add a live video later if I find one. This song is reggae in its early years. More specifically called Rock Steady.

Buju Banton challenges Bob Marley

At his recent album release party for 'Rasta Got Soul', Buju Banton sent out this bold statement to the world. “You know they say that the greatest musician in Jamaica is Bob Marley. I don't believe that because we have greater musicians to come. Bob was the most promoted, and well promoted, and we have to appreciate that because it’s our culture. But don't kill our culture… Enough is enough.”

It seems that I along with the rest of the world disagree with Buju's statement.

Enough is apparently not enough. Everywhere I go people equate reggae music with Bob Marley. He has been dead for over twenty years and still has the top selling reggae album worldwide. His song 'One Love' was declared song of the century by the BBC and Time magazine called 'Exodus' album of the millennium.

Well established. Bob Marley is the king of reggae. As for Buju Banton, well he is a talented artist who produces tons of great music. I love his stuff. Here's one of my favourites 'Destiny'. Check him out on youtube.

Budget Busters

As one of the many twenty somethings out there stuck in the not so great job and making a less than desirable salary, I have had to buckle down and get financially savvy. I educated myself and got my personal finances in order ( paid down the credit cards/debt, started saving for a brighter future, drastically cut my spending and now live on a budget).

With the summer season fast approaching I now have the difficult task of trying to keep the budget intact without sacrificing my lifestyle. Summer is the season of great reggae concerts in New York City. I love live music and I love reggae, put those two together and what you have is a concert I can't miss. If I go to all the concerts on my list it will cost me more that $350 for the summer. Huge amount, I know...but I have no desire to cut back on what I love the most. Where to go from here?

What's your budget buster and how do you make it work? Please let me know people. Reggae in the city for me kicks off on the 26th with Gregory Isaacs at B.B Kings Blues Club.

Legal 420 anyone?

So I read this really interesting article that basically argued that the federal and state governments could make a whole lot of money if they legalized marijuana. Here is the link......

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/a-budget-cure-marijuana-taxes.aspx?gt1=33002

Ok so they are only talking about legalizing medical marijuana. The money the government would make would come strictly from taxes collected from businesses that sell the stuff. This got me thinking about what you people thought about marijuana.........

Personally my stance on marijuana is pretty simple. ' Legalize it'!







I'm a 'Ganja baby'. ( Ganja- Jamaican term for marijuana). I basically grew up in a culture that was very open to and accepting of weed. My grandpa was a ganja farmer and I was his little helper. I spent years of my childhood helping to plant, care for, harvesting and preparing the crop for sale.

That being said, I do not smoke pot. Never have and never will. I however think this is a personal choice that everyone is entitled to.

Marijuana is not as dangerous as we are led to believe. Its all about a balance like everything else in life. It is true that pot like so many things out there can be addicting.That however does not give cause to demonize marijuana. Cigarettes and alcohol are just as addicting if not more. I mean alcohol is perfectly legal and great in moderation but we all know how many lives are destroyed by alcohol each day (Vehicular deaths, child abuse and domestic abuse etc....). Why aren't our politicians and law makers fighting the cause for those victims more? I know all the controversy surrounding marijuana but I believe that the most of the negative consequences ( money laundering, guns etc.....) are not an effect of the marijuana itself but of it being illegal. Why not legalize it and tax the hell out of it like they do with cigarettes?

The video is Peter Tosh "legalize it". Peter Tosh is Reggae great. Please check out his music on youtube......

Talking the talk but not walking the walk.......

So I think that I give very good advice about love, life and relationships in general. The problem seems to be that I never follow my own advice. I wish I knew the reason for this. Here’s my mini list of things I tell people all the time but struggle to live by myself……

Life

· Go back to school and get a better degree than the one you have at the moment.
· Never procrastinate. You can never get back precious time lost.
· Don’t worry so much about all the things in life that you can’t change. Just go out there and change what you can one step at a time.
· Spend way less time calculating all the odds and take a gamble every now and then.

Love

· To love deeply is to trust your significant other completely.
· If she/he is not into you just let it go, ladies I highly recommend you read “He Is Just Not That Into You”. It is really great book so please listen to what the authors say, they know what they are talking about.

Friendships
Friendships should be more about quality than quantity. The ones that always bring the drama, whine about everything and are always broke can go.
· It is not always about who is wrong or right. No fight is worth losing a good friend over.

Pretty simple stuff……..right? Basically I talk the talk but I need to start walking the walk too. I’m trying to find out the reason why it is just so difficult to follow my own advice. Can anyone else relate to this?

This is my first blog post. Hello all you out there in cyber-world. Hope I don’t bore you all to death. Please feel free to comment on my posts……………