THE TV IS WATCHING YOU

Its Monday night and I just waisted 3 hours watching TV. Why, why me? Why was the television invented?

I planned to do some cleaning and ensure that my uniform was ready for work tomorrow. I was running really late this morning and to ensure that their isn't a recurrence of this morning's mis haps, doing all I can the night before is essential. But did I listen to myself? No, I decided to allow Hollyoaks, Big Brother, Location Location, Friends and TMF to seduce me into numbing my brain and body (except my thumb) for 3 hours.

It started with Hollyoaks, the only soap any male between 14-24 years old can watch and have an excuse, the girls are FIT. "Thou shalt not watch Hollyoaks" words of the poet Scroobilus Pip from his poem Though Shalt Always Kill. I haven't seen Hollyoaks in a while but todays episode made me up to date on all the happenings. We have characters dealing with eating disorders, people not sure if they are gay or not, 18 year olds trying to get off with each other, people trying to get out of debt by taking advantage of the grieving and people getting over abortions. So what did I learn in this episode? Beautiful people can be gay, broke, skinny, promiscuous, poor and can't have babies. Nothing new then.

After I saw "The Oaks" I flipped over to find Big Brother's Little Brother. I have a continuous love/hate relationship with Big Brother. I find it very hard to change the channel when it is on. I don't like it and any other show associated with it makes it seem even more asinine. So why do I watch it? I want to see how my stupid friend Brian is getting on. See if he learned who Shakespeare was or if he found a way to speak with his mouth open. I also check on my friend kara-Louise who I think is one of the most clad Big Brother contestants I have ever come across. She is also quite hot.

Why do the lives of these people who I have never met and probably would never keep as friends seem so fascinating? I think Channel 4 has placed subliminal messages in their Big Brother animated logo (the rotating eye ball) that makes you catatonic whenever you start watching it.

This would also explain why I sat through a whole episode of Location Location. The catatonic state that I was placed in only allowed me to watch other Channel 4 shows. The episode I saw was about a couple moving from Manchester to the country to setup a hot-tub store. Their house in Manchester was worth £.5million and they were looking for something smaller and a commercial property under £400,000. In the end they got what they wanted and the hot-tub business took off.

My only explanation for watching this to the end was that the effects of the rotating eye ball does not wear off for about an hour after Big Brother.

I found myself watching Friends. Wasn't the series canceled about 10 years ago? Why doesn't it stay canceled? I think I know why. You see, there are people like me who continue to watch episodes over and over and over and over... allowing the TV programmers to take advantage of our gullible nature. This needs to stop, just because we are easy doesn't mean you have to. I think taking advantage of gullible people who will watch anything should be called TV-RAPE.

I need to stop. Laatas.

I'm Black, Does My Mother Know?

In my previous post I mentioned Rhianna's irritating contribution to my summer. In a discussion today I made a mention of my detest of this song and it resulted in diagnosing me with "Race Ignorance", as my friend called it. Then she went on to mention of the lack of Black female influences on the British Pop Charts and it was great to see Rhianna at number one. She longed for the days Whitney, Foxxie Brown, Lil' kim, Mary J, Faith Evans and Missy Elliot had the Pop charts in their control. She also mentioned how Fergie, Amy Winehouse, Nelly Furtado and Gwen Stephani were all using black music to their advantage like Elvis and others before them.

Firstly, I don't think there will ever be a lack of black female role models in music. There are B-B-B-Beyonce (Big-Bummed-Beautiful-Beyonce), Kelly Rowlands, Keri Hilson and Eve who are all currently on the British charts. I did not say I had anything against Rhianna either, but, I just don't think that her song deserved the right to invade my ears to repeatedly scratch at my eardrums with her "UMBER-ELLA, ELLA, ELLA." I also think that Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" is a much better song, lyrically and acoustically.

When I expressed this to my dear friend she told me that I should look in the mirror - Yeah I'm black. NO, I'M BLACK! DOES MY MOTHER KNOW!?!? Stop the press!

Why should my liking a song and defending it over another have anything to do with my ethnicity? From what I can tell Fergie has not done anything to offend me or my race. Until that day, (which I am sure will never come as she is so FIT), I will continue to show appreciation of her music that I like.

I would beg to differ on her point about Whitney, Foxxie Brown and Lil' Kim being good role models for young black women. If being a drug addict and emotionally unstable is something that is accepted as the norm then please give every little girl a book titled "Crack is Wack - Life and Times of Whitney Houston, complete with CD containing chart topping singles which continue to pay for her habit." Then if sexual profanity is added to 13-15yr old young women's school curriculum then by all means remove the Explicit Content sticker from Foxxie Brown's and Lil' Kim's album covers.

People should never rate their acceptance of a song according to the race of the artist. If Rhianna had to rely on the Black-British public to gain the top spot it may never happen. Statistically, if Rhianna or Timberland (who is number one now), based their entire single purchases and airplay requests on the British population they will find that only 2% of that would be by Black Britons.

To think I had to go through all of this because I didn't like Rhianna's song about her dear Un-Ber-Ella, Ella, Ella...

Summer Tunes

Last summer my iPod was filled with songs by Lilly Allen, Nina Simone and The Pet Shop Boys. This summer my iPod has Gym Class Heroes, Sean Kingston, Robin Thicke, Gold Spot, Sherly Bassie, Mark Ronson, Plain White T's and some new Dancehall.

My summer started on a high after going to the O2 Festival to see Just Jack, Faithless and Eskimo. Now it is the middle of the summer and due to my work commitments I have been unable to see any other festivals. There are a few in August that I am looking forward to and in September, to close, I will be going home (Montego Bay, Jamaica) to bring the summer to a close with a bang.

