CGP's 'Black Out Affair' review and pics posted on www.chatboutcleveland.com!

What?

Don't tell me you missed ANOTHER CGP event... No worries, check out the pics and review posted on www.chatboutcleveland.com/event_reviews_.

Feel better now?

Bashy

Jamaica being called 'World's Fastest nation'

In the spirit of the Olympics, we can't help but to watch as Jamaica makes history at these games with the FIRST gold medal (in the men's and women's 100m) and then with the FIRST sweep in country's history (taking first, and then tying for second place in the women's 100m). And with more track and field events to come this week, the excitement continues to build....

From Jamacian Observer.com

BY PAUL A REID

reidp@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, August 18, 2008

MONTEGO BAY, St James - In addition to Jamaican athletes winning both 100m finals at the 29th Olympiad being held in Beijing, China, being a rare feat in and of itself, there are even more interesting similarities in the races run almost 24 hours apart.

Both Usain Bolt who won the men's 100m and Shelly-Ann Fraser who won the women's, won by margins of .20 seconds and both ran from lane four.
Shelly-Ann Fraser, running in lane three, in awesome form in her gold medal-winning run in the women's 100m at the 29th Olympiad in Beijing, China, yesterday.

Jamaica also had three runners in each final, two each from Fraser's MVP club, former World Record holder Asafa Powell and Michael Frater, while Sherone Simpson (MVP) and national champion Kerron Stewart who tied for silver.

Bolt's new World Record 9.69 seconds and Fraser's astounding 10.78 seconds, the second fastest ever by a Jamaican woman, bettered only by Merlene Ottey's National Record 10.74 seconds.
The last time runners from the same country won the 100m at the Olympics was 20 years ago in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea, when Americans Carl Lewis and the late Florence Griffiths-Joyner stood on top of the podium.

Both Jamaicans who were 21 when they won would have been shy of their 22nd birthday when the feat was last achieved.

Usain Bolt (right), running out of lane three, celebrates after powering to the men's 100m gold and new world record at the 29th Olympiad in Beijing, China, on Saturday. (Photos: Bryan Cummings)

Lewis was upgraded to the gold a few days after the race after Jamaican-born Canadian Ben Johnson was stripped of the title after testing positive for a banned substance and was credited with a then World Record of 9.92 seconds.

Griffiths-Joyner, who owns the female World Record at 10.49 seconds, recorded a wind-aided 10.52 seconds to win the Olympic crown.

Then there was the unbridled joy from both champions after the event, and while Fraser stopped short of the dancehall moves that Bolt put on for the fans on Saturday, her elation was obvious.

Neither runner was considered threats to win the 100m say nine months ago. Bolt was considered a 200m specialist with some suggesting he try the 400m while Fraser was an unknown outside of the Jamaican track and field circles.

Bolt opened some eyes with a 10.03 seconds run at a low-keyed meet at GC Foster in March and then turned the track and field world on its ears with a series of fantastic runs - 9.76 seconds at the Jamaica International Invitational in early May, 9.92 seconds at the Hampton Games in Trinidad and Tobago and then the World Record 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York on May 31.

All this time Fraser worked in obscurity, and except for her win in the College Women's 100m at the Penn Relays in 11:86 seconds after running 11:39 seconds in the qualifying heats, did not have a major win to her name.

With her win yesterday (Jamaican time) practically every-thing has changed for the girl from the tough inner-city area of Waterhouse.

Fraser, who turns 22 in Decem-ber, has surpassed practically every Jamaican female sprinter before her after taking the most coveted title at the Olympics - the 100m.

She joins two other Olympic Champions - Deon Hemmings who won the 400m hurdles in Atlanta in 1996 and Veronica Campbell who won the 200m in Athens in 2004.

New Horizon Family alongside Dodo presents: Fanton Mojah LIVE this Saturday!

On Saturday July 19th, it’s all about New Horizon alongside Dodo as New Horizon Family celebrates is 6th Anniversary with a LIVE performance by Fanton Mojah, Ninja Ford and G’ovany. Get ready Cleveland for a night of roots and culture with one the most talented and most impressive artists Fantan Mojah. It all goes down at Club Center, 8800 Woodland Avenue. Featuring with music by New Horizon, Sample Jack, Star Temple and hosted by Mr. Personality, KC Platinum and a SURPRISE dancehall queen contest (dancehall queen + culture vibes, who knew?)

Owen Moncrieffe, aka Fantan Mojah, was born to a Christian family in the southern Jamaican agricultural parish of St. Elizabeth. At 10 years old he refused to attend church declaring, “Mi no deal with Jesus, Mi deal with the Creator”. Upon this defiance, his mother threw him out of the house. Throughout his early teenage years, Mojah alternated between staying with his grandmother and sleeping wherever he could. He was later expelled from school for paying more attention to his deejaying than his reading, writing and arithmetic lessons.

Possessing little more than boundless ambition, he ventured to Jamaica’s capital city Kingston in 1993 to pursue his musical calling. After moving in with his aunt, He moved in with his aunt, he took the name Mad Killer (in homage to Bounty Killer). Mojah soon found greater inspiration of late Rastafarian reggae icons Peter Tosh and Jacob Miller. He embraced Rastafarianism and grew his dreadlocks but his aunt could not accept his lifestyle so she asked him to leave. Homeless once again, he adopted the name Phantom and occasionally sought shelter, quite ironically, in a church.

