Bus Ride

Summer Body

Can U Keep Up

American Friends of Jamaica was founded in 1982 by Anne F Sabo, and continues to support healthcare, education and economic development in Jamaica. Shaggy is known for his philanthropic work through his ‘Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation’. The deejay has been hosting his ‘Shaggy and Friends Concert’ since 2009, which has seen international stars such as Macy Gray, Joe and more to raise funds for the Bustamante Hospital for Children. The deejay also keeps his annual Christmas treat at the Bustamante Hospital for Children where he alongside entertainers such as Sean Paul, Alaine, Khago, Chris Martin, Tessanne Chin and others have gone to the wards of the hospital to hand out gifts and to bring cheers into the lives of the children.

“I really enjoyed ‘Family Time’,” Marley tells Billboard.com. “But it was such a specific album for a specific reason, I just consider it in a different league than (2006′s Grammy Award-winning) ‘Love is My Religion.’ So it’s been awhile since I’ve done an album where I can go back to some issues and sing about some things I couldn’t address on ‘Family Time.’ But (‘Family Time’) was a really good project for me, and necessary at the time.”

Marley recorded “Wild and Free” in Los Angeles with producer Don Was and a group of musicians that includes Rolling Stones bassist Darryl Johnson; “He played with Miles Davis, and I wanted to hear Miles stories,” Marley says with a laugh. Guests on the album include actor Woody Harrelson on the title track, which was used for California’s Proposition 19 campaign to legalize recreational marijuana, Heavy D on “It” and Marley’s oldest son, Daniel, on “Changes.” Key to the album, however, were the extensive demos that Marley made in his home studio, which he says made it easier to achieve the sound he was looking for on “Wild and Free’s” 12 tracks.

“The problem with using live musicians before was it was hard for them to come in and capture what I needed,” he explains. “So the whole process of doing the pre-production on my own — putting on bass parts, putting on drum parts — was to avoid putting that amount of pressure on a musician coming into the studio to try to figure out what Ziggy wants, or what Ziggy’s sound is or what Ziggy likes. So I’d give them the sound. I’d give them a lot of the parts and they could interpret it or play it properly. I wanted it to be very organic and not over-thought or over-processed.”

A variety of themes run through the album, including “changes and revolution” both globally and personally. “Social revolutions and group revolutions are good and we need that,” Marley says, “but we also need personal revolution, revolution within ourselves that change who we are as people.” To that end is the album’s first single, “Forward to Love,” which was inspired by his wife, Orly. The use of cannabis and hemp are also promoted on the album, but not just for recreational purposes, Marley says.

“I wanted a movement attached to the record, and the movement is the whole idea of using the cannabis plant for more than what it’s used for now,” Marley explains. “It can be used for environmental reasons and industrial reasons and nutritional reasons, to benefit the planet, not just for getting high.” He’s also created a new super-hero, Marijuanaman, for his first graphic novel, which will be published on April 20.

“It’s entertainment,” Marley says, “but I don’t want this to be a novelty. This is a very deep character with issues to solve in this world. The story’s not about getting high and the munchies and all of that; the story’s about utilizing the plant in all its properties. I don’t think people understand how much good it can do.”

Marley has several concert dates booked already this year, but he says that the real push for “Wild and Free” will likely come later this year and in 2012. “I don’t think I’m going to get enough time this year to really explore this album live,” Marley notes, “so I’m looking for next year for it to be really about this album. I’ll probably play this album more extensively live next year than this year, so it’s looking like it’s gonna be a two-year plan of touring with this one.”

Here is the track list for Ziggy Marley’s “Wild and Free”:

“Wild and Free” (featuring Woody Harrelson)
“Forward to Love”
“It” (featuring Heavy D)
“Changes” (featuring Daniel Marley)
“Personal Revolution”
“Get out of Town”
“Roads Less Travelled”
“Mmmm Mmmm”
“Welcome to the World”
“A Sign”
“Reggae in My Head”
“Elizabeth”

Source: Billboard.com

The restructuring of the Grammy Awards dictate that if for any year, fewer than 25 submissions are received for any category, the award for that category will be suspended for that year. After three (3) consecutive suspensions the category will be permanently terminated. Many industry professionals argue that this may prove detrimental to the Reggae category if the industry does not make an effort to vote and submit more entries each year.

The first ever Reggae Grammy was awarded to Black Uhuru in 1985 and the most recent to Buju Banton for his album “Before The Dawn” in 2011. Other winners include Shaggy, Beenie Man, Sean Paul, Shabba Ranks, Burning Spear, Bunny Wailer, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sly & Robby, Ziggy Marley, Stephen Marley, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and many others. The Grammy Award Ceremony is normally held in February of each year but no date has yet been set for the year 2012 which will mark the 54th annual staging of the prestigious event.

No word yet on why he chose MySpace over other social media platforms which seem more popular nowadays, but Snoop seems to be really making good use of the technology age and the online culture. He has been included in branded virtual goods, video games, social gaming tie-ins and the launching of his previous album, Malice N Wonderland, became a Ustream Reality TV show. He has also been releasing several tracks from the Doggumentary album via his Facebook page and his Twitter page in a series dubbed “Puff Puff Pass Tuesdays”, which seems to have been inspired by Kanye West’s “G.O.O.D. Fridays” series.

Doggumentary is being considered a conceptual follow-up to Snoop’s classic debut album, Doggystyle, released in 1993. It features other top artistes such as R. Kelly, Young Jeezy, The Gorillaz, John Legend, Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa and many others.

Click the album cover posted below to check out the album and purchase tracks from the Snoop’s MySpace page.