This summer's biggest number one has been the most irritating, UMBRELLA by Rhianna. Rhianna has taken the number one spot in the British music Charts for 10 weeks. This is great news I suppose. Well it is and I should be happy to see her at the number one spot but Pon-Di Replay was a much better song in my mind. Umbrella is the most irritating song to hit the radio waves this year. The only good things about this song is the video (Sexy) and the fact it kept Fergie and BB-Beyonce out of the lime light.

Gym Class Heroes gave me Cupid's Choke Hold, what a tune!!!!! I was told by a friend that the song wasn't written by them and that the original was better. Usually I would try to find the original and have a listen for myself, but why? I loved this version and I love the video. The nonsensical "Ba Ba Da Da" comes between the verses describing an introduction between his girlfriend and his parents. I have not really had much opportunity to introduce a girlfriend to my mother but if I ever had to I would ensure I listened to this song right before I do.

Sean Kingston popped up out of nowhere with his Beautiful Girls single. Though the song could be annoying but I find it fun. Well after listening to the entire T-Pain album and Akon's album, I don't see where within the "squeaky R&B" market there is room left for another. But, we will see.

I saw Robin Thicke's "Lost Without You" video about a month and a half ago and for some reason the name just seemed familiar. Then a few days later it came to me, Robin Thicke was the guy who sang "When I Get You Alone" a couple years ago (You know, that song with the New York message boy riding around on a bicycle). Now he is back on Star Track Records and killing all the ladies with "Lost Without You". I love this song and by the looks of things it will be in my most played this year list.

As the summer progresses I will be writing more on what's going on on my iPod. On my next post I will go through Mark Ronson's, Plain White T's and a few R&B summer releases. Till then Happy-Downloading.

Jack Osbourne's Twenty One Years

Jack Osbourne's 21 years of existence went by on the 8th of November 2006. Just a few days later mine would also pass. This was mainly the only reason I wanted to buy this book. To see how he has done over the past 21 years and to see if it compares to my 21 years. So on the 26th of October 2006 I picked up my copy of 21 Years Gone.

When I bought this book the most I knew about Jack Osbourne was what I saw of him on MTV's The Osbournes. From the first few pages of this book I found out how similar we were. Well apart from his drug, alchohol and weight problems. Jack and I share a learning disability, we both have short attention spans, we have a craving for adventurous sports and both our mothers have the same first names. Needless to say I read on.

I read on to find how intuitive and sensitive he is towards his family. How he motivated himself to do what others didn't think was possible. How this young man at the age of 21 tackled Drug Addiction, Alcoholism and Obesity all before he was legally allowed to purchase alcohol. Problems well seasoned Rock Stars battle for decades, he conquered and lived to tell the tale. The trait of a survivor he believes is a gift from his mother.

Don't get me wrong there loads of people on this planet who do not have the means that Jack Osbourne has. Which makes his problems seem like another page turner for a gossip magazine. But what this book tells us is not what we want to know about him but what he wanted to tell the world in order to motivate the hopeless.

This book was not a life changing experience for me. I felt more or less how I felt before I read the book; "I am 21, loved, employed and I do not have any ailments to worry about." I guess that was how Jack felt when he finished writing it, making me a Jack Osbourne even more similar than originally believed. There is always that bank balance to consider which I am sure Jack and I are not on the same playing field.

The Royal Family of Reggae

The Royal Family of Reggae is none other than the Marley Family. With Ziggy, Damian, Stephen, Julian, Sharon and Kimani. The most recent album from the family is from none other than Stephen. To me the greatest anticipated album from the Royal Family, Mind Control.

Is not publicized enough that Stephen is the Man Behind the Thrown who has been in the production studios perfecting the great sounds of his siblings. Steven's outstanding production work has helped his brother Damian in claiming the Grammy for Welcome to Jamrock in 2001/2005. His production work has also helped his older brother Ziggy pick-up the Grammy for Best Reggae Album for 2006. Steven has also produced 'Chant Down Babylon', an album that fused Hip-Hop and R&B with Reggae perfectly. Though the album was said to be blasphemous by hard core Bob Marley/Reggae fans, to the rest of the world who understands the genres thought of it as a work of art.

Now the Man Behind the Thrown has released his debut album at age 34, Mind Control. Mind Control is simply an album that will stand the test of time. With contributions by Mos Def, Damian Marley, Mr. Cheeks, Spragga Benz, Ben Harper and Maya Azuncena - Mind Control blew my mind away. The single, The Traffic Jam featuring Damian Marley demonstrates what exactly Stephen's music is all about, unpredictably wonderful.

Other songs on Mind Control that are Mind Controlling are:

• Chase Them This song features great reggae guitar rifts and a wonderful classical tail of survival.
• Let Her Dance Great repetitive hook that gets you hooked on the beat that makes you want to get up and dance. The vocals by Maya Azuncena are what has been expected of an unclassifiable R&B/Jazz singer as her. The the music for Let Her Dance is a combination of Urban-Asian and reggae. This type of production is becoming ever more popular recently but Let Her Dance has the mixture on the right levels. Not allowing any type to over power the other but a subtle mix that makes it captivating and inviting.
• Let Me Out Another great chune that will be on every Hip-Hop, Dancehall and Reggae listeners IPOD in the next 6months.
• Hey Baby The Mos Def track. I adore Mos Def's music, his west coast rap ethic with an ever conscious vibe makes him perfect to rap on any Marley Album. Hey Baby is a definite single release. Though this track was released in 2002 when Stevens album was due for release this refined version is better.
  
• In The Red What a song. This song is for the persons like myself who loves the aesthetic feel that conga drums add to a song.