He worked part-time as a baker and lifted speaker boxes for the venerable Jamaican sound system Kilimanjaro. “That (working with a soundsystem) was a good experience because you get to hear other artists deejay,” says Mojah, “and sometimes I would get a chance for a little chant on the microphone. So that helped me develop and that is where the energy start creates from.”

Through this experience, Mojah made friends with other artists including Ninja Man, who then introduced Phantom to Capleton. Through this friendship, Capleton suggested Mojah drop the “tom” (in his name) and adopting a “tan.” Phantom was renamed Fantan, with Mojah added by Jamaican elder Homer Harris, who has reportedly also chosen names for such reggae heavyweights as Luciano and Sizzla.

By end of the 1990’s, Mojah had his first recording opportunity by recording several songs for producer Tristan Palmer but they were never released. Somewhat disillusioned, he put his musical aspirations aside to take a government job rebuilding a gully that was destroyed by a flood. But it wasn’t long before he returned to his first love. He recorded “Search” and “Black Woman Feel Di Pain” in 1999 for producer Cleveland Scott’s small label Home Run, and both received modest recognition. “We never have the finances to push the songs to a height,” he says, “but those songs paved the way and that is when the public start to hear about Fantan Mojah.”

Mojah struggled for several years prior to scoring two remarkable number one singles. First, he topped the Jamaican charts in late 2004 with “Hungry,” then, in January 2005, Mojah ascended to the premier position again with “Hail The King,” which is a testament to the Rastafarian faith that guided Mojah throughout his many hungry years. “Yeah, man, dem songs authentic,” says Mojah. “They come with a power to let people know the struggle we go through; we can’t forget it because the struggle motivates you to rise higher.” That motivation, he observes, is at the core of the roots reggae revival. “Jamaica get violent so we try to keep the music positive, because them type of songs can create a better energy. Upful music can uplift people and derogatory music can lead people astray. Dancehall ruled for a while; now a one drop [traditional] reggae rules so that just keep the better type of music alive.”

While shades of Capleton and Sizzla color his style, his lyrical content is far less controversial than those artists. However, at a Jamaica Carnival 2005 performance, Mojah stormed the stage, stole the microphone out of Machel Montano’s hand during the Trinidadian star’s set and attempted to perform his own songs. Mojah initially denied the action but within minutes cited it as ‘historic’. A few weeks later at the annual Western Consciousness event, Mojah was fined for cursing onstage, which prompted the police to abruptly end the show and resulted in a barrage of bottles being hurled at the stage -the first incident of this type in the 17-year history of this cultural reggae show. Mojah denied he cursed but readily paid the fine and apologized to his fans. The incident reportedly cost him a slot on the annual Reggae Sumfest in Montego Bay.
While Mojah’s infamous actions have branded him a troublemaker, he vows he will never again display such negative behavior. “You learn from your mistakes and we go past that stage now,” he says. “At that time we just bust to the world. You can’t cheat reggae music. You have to give people your fullest and that is all I wanted to do.” Joseph Bogdonavich* describes the artist best: “Fantan is loved by the people because he represents the people, the good and the bad in people.”

(Source: http://www.globalrhythm.net/WorldMusicFeatures/FantanMojah.cfm)


*Joseph Bogdonavich – reggae music producer who worked with artists such as Sizzla, Jah Cure, Richie Spice, Capleton as well as Fanton Mojah.

For more information on this artist, go to: www.myspace.com/mojahfantan

Bashment Review: CGP Presents: 2nd Annual Soca/Calypso/Flag Party

What can we say?
The Chat ‘Bout Friday nights was Caribbean Flavor (321 Babbitt Road in Euclid) as the word on the street was and is – that Full Throttle Fridays, has regained its title as the hottest dancehall Friday nights in Cleveland. Shutting down all its competitors, Caribbean Groove Promotions (or CGP) continued the madness with its 2nd Annual “Soca/Calyspo/Flag Party” on April 18th. If you haven’t been down to ‘Flavor’ (as some have begin to call it), you are definitely missing out. And if you missed the Flag Party, definitely make it a date for next year!

As Chat ‘Bout entered the venue, the mood of the dance was set by the look of the place – flags from different West Indian countries hung everywhere from the walls, the bar and yes, even the ceiling. If you were not feeling the party vibe when you hit the door, the Soca and Calypso music that filled the air definitely put you in the mood as the dance floor (complete with a wide screen showing videos of live Calypso and Soca shows) stayed packed all night with masses from Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica and everywhere in between. Reminiscent of Caribana and Carnival, the masses on the dance floor waved their towels and flags in the air as they dance to tune after tune.

Although the Soca and Calypso tunes dominated the dance, Leisa Engel and DJ Chubby supplied a few selections to cure those with the dancehall fix. As a few old school tunes from Lexxus, Beenie Man and Capelton played, the energy of the dance rose to another level as the dance floor filled to capacity.

It was good to see a few dancehall celebs in the building that Chat ‘Bout haven’t seen out in a while including The Spyda Crew and Ms. Punkin. It was even better to see more than a few new faces in the crowd (and some FINE fellas, I might add). The mix of old and new faces made this definitely a reason to make it back to ‘Flavor’ sooner than later.

Also checking in feeling the party vibe was Ms. Trini and Crew, Maggie Untouchable – representing St. Lucia with the custom airbrush t-shirt, New Horizon Pete, CGP Crew Ajoy, and Jomo Benn (81.1FM)….

All in all, the dance was mad fun and left me running to ITunes to cop a few updated Calyspo and Soca tunes to energize me through the work week! To get you through next year, here are a few pics….

A little whiny whiny and still –


Bashy