Kingston, Jamaica, August 22, 2008:- A massive crowd of 40,000 revelers turned out to Japan's largest Reggae festival, Yokohama Reggae SAI, last weekend -- to soak in the exhilarating energy of Mighty Crown, Mr. Vegas, High Energy, other guest Jamaican Reggae artists and a slew of top Japanese Reggae acts.

On Saturday, August 16, 2008 in Yokohama, Japan was far from an ordinary day for Irish and Chin, Inc. clients, top-of-the line sound system and entertainment outfit Mighty Crown, phenomenal Dancehall artist Mr. Vegas and the stimulating dance crew High Energy. Impressively, this day commemorated the 17th anniversary of Mighty Crown in a colossal way, with a record-breaking 40,000 birthday guests in tow to share the experience.

Mighty Crown, who is fresh off the heels of a sold-out European tour, celebrated their birthday in style, spinning hits for their fans and well wishers. At any given moment during the show, they blasted the sounds of top Dancehall selections, which rippled through the packed arena. From start to finish, Mighty Crown's performance consistently evoked a roaring crowd. In addition to Mighty Crown dropping Reggae favorites, ace selector Sami T also donned the role of artist, lacing the venue with some of his latest music.

"We are more than pleased with the outcome of Yokohama Reggae SAI,"declares Sami T of Mighty Crown. "We never imagined that the event would evolve from 150 in attendance to 40,000..........over the years, we actually focused on the quality of the event rather than quantity."

But Mighty Crown couldn't rightfully take center stage for the full night because there were many acts to follow, including those from their Lifestyle Records imprint like Papa B (20 year music veteran) and a number of high profile Japanese Reggae artists. And of course, there were the special guest artists from Jamaica, who were kept a secret until that night.

The excited crowd erupted in applause when none other than Mr. Vegas took center stage. He rocked the swollen venue for his entire energetic set, capturing the undivided attention of his Japanese fans. Mr. Vegas consistently delivered flawless selections of timeless classics, new gems and his smash hits in Japan "Do You Know?" and "Up and Live." Mr. Vegas was last in Japan on a Mighty Crown tour in 2006.

"This is indisputably the largest audience that I have performed before in my career," says Mr. Vegas enthusiastically. "Japanese fans have a committed love of Reggae/Dancehall music, making this opportunity more than worthwhile."

A climactic moment of Mr. Vegas' stage show was a performance of High Energy, his background dancers that constantly bring the fire with pulsating dance moves and acrobatic feats. Throughout their segment, they received monstrous forwards. Led by Boricia Anthony Brown and Tishana Ellis, High Energy is blossoming in recognition, with requests for appearances through out the world.

"As this is our first time in Japan, the experience has been quite rewarding," says Tishana. "Clearly, Japanese fans hold the 'dance' element of Dancehall culture with high regard, as evidenced by the outpour of appreciation we are receiving," added Boricia.

Other Jamaican artists on the Yokohama Reggae SAI line up include top crooner Wayne Wonder and the wildly popular Bugle. In past years, the festival has boasted the likes of Beenie Man, TOK, Tony Matterhorn and Daville. Each year, the special guest artists from Jamaica are not formally billed for the event, rather they are a surprise.

Yokohama Reggae SAI was conceived in 1995 by Mighty Crown as a means of celebrating their anniversary in the business and highlighting Reggae/Dancehall entertainment in Japan. The festival continues to grow in magnitude and visibility. Plans for next year's Yokohama Reggae SAI are already under way.

Jamaicans watching the 2008 Olympic track and field events in Beijing will have country pride in spades, and with good reason. The country favorite sprinters will compete against the world's best for the men's 100-meter dash. Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell are widely considered to be set for the gold and silver medals, but the order remains unclear. Bolt, the current 100-meter world record holder, will also enter the 200 meters, which is his specialty, at the Beijing Olympics. Powell held the world record in the 100-meter at 9.74 seconds until Bolt smashed it with a 9.72 seconds on May 31 at the Reebok Grand Prix.

Bolt, a native of Trelawny, Jamaica excelled early in track and field. He was a gold and two silver medals at the 2002 World Junior Championship when he was just 15 years old, making him the youngest junior gold medalist in history. He studied under William Knibb, who also taught sprinter Michael Green. Conversely, Powell was a late starter. In fact, when he was discovered at the age of 18, he couldn't start at all. He told Alex Bilmes of the Observer Sport Monthly he was a diamond in the rough when he first started training at MVP (Maximising Velocity and Power) "I couldn't start. I used to lean way back when I was running. My arms weren't going up. My knees were going too high. Everything was wrong, everything," he said.But he had the mindset necessary to be trained, and it quickly became apparent that he was a special talent.

For a while it was unclear if the two athletes would get a chance to meet on the world's biggest platform with some uncertainty as to whether are not Bolt would perform well at both the 200-meter and 100-meter race. In the end, Bolt's coach, Glen Mills, had the final say, which was relayed to the Associated Press through Ricky Simms, Bolt's agent."I can confirm that Usain will run both the 100m + 200m in Beijing," Simms sent in a text message in late July.

The only blemish on the Jamaican teams Olympics so far came when an unnamed athlete was kicked off the team after testing positive for a banned substance. Mike Fennell, the president of the Jamaica Olympic Association, wouldn't say which athlete's sample tested positive from Jamaica's athletics championships from June 27-29, but did tell the AP that it wasn't a "major" athlete. The AP was also told by a person familiar with the case that Bolt and Powell weren't involved.

Hip-hop heads and reggae lovers alike were in for a treat at the “Who’s World is This?” album release party July 31st at Crash Mansion in New York City. The album’s producers, K. Salaam and Beatnik, personally chose all of the artists that crafted lyrics for their beats and they definitely set the bar high. “I think some of them were worried that they might be out done by the beat,” Salaam said. “We demand substance.”

The duo may seem unlikely, K. Salaam an Iranian-American from Minneapolis and Beatnik a young white man, but together they make music in the truest form of hip hop and reggae.

The album has cameos from reggae artists such as Sizzla, Kardinal Offishall and Buju Banton. The producers said including reggae artists was as natural to them as including rappers. “To me hip hop and reggae come from similar places,” K. Salaam said. “It’s all black music.” He said it was remarkably easy to get reggae artists to work with them. While on a trip to Jamaica, he began circulating his beats. Although many people told him he would have trouble contacting people, over the course of his trip, Sizzla contacted him. “He had already recorded like three songs over our beats and wanted to work with us,” he said.

Hip-hop fans present at the album release party were impressed by tracks featuring such underground greats as Dead Prez and Pharoahe Monch. Both were on hand to perform their songs, along with some crowd favorites. Other hip-hop artists that appear on the album include Young Buck and Talib Kweli, among others. Even R & B junkies can find their fix on the album with an appearance from Trey Songz.

At the party, the crowd was surprised when Saigon, who was not scheduled to perform, jumped on stage to do a song. “As a gentleman, it’s good for rapper’s to come out and support others, but sometimes it can be bad because people don’t know how to stand on their own,” he said. “[K. Salaam and Beatnik] are making music that stands on it’s own.”

While the album has a little something for everyone, the different sounds mesh together seamlessly and it makes it easy to for a listener to sample the whole album without skipping any tracks. “We’re not trying to be different for the sake of being different,” Beatnik said. “We want to have a fresh sound and make good music, and if we do that it will be different because of the way music naturally progresses.”

-Charity Scott
-posted by Robin