This is a great album. Stephen's voice has a striking similarity to the past King's (Bob Marley). When people speak of Steven's voice the comments that follow are usually along the lines of; "Him sound too much like him Faada" or "Him a try too hard fi bi like Bob". I am sorry to all those skeptics, Stephen Marley along with his brothers are all sons of Bob Marley. I don't know about you but I have traits associated with my parents. Instead of criticizing these traits we should appreciate them as they help to define who we are along with our individuality. Stephen's debut has traits of his father but essentially I can see his talent as a primal part of Mind Control's brilliants as an album.

Racism is as Racism Does

Racism in Britain is like blood in my body. I don't see it everyday, I know its there and whenever I see it in large proportions I fear for my life.

Recently Jade Goody has dominated all forms of mass communication in Britain due to her very racist remarks to Shilpa in the Big Brother house. I laughed when I saw Jade’s antics, speaking to the beautiful Bollywood Star, Shilpa, like she was better than her. Jade is mixed, her father is a Black Jamaican (a past incarcerated member of Her Majesty’s Penal System) and her mother is a white tenement home resident. Though the fact that her father is Jamaican increased her stock price in my books, by British standards she is as good as Jamaican herself.

Jade has more going against her than Shilpa and obviously she was too weak to accept that so she lashed out the only way her little Essex mind could.

I have experienced this, as I am sure any member of the British Minority population has. I find that the persons with the least self esteem attacks people with the most obvious thing about the ‘opponent’. The most obvious thing about me is the fact that I am Black. Which is what I put the speaking to me like a 9 year old trying to buy ‘weed’ whenever I ask for assistance in a store down to. Then to use a Gold Card to pay for my purchase I have to take out all forms of ID possible.

Unfortunately the English that is written in my passport and on my drivers license is of a special incomprehensible grade that cannot be deciphered by the average cashier. I know it could never be the ‘Issued by t he Government of Jamaica’ that is too complex to read pass. The Royal Navy ID is always the last, the last but usually the winner. The apology follows, “Sorry bout that but you know these asylum seekers...”. (Thanks, you just multiplied whatever resentment I had against you by trying to engage me in a racist conversation.)

I wish I could say that this was a one time occurrence. Though not exactly the same script, the story line concludes with the same moral. Not to worry though I don't receive this treatment all the time, which makes me find the times when I do receive it rather puzzling.

I don't think Britain is a land fill of racist people but I don’t think Britain is doing anything to help the situation. With Religiously segregated schools and single race dominated communities race ignorance will only grow. I think everyone needs to know the similarities in different races as well as acknowledge the differences. After all the world’s genetic break down isn’t getting any smaller so ignoring the fact that we live with people of different ethnicity is as stupid as it does.

British News Paper Discovery

I joined the Royal Navy in January 2004. I had little to no clue about British Culture so it was a cultural adventure for me. I found most of my lessons on British culture came from watching TV.

There is so much you can learn about Britain from watching British TV. I loved watching ‘Who’s line is it?’,‘This week in the news’, ‘Two out of ten Cats’ and ‘Question Time’. All programs taught me so much about how Britain thinks. The British Intellectual humour that is so infectious, was delivered to me through these television programs. I realised that I was living in a literate society when all these programs that made fun of current affairs issues got their ingformation from broadcast on radio or TV but mostly from what was printed.

Then after figuring out how Britain rather their news, via print, I had to work out exactly what paper to read. I went to the news agent one sunday and I picked up the Sunday Times. Not there was a lack of options, but I thought the size of a paper said all I needed to know about its content. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I loved the Reviews Magazine and the Sunday Times Magazine. I especially look forward to the Ariel Leve articles in the Sunday Times Magazine. Then there were the middle aged, affluent-intellectual views of Simone Jenkins and Micheal Portillo not to mention Atticus within the Comments section of the main paper. I fell in love with Sunday Times. There was so much to love, the tasteful layout, the language - the use of the English language to impart information like poetry. What was there not to love.

So the first paper was a hit.

I found it strange however that no one in my age group that I knew who were british read the Sunday Times. I thought I was a bizarre freak of nature who has transformed into a Middle Aged millionaire without even seeing his 21st birthday. When ever I was in a conversation about Politics and I opened a point by saying ‘In the Times yesterday was...’, I was shunned, treated with the same ‘smiled-hostility’ a Commissioned Officer would receive.

This troubled me. I caught on quickly and borrowed a copy of the Sun. The Sun was a gift from heaven, well page 3 was a gift, the rest seemed like an elongated advertisement of cell phones. I think I read the entire paper in less than an hour. I am not an exceptionally fast reader, in fact I struggle to find text. I found the news in the Sun was told mostly by pictures and lager graphics. I guess the scantily clad girl on page 3 was the entire paper and kept people buying it.

The fear of being accused of being a snob made me keep my mouth shut when it came to my thoughts of The Sun News Papper.

The next paper on the hit list was the Independent. I remember clearly, it was a summers day, it was warm and I just came out of Holborn Underground Station in London. There was a Costa Coffee not far from where I was standing and I wanted to grab a paper. Standing at the news stand the Independent spoke to me- "TERROR OR PROPAGANDA?" (there you go, you can have my 60p). I enjoyed the read. The tone of the paper varied as you flipped the pages. One article may focus on the terror cells in Europe the next on Muslim leaders who are speaking out against discrimination. I loved that touch, the mixture, the two point of views that made the news interesting. Otherwise its just a one sided pitch. Needless to say the Independent became my daily paper.

Speaking of one sided pitches, what is up with the Daily Mail? I feel like I am being shouted at every time I read the paper. The large graphics and pixellated images scare me. What might be an entire investigative piece in other papers was a headline in lager print and a paragraph in the Daily Mail. Its not that I don't like the paper, I have read a couple, but only because it was the only paper available onboard. Well not really there was always The Sun but, extracting information from the Sun is like pulling a rabbit from a empty top hat (seems impossible but some people can).

