Tanya Stephens Releases Video for Ghett'a Life Movie Soundtrack

Kingston Jamaica: Tanya Stephens, the "Lyrical Queen of Dancehall" who wrote the title track for the soundtrack for the full feature film, Ghett'a Life, has just completed the video for the single. The highly anticipated film, which has already copped two awards at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, opens Friday, June 29 in theaters island wide.

Catalysitic words emanate from the chorus of the title track for new Jamaican film Ghett'a Life, from the Reggae visionary ,Tanya Stephens, who has written an analytic and thought-provoking tune that closely matches the groundbreaking storyline of the film.

So let the rain fall, and let the wind blow, Cause after the rainfall must come a rainbow, I keep dreaming of a better life, cause me must get a life. So reads the chorus of the tune, which echoes the essence of Ghett'a Life, which is a action drama which tells the story of overcoming obstacles despite social and economic obstacles.

Tanya's involvement in Ghett'a Life was fitting, as she has penned some of the most memorable and touching Reggae tracks for her growing worldwide audience. It was only appropriate that she would team up with the talented pool of people who put together one of Jamaica's most authentic and touching films. The lyrics are compelling, loaded with vivid imagery and biting social commentary about aspects of Jamaican life. The narrative in Tanya's tune is almost a mirror image of the social commentary of the film.

"The film takes you through the various elements of storytelling. It cleared up a lot of things for me about Jamaica and showed me that there is still hope for the industry and the people", Stephens said.

The storyline of Ghett'a Life is set against the backdrop of Kingston's inner-city, and explores one boy's attempt to achieve boxing glory and overcome his economic barriers. His efforts are persistent despite the political divide that threatens to tear his community and country apart. His journey takes him on a path that will force him to defy his family and his community and the result will either destroy him or bring his community together.

Having seen a rough cut version of the film, Tanya praised its story line. She explains that the lyrics had to be tailor made to match the circumstances of the film, as well as to fit the confines of what is known as a properly written song.

"That part was a bit of a challenge. I wanted to make it so that it was not too synonymous with the movie, yet reflect the themes of the movie. This is the first time the name of a movie has appeared so many times in a track I've done, so I had to make extra effort with this one."

The music video to the track was shot last week Friday, and was directed by Award winning Film Director Chris Browne, who also directed the film.

"Once we had a rough cut of the film in November last year Tanya came and saw it and wrote Get a Life specifically for the film", Browne said. "The song is powerful; the lyrics and message became an anthem for the film, so it was important to us to do a video with Tanya which showcases not only her talent but also the entire concept of the film", Browne maintained.

I-Octane Featured In Billboard Magazine

Reggae artiste I-Octane continues to make waves both locally and internationally. This time, he makes his mark in Billboard Magazine where he is featured as one of 15 artistes who are currently impacting the Indie scene.

I-Octane is one of the few artistes who have made the decision to go the route of self-management and releasing their music independent of any label. This is a choice that is often accompanied by more work for the artiste in areas that record labels and companies would often handle. "I have invested heavily in the I-Octane brand, financing videos, publicity, even managing myself, so it's a great accomplishment reaching this far on my own" I-Octane is quoted as saying in the article.

Despite the drawbacks, the world is certainly taking notice as the singjay is in high demand worldwide. Internationally acclaimed magazines such as Billboard and Vibe magazine have featured the young artiste and his songs have ranked number 1 on many of the major music charts. He is slated to be one of the top performers at the 2011 staging of Reggae Sumfest and his highly anticipated debut album "Crying to the Nation" is due to be released in the fall.

I-Octane continues to show the world that he is a force to be reckoned with and is rapidly garnering a reputation as the new generation of reggae music.

Meet The New Host, Judges And The First Six Semi-Finalists!

The eighth season of Digicel Rising Stars boasts the promise of an all new show, with a new host, all new judges, an all new set, all new Chill Room and the return of the Saturday night elimination show. Since it is usually reserved for the third week of the competition, we have yet to see the all new Chill Room, but all of the other changes were warmly welcomed by the Courtleigh Auditorium audience.

The competition said bye, bye to the faithful judges Jamaicans had come to know and trust over the past seven seasons, but said hello to new judges, the multi-talented recording artiste, and queen of Reggae-Fusion, Tessanne Chin, and the multi-faceted radio personality, Disc Jock, producer and artiste, Bambino. Each week a guest judge will fill the third spot, hopefully bringing a little more variety to the judges’ comments. This week the third judge's spot was filled by the lyrically ingenious, Reggae-Dancehall recording artiste, Tanya Stephens.

Season eight also says hello to a new host, the equally bubbly and beautiful Miss Jamaica World 2005, Terri-Karelle Reid. Reid dropped out of last year's race to be the competition's host, stating that it would a conflict of interest with her job at the time. We are just happy to see that she has finally made it onto the show.

Sunday night's show saw the introduction of the first six semi-finalists, Jermain Burford, Latoya Jackson or 'Latty J', Delando Colley, Annette Fraser or 'Anna', Stephanie Barnes and the five member Reggae-Jazz harmony, VOH. All of the semi-finalists gave it their all, but only a few really shone bright enough to be stars.

Outstanding Performances

The spunky girl with the big voice, Latty J gave a convincing performance of I Want to Know What Love Is by Mariah Carey. Her unique and soulful voice filled the auditorium and gained her points with the audience and judges alike. The crowd favourite and Diva-in-the-making, Anna, showed off her powerful voice with her rendition of Adele's Rolling In the Deep, another convincing performance that was received positively by the crowd.

And though it seemed like the ladies would take the night, it was the five distinct voices, blended harmoniously of the members of the vocal band Voice of Harpers or VOH that got the audience on their feet and cheering after their rendition of Barrington Levy's Too Experienced. Their feel good vibe lead to a feel good performance that rocked the night. While Tessanne commented on the group’s ability to impress an audience with or without music, Bambino said "you definitely ago get the girls wid dah one deh." he continued "they were on point and very in unison, and I like that." Tanya Stephens then made mention to the importance of Barrington Levy to Jamaican music and ended her comment saying "Where ever he is... I'm sure him feel proud, I'm sure you didn't hurt his feelings at all with this one, it sound wicked, and me love it!"

Fashion

When the series' stylist T'rone Buchannan decided he wanted the Rising Stars host in a long sleeved, red cocktail dress, he went to the perfect, newly crowned fashion designer to come up with the dress's concept, and bring his basic idea to life. Shenna Carby, the recent winner of TVJ's Mission Catwalk designed Terri-Karelle's first dress of the season, a red ultra-mini cocktail dress which clung to the host in all the right places, and whose zebra print sides and long sleeves gave the appearance of an equally well fitting blazer. Terri-Karelle, who also rocked a pair of silver studded peep-toe sling backs, received cat-calls and wolf-whistles from audience members all night.

As for the contestants, it could be seen that the stylist's aim was to let their talent shine through, with most of the contestants rocking a simpler look, one more of personal style than of fashion. Hits for the night were Jermain Burford's black, velvet blazer with silver detailing, Anna's black, patent leather peep-toes with silver stiletto heels, and Latty J's entire outfit: a khaki shirt dress with black leggings, and gold peep-toe ankle booties with black appliqué. Stephanie Barnes' too short and too tight, little black dress however was leaning closer to a miss.

Judges Comments

After 16-year-old Delando Colley's off rendition of Daniel Beddingfield's If You're Not the One, Bambino expressed his disappointment stating that the song was not an easy one to sing, having too many falsetto's and that he had hoped the young contestant would have done something more suited to his voice, like the Michael Jackson song he performed in his Calling Card. Tessanne