The Telegraph. The paper with more words per square inch than any other I have ever read. Not particularly interesting read, but, very, very informative. Whenever I see someone reading a Telegraph I can only think, “Wouldn’t you rather wait for the audio version?”. After all anything so big must have a movie deal.

Over the course of my Discovering British Culture, I realised that the paper you read tells others all they need to know about you. If that is so, does the fact that I read the Sunday Times religiously and on week days the Independent says everything there is about me?
If you are interested the papers I read dictates that I am in my mid thirties, university educated, middle class, affluent, vote conservative, listens to mozart and Bach, horse back riding/horse racing is an interest and am white.

Well FYI - I am an Able Rating in Her Majesty’s Royal Navy, I am lower class by looking at my bank balance, I am interested in politics- both local and foreign, I love the music of my home (Jamaica) but I also listen to classical and jazz, I am ineligible to vote but if I could I would vote ‘Labour’, I am interested in mountain extreme sports, I love Urban Art, I think Micheal Angelo’s David is Lewd and I am Black Caribbean.

Luron Wright

2006 Year in Review by Luron Wright.

This year has meant so much to so many people. This was the year stock brokers will remember as the year London took the lead from New York as the leading city to do business. The year George W Bush reaches out to states he accused of being contributors to terrorism and divide within Iraq to help stop terrorism and bring Iraq together. The year Terrorist managed to ban bottled water on flights. The year people in New Orleans will remember as the year 90% of their city was rebuilt by charity and not public funds while public funds are used to support military development within a country that is 6000 miles away. The year Britain had to evacuate citizens from Palestine and could not contribute to Peace Keeping efforts because of their over stretched Armed Forces. The year the G8 realises that the Kyoto agreement was worth the paper it was written on, as economists state that climate change will affect every economy drastically within the next 15 years. The year Montegonians are cursed with the fact that crime within Montego Bay (Jamaica) has become more frequent and worse than that of Kingston (Jamaica). The list of historical events within the year 2006 could go on till you say when...when!

2006 to me was the year I became 21, the year I stepped into manhood. This year is a year I will remember for its music. The year Nina Simon, The Notorious BIG, Simon and Garfunckle, Jimi Hendrix, Dennis Brown, Duke Ellington along with other late greats sprung back to life and enriched my music collection with their timeless contributions to the music world. This has also been another great year for black music. Although urban music seems to have leveled with its success during the turn of the millennia the fruits of the seeds sewed during this time and prior can be heard in many records released during 2006. The change of styles and attitudes towards production of Urban Music can be heard within some of the most successful selling POP and ROCK albums in this year. With the collaboration of so many artists 10 years ago would not have even mentioned the name of their collaborates much less to allow them to collect 50% of the proceeds on a record. This year gave me great collaborations of Nas and Jay-Z, and The Game and Snoop Dogg. The year a German born reggae artiste is booked within the international music circuit as that and not a POP or ROCK singer singing reggae. This has also been the year of some disappointments, such as the cancelled release of the Fuggees new album and Lauryn Hill’s album. The fact that Beenie Man and Bounty killer are at it again in some minds is a disappointment but to me it means the music is still alive and through competition it will grow.

For the better part of this year I have been living on HMS Cornwall, a type 22 Frigate in Her Majesty’s Navy. While onboard living in 33 man berth accommodation and with the possibility that I might be sent off to Afghanistan or Iraq at any time I kept myself grounded by listening to music. I purchased a 30 GB IPod in February and threw my portable CD player in the north sea and started ripping all my cds to my computer. I used to make mix CDs in MP3 format and play them on my CD player. With the IPod that changed and I started making playlists. I had a playlist for every occasion, any compilation I could think of and with a collection that spread across 482 albums and 23 Genres the possibilities were endless. The following songs are my most played or most loved songs of this year. These tracks was the soundtrack to my 2006 whether it was playing in the background while I was reading, while I worked, when I went for runs or walks, during moments of passion or disappointment , one of these songs could be heard playing in the background.

My 2006 playlist is as follows;
1-3. Solitude by Duke Ellington, Solitude by Louis Armstrong and Solitude by Nina Simone. The first time I heard this song it was the Billie Holliday version, I heard it and all I could think about is the death of a loved one who was close to her. The sadness within the lyrics can be heard within all four versions of the song but Nina Simone’s version is the one that brought it home to me- how sad can you get really being all alone? This song says it all.
4. Here Comes the Sun by Nina Simone. This was my welcome the summer song this year. When I saw my mother this summer after not seeing her for over 6 months all I could think of were the words “it seems like years since you’ve been here, and its all right now”. A short song that says all it needs to with wonderful, as I now call Nina Style Piano, within 2 1/2 minutes.
5. How Long Will I Wonder This Time by Nina Simone. With lyrics that is brought to life by such a ‘terribly terrific singer’ and music that allows you to wonder as you listen to the out of this world piano rifts, it is a song that does exactly what it says on the tin... How long will I wonder?
6. Black Is the Colour of My True Lover’s Hair by Nina Simone. A song that allows classical and R&B to collide in ways unknown to me prior to listening to this song. It also allowed me to think about what exactly true love is, with a woman that is not necessarily the most beautiful physically created a string of notes and lyrics dedicated to her true love making her to me the most desirable woman in the world as she closes with an applause. I love her.
7. Sinner Man by Nina Simone. Jazz and Gospel, a sinner cursed by God and told to go to the devil. I heard this song as score within so many movies but I have never listened to it. What manner of evil must I have committed to be rejected by both God and the Devil? Emotion within this song is evident and the hairs on my back stand up every time I listen to it.
8. Amor Ti Vieta by Andrea Biccelle. I’ve listened to the entire album Andrea Spec Edition and no other song has brought so much emotion to my heart. I have never listened to opera before so I was quite excited when i was given this album by a friend. I listened to it intently and fell in love with this song. I told the person who gave the album to me that I found it quite boring but their was one song, Amor Ti Vieta, that I could not stop playing, she offered to tell me what the words to the song were but I told her not to because I was enjoying my ignorance. Though my reason for not knowing did not go down well I still stand by that conviction, Amor Ti Vieta.
9. Dancing Shoes by The Arctic Monkeys. I just feel great every time I listen to the song, full stop. I listen to it when I go jogging, before I go out, even when I am in the club. Its simply just a great track, though there are other songs on the album that are better than this one I’ve listened to this one according to my computer 76 times since getting the album, so there you go.
10. Dancing Alone by Ashley Simpson. In my opinion POP music should be banned from the bed rooms of 10 to 16 year old girls. With that done probably DJs wouldn’t have as many requests for the crap and thus a genre will be scratched from the airwaves. Yes I listened to this song...point!
11. Wouldn’t It be Nice by the Beach Boys. The discovery of the Beach boys was one of my proudest moments this year. I was watching Love Actually (for the 50th time) and I heard this song so I went to the record store in search for this song. When the attendant told me it was by the Beach boys I refused to purchase it but he made me listen to the entire Pet Sounds album and by the last song I gave him my three pounds and told him to bronze the entire Beach Boys collection to save it from extinction. This song to me was the best on the album, great harmonies and adorable lyrics.
12. From me to You by the Beetles. John Lennon wrote this song when the Beetles were on tour in the USA during the 60’s after he listened to a song by the Beach Boys which is why it has a clear surfer rock tone to it. I try not to listen to it but I played it for a friend who was away from home and told her it was a message from her family. I got her to smile which made me know that the effects of music on emotions are endless.
13. If Not For You by Bob Dylan. If not for you, then who? I have been listening to Bob Dylan for a year or so now and this song along with, Like a Rolling Stone are always on my playlists. I guess I fell in love sometime this year and this song was on repeat. The harmonica in this song with the one strum guitar sounds if the definition of American 60’s folk music.
14. Only Man by Buju Banton. From the Till Shilow album released in 1993, 13 years ago and I still listen to the song like it was released yesterday. It is about a woman who is so beautiful that is out of his league. He is basically pleading with her to be his and only his, but being who she is it seems extremely unlikely. ‘She doesn’t want a man with problems and stress’ and Buju is just that. What’s going to happen now? Will she stop for a minute to listen to his words? Will she find him adorable or pity him and walk off even though he took off his shoes to show that he is a nice guy? What sensational lyrics.
15. Who Have It by Buju Banton. Every song on the Too Bad album reminds me of the Buju Banton who wrote Till Shilow. This song speaks to everyone, who gave them the guns, who has the money, who has the knowledge and is hiding it? This song speaks to the brain drain within Jamaica, but all we do as Jamaicans is talk about it. This song shouts the questions Jamaicans have been asking for years, it offers no solution but to me that is the solution. It is found within the questions.
16. Ill Do It All by Busta Rhymes. The vocals in this song is astonishing. I listened to the entire album, The Big Bang, but this song stood out to me. This is Busta telling a woman how much he appreciates her company not as a gangster rapper (that could for some seem offensive) but as a calm and seductive man. Unlike I Love My Bitch, which is on the same album, this song says more and is allot clearer than I Love My Bitch and I am extremely unhappy that Ill Do It All was not released. If you didn’t purchase this album you would probably skip through this song as the tempo was slower than both songs on either side of it but ‘from me to you’ this song is worth listening to. Allow yourself to find Busta’s oasis in the middle of his dessert where he is at his best.
17. Boys Will Be Boys by The Ordinary Boys. The Ordinary Boys is found in all record stores under rock but why not Ska? This song is as equally Ska as that of Yeovilton Ska released in the 1970’s so why not? The song’s title describes exactly what the song is about, boys drinking, sleeping around, practical jokes, irresponsible and not caring. exactly what I was during my teenage years. All together with the great Ska music in the back ground the song meshed perfectly to create a song that is like no other out at the time. This not only goes for this song but for the entire album.
18. Lie Here With Me by Snow Patrol. A song I would listen to over and over. The use of music that coincides so greatly with lyrics that will stand the test of time is what this song is. I saw the performance of the song on TV where everyone in the audience had their eyes closed both male and female, and as the song came to the climax everyone was jumping. I wanted to know why, so an hour later i down loaded it and knew exactly why. Its wonderfully, uncomplicatedly timeless piece of music.
19. God is a DJ by Faithless. When I hear this song I imagine Vatican City being transformed into a huge party where God came down and saw to his people. Giving out Rum and Cokes as his blood and ‘E’ as his body. The vocal makes me think its God himself only to hear him say tonight God is a DJ and ironically the DJ who composed the song is a 36 year old woman. With her being as beautiful as she is and both of us at our sexual peek I can’t help but close my eyes, dance to this song and beg forgiveness for thinking about having sex with God Herself.
20. Essence Of Your Love by Feeder. Feeder has established themselves a good band in the last year. Essence of your love is a song I would listen to and think of Simone and Garfunckle, the subtle tones of the song with a semi-psychedelic background makes you believe its a dream you don't want to wake up from.
21. Crazy by Gnarls Barclay. Where do I start? I have purchased this song in every way it was available, I purchased the 45’ single, the CD single, the album and undoubtedly I downloaded it. Gnarls Barclay stapled in my head Crazy. Who would have thought Cee-Loo and Danger Doom could come together to create such a great song? But, when I bought the album it wasn’t just this song it was an album full of unclassifiable R&B, ROCK, HIP HOP and SOUL. Danger Doom the creator of the Grey album (combination of The Beetles White Album and Jay-Zs Black Album), an album that stapled his importance in the music industry as an unprecedented producer of great music has confirmed this by his collaboration with Cee-Loo to make ST. Elsewhere.
22. Who Cares by Gnarls Barclay. I’ve had this song on replay for a day and a half. The lyrics appealed to me at the time and even though I tried to listen to other songs this one kept on coming up on my playlist. It reminds me of a world where you have to be two people, one person according to company and the other according to yourself. The question of why we can’t be ourselves whenever we want to be came in my head then the line by Danger Doom comes in- WHO CARES?
23. With You by Jamie Fox. Jamie Fox released the wrong songs from his debut alum. I stand by that to the depth of the earth. This album was more than what I read about it in magazines; Jamie Fox has a very unique set of talents, a wonderful actor and a wonderful singer making him a great `entertainer’. With You Features Snoop Dogg and The Game and the beat thing is that it is produced by Dr. Dre, this song could have been the HIP HOP song of 2006 for many people but for the people who didn't listen to the album it was just another song on the Jamie Fox Unpredictable album.
24. Lost One by Jay-Z. ‘This is not a good song it’s a real one’ the statement that greets you when you press play on this track. I beg to change this a little, my intro to this track is ‘this is not a good song it’s a really great one’. This album was released later than expected but to be honest it was worth waiting for by any Jay-Z and west coast rap fan. By the star rating review given by the London Times I noticed that the reviewer wanted Jay-Z to stop writing and producing albums and to allow his black album to be the last album he produced. I guess I understand that point of view but then that point of view detracts from the obvious truth that this song/album is worth releasing. This song in particular is the plight of a man who has done well in life but blames himself for so many mishaps in his life. Sad but as the intro said, real.
25. Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix. I only started listening to Jimi Hendrix this year after reading a biography on him. Voodoo Chile has little or no lyrics and yet it doesn't matter because Jimi speaks with his guitar and so many words could be heard during the play time of this song. From start to finish this song is pure electronic guitar talent. I saw a DVD of him performing this song in France where he conducted a ‘play’ voodoo ceremony on stage where he lit his guitar on fire in hope he out did his competitors. Who could out do Jimi? The man who could play while making love to his guitar-pelvic thrusting and using his teeth? A wonderful contributor to music and from 15 April 2006 till the end of my life I will have a Jimi Hendrix track on my playlists.
26. Save Room by John Legend. What a great discovery. John Legend is a sensational musician with everything on top. Save room, is the best composition in R&B for the year of 2006. Following up to his debut album Once Again is phenomenal, a man that knows emotion and how to express it through music and is not afraid to do so. This is John Legend, Save Room.
27. I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic in The Disco. Panic in the Disco gave this song a great arrangement with fresh writing. Haven’t you heard of closing the God damn door? This song is Britain’s social behavior summed up in 3 minutes 8 seconds, first celebrate because of the necessity to do so whether it be the birth of a child or the union of two people, then create drama either by trying to say the groom is gay or the bride is a whore, then when that is over and done with, get drunk.
28. Air on a G Sting- by the London Symphony Orchestra. Erotic and Sexy. I know what you are thinking, they mean the same thing, but said together they describe every single note of this piece of music, Erotica and Sexy.
29. Love Should by Moby. Lazy, sexy and wonderful. When I listen to this song I imagine being in bed with a beautiful woman who I am in love with. The chorus, oh how it rains and oh how it pours, are the words of a true relationship. Anyone who has ever been in love knows exactly what those lines represent.
30. Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado. If you did not shake your head to this song at least once this year you are either deaf or living in a cocoon where contemporary music is banned. Nelly Furtado has taken the celebrity make over to another level. She managed to not show any of her belly button for the release of her first 2 albums and now she has and its like I’ve never seen a belly button before. When other female artistes show their belly buttons I take it for granted but when Nelly Furtado does it I savour every single second it is exposed to me. Oh, the song? Great club banger. Her album? I bought it because she told me to when she was on MTV with her belly button staring at me. I by no means was disappointed with her album. With a few productions by Timberland she took the clubs by storm and with a few soft toned Latin tracks that made her famous.
31. Hold Your Head by Notorious BIG. Hold your head would not be the same to me if it was John Legend singing the chorus, Bob Marley’s voice made this song what it is. This song was played in a club when I was home in Jamaica where the DJ played the full Bob Marley song without the P Diddy contemporary version in the back ground. The version that this DJ played was better than BIG rapping in-between. I still love the Notorious BIG version and I still listen to the duets album quite allot from start to finish not just selected tracks. This track however resurrected two great entertainers and teamed them up to create a harmony we can only dream what would sound like if they were still alive.
32. Chronometrophobia by Outcast. Idle wild was released this year, I am very sorry to say I have not seen this film yet but I have listened to the sound track. The sound track is incredible, well as far as Outcast goes it is wonderful. The production talents of André 3000 improves with every album Outcast releases even though I think his musical influences are a bit too evident within his style. Chronometrophbia is the fear of time, or in some cases progression, the need to live in the here and now and no looking toward the future. In my eyes Outcast in the future will come to represent what NWA and Public Enemy represents now, icons within Hip Hop who are totally irreplaceable.
33. Hollywood Divorce by Outcast. The quirky rapping styles of André 3000, Snoop Dogg, Big Boi and the infamous Lil’Wayne made this song stand out to me. When the name Lil’ Wayne is mentioned now a days the response is more or less oh the guy who invented the ‘Bling Bling’ slang. That is what this song speaks to, the necessity of Hollywood to be constantly entertained and when you stop entertaining you are either forgotten about or Hollywood finds its entertainment through your private life. When this gets boring you are forgotten about and the next phase moves in. Though the song does not dispute that this is necessary for the progression of entertainment, it disputes the culture that surrounds this, the necessity of information creating Paparazzi.
34. P. Diddy Rock by P. Diddy. Press Play has hocked me really. I never expected P. Diddy to do a contemporary album where I could love as much as I love Press Play. This song especially, I love the verse in the song that is sung by Twista. As Twista raps at 2000 words per minute the beat’s tempo is slowed down and Twista’s vocals is used to keep the tempo of the song going. Simply brilliant! The press play album however should be called- P. Diddy Featuring, there is only one song on the album that does not feature a well known artiste. Saying that, that one song, Future, is really one of the best tracks on the album.
35. Number One by Pharrell Williams. When I heard of this song I was anxiously waiting for its release. Then to my disappointment it wasn’t what I expected. Imagine this; two of the best young producers in Hip Hop meet heads and release a song together, Number One is not the song that comes to mind. Number One being what it is I will say I love it, didn’t get as much air time as Angel (on the same album) but by far was worth being released.
36. Skk 2 Def. by Plan B. Britain’s own Eminem, but with allot more literary talent and musical ability. This you man rap’s and plays his guitar in this song like his life depended on it. He has clearly been influenced by american rap artistes as he pays homage in this song to Nas but his passion takes all Grime musicians off the pedestal they thought they were on to look up and take notice that Plan B is here on a higher level than any current Grime artiste.
37. Wait a Minute by The Pussy Cat Dolls. These 5 girls and 1 transvestite have done very well over that last 2 years. Their production by Will I AM from the Black Eyed Peas and Timberland has elevated them from just dancers miming, as most POP groups seem to be in my eyes, to a POP group I would pay to see live over the Spice Girls. I have no idea what any of the girls in this song say but the hypnotic tones of Timberland as he did his verse is what kept this track on my playlists. The video of them pole dancing in the subway had a small part to do with it as well.
38. Snow (EH Oh) by Red Hot Chilly Peppers. Jupiter and Mars has lived up to the expectations of what fans have come to expect of the Red Hot Chilly Peppers (RHCP). With a guitarist who plays the guitar like no other in toady's main stream ROCK world, a drummer who knows exactly what he is doing and a bassist that plays the bass like a guitar, the RHCP has no competition. The song snow makes memories in my mind that I haven't even experienced as yet, this is what good music it about; the ability to connect with an audience on incomparable levels. With lyrics I make up when I don't know the words and a cracking chorus that is simple but stays true to the words I have mumbled ‘EH OH listen to what I say oh’ - or something to that effect. Great song, great album and a wonderful band that will never die.
39. Sister by Rhymfest. Sister is rapped over a beat composed by Alicia Keys and features a young artiste from mid west USA Mike Payne. If I am ever asked in the future why I listen to RAP music I will refer the inquisitionist to this song. True poetry, which makes rappers true poets, Rhymfest is the truest poet for the year of 2006. This song is about him trying it on with a girl in a club only to realize that she has problems he didn't need to know about, but instead of walking off and trying someone else he stayed and listed to her cries. In the second verse he raps; ‘love don't love nobody, drugs don't love no body, so why do you put that needle in your body?’ .Words that will live on forever, a question asked by many people who has seen the suffering of drug addiction, but instead of the usual frowns, his voice offers help and in some degree sympathizes. Timeless words.
40. Music is Power by Richard Ashcroft. Richard is known for the timeless album he wrote while he was in the Verve, Urban Rhythms. He is known especially for Sweet Symphony. Which is why I thought his album, Keys to the World was effortless to him. The Lyrics to Music id Power brought home to me the power of music, listen to it made me feel like a flower in the deep sunshine. I recommended this album to other music lovers but it didn’t get the reception I was looking for. They seemed quite disappointed. I suspect they were looking for timeless pieces of music but got an okay album a great song writer. I guess I can see where they are coming from but this song remained on my playlists for a majority of the year and it still makes me feel the same way I did the first time I listened to it.
41. Cry Baby Cry by Carlos Santana. Listening to any Carlos Santana song one would wonder why is it that a vocalist is necessary. However Cry Baby Cry features Joss Stone and Sean Paul. Hold on a second, Joss Stone and Sean Paul. No matter how many times I say it in my mind I still can’t believe it, Sean Paul a traditionally Jamaican Dance Hall artiste and Joss Stone an incredible singer with absolutely no ends to her talent have teamed up with one of the greatest guitarist from the 60’s to present day to create a musical master piece. Each collaborate on this track contributed equally in my eyes, Santana gave rifts that were great, Sean did his thing and Joss Stone did her thing, making me cry at the end of the song. This is the type of music in my mind that should be up for song of the year at the Grammy’s, beautifully written beautifully performed and wonderfully arranged pieces of music, not the most popular, though if this song was released I guarantee the record companies they would have made their money back plus gained a Grammy.
42. Temperature by Sean Paul. Every club in this world played this song at least once a week since its release early this year. I listened to this song in all areas of scandinavia, within Eastern and Western European countries and when I was home it Jamaica I am sure I heard it (well i think so). Sean has done Jamaica very proud, he has taken the music from a surrounding that he was not very familiar with (lower class Jamaican Dance Hall) and he has made it his own. Making Dance Hall music cool to listen to by all the classes all over the world. The fact of the matter is that he is not the first person to do so, Shabba, Shakka Demus and Pliers, Super Cat, Sizzla, Junior Ried (featured on One Blood by The Game) not to mention Beenie Man and so many other Jamaican Dance Hall artiste. Yes Sean Paul is good but their are so many other DJs (Jamaican term for Dance Hall Artistes) in Jamaica who are even better, it’s a shame to see that Sean Paul is all our country can afford to market as our best. (A word to Record Companies and Producers).
43. That Heat by Sergio Mendez. Will I Am transformed Sergio Mendez from a great Samba Pianist to a Latin Hip Hop musician. Timeless by Sergio Mendez features the song; Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendez and the Black Eyed Peas, was merely an introduction for me to the plethora of greatness the album had to offer. That Heat was by all accounts the best song on that album, it featured Will I Am and Erykah Badu and the wonderful piano solo by the one and only Sergio Mendez. I can now still feel the heat Erykah radiated with her distinct Jazz voice. Sergio transported me to Rio and everything Samba. While Will I Am took me to Flat Bush Brooklyn to feel Hip Hop. Even though Will I Am was featured on almost every song, his voice never got monotonous especially on this track it kept the song moving in a medium familiar to me and yet I was introduced to contemporary Samba. This track defines Metro Music in my mind, music taken from different parts of the world and blended in one blender to create a Metropolitan sound that is different every time you listen to it.
44. America by Simon and Garfunckle. Who would have thought a Jamaican, surrounded by all the culture within his own country would ever listen to Simon and Garfunckle. I first heard this song when I saw the movie Almost Famous. I never took notice of the song until I purchased the DVD where the sister of the lead (never good with names) explained to their mother why she was leaving by playing this song. I didn’t realize until that moment that, like me, people used music to explain complicated situations. I went out the day after I purchased the DVD and purchased the Soundtrack when America by Simon and Garfunckle was on my continuous playlist. I have not looked back since. The genius of this track along with so many by the group is phenomenal and goes to show the timelessness of great music.
45. Conversation by Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg raps well when there is a singer or other rapper to switch his tempo. Conversation features the Legendary Stevie Wonder, and what better person to team up with to sing the hooks of your song. Conversations is about Snoop and Stevie asking when was the last time you spoke to God. ‘When you feel your life too hard, just go have a talk with God’, words by Stevie Wonder and the Rap that always gets a smile on my face is ‘Mamma don't have, Papa don't have, God Bless the Chile who got his own’. What Snoop is rapping are words sung by Billie Holiday over half a century ago that seems so fresh coming from the lips of a West Coast Gangster Rapper.
46. Make Some Music by Ziggy Marley. Ziggy Marley, son of the great Bob Marley has been releasing music since early 90’s but since the Melody Makers he has been getting some bad reviews. I decided not to listen to anything prior to purchasing this album for a day (despite the odd, loud car stereo and the office stereo), to ensure when I listened to it for the first time it was fresh and I didn't have any other influences to help make my decision on whether I liked the album or not. This method worked, I found that this album brought to me what I missed from reggae. The easy listening of his acoustic guitar and the simplicity of his lyrics wasn’t reggae at first, it seemed like Jack Johnson or Damien Rice. Then I realized that Jack Johnson and Damien Rice were trying to do what Ziggy Marley did effortlessly. His voice is great during this song. He whispers through the verses on this song while singing on the chorus. His whisper wasn’t a new idea in music but it was so refreshing to hear this different way of bringing across his message. In this case it was chatting up a girl (lets make some music- do I honestly have to spell it out?).
47. Love is my Religion (acoustic) by Ziggy Marley. There are two versions of this song on the album, the second, the acoustic version, is the better. I don’t like comparing artistes but in some occasions I can’t help but do so. I felt the lyrics in this song as he strummed the tune very similarly to the way I feel when I listen to Bob Marley singing an acoustic version to one of his songs (redemption song). So real, so tangible, so what music should be to everyone.
48. Just Like... by Corrine Bailey Rae. Have you ever loved some one so much and you try to explain what it feels like but cant? If that has ever happened to you, listen to this song. Corrine came on the scene out of nowhere, when she released this song I instantly fell in love. She sung to me exactly what I needed to hear at the time. Her album is what I still listen to when I can’t sleep, her melodic gently voice rocks me gently to sleep so matter what my emotional state. Corrine is a musician.
49. Dreams by Lilly Allen. She made my summer this year. With her cute cockney accent and her kind of raspy voice is exactly what I expect an ordinary girl from London to sound like. She sells herself as just that an ordinary girl singing about ordinary things. Dreams was one of the first songs I fell in love with on the album. The simplicity of things in a relationship you take for granted until you break up then all those things seem so important though back then they were so simple. There is no shortage of realism within this piece of writing and her television performance of this track is another reason why it is important to my playlist. The way she closes her eyes and pressed against the microphone at the precise moment when you expected her to, showing how sincere this song is. (Unless she has taken some kind of acting classes I am yet to find out).
50. Two Nations by The Streets. Mike Skinner is one of the world’s greatest living poets. ‘The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living’, album where this song is from, is the confessions of an artiste who has seen success. Unlike his previous albums where I felt they were the confessions of a struggling artiste, this album brings the problems involved with success to musical artistry. He wrote about his battles with drug and alcohol abuse and the childhood that made him who he is. Two Nations is not about drugs or partying, or is it about his child hood. Two Nations is his detest for Americans who are too arrogant to try and understand they were not the ones who invented the English language. They were in his minds the ones who corrupted it. Peotry on a beat, lovely.

There you have my 50 songs that kept me going through 2006. There were many more I would love to mention such as Bob Sinclair’s very well composed album, Damian Marley, Gentleman, and other Jamaican artistes, and then Shakira and Gwen Stefani and the likes of The Killers and the Kooks... but the list had to stop somewhere. I leave with you my deepest thoughts of the music that carried me to the places I wanted to be, soothed my cries and placed a smile on my face throughout the year. My Playlist 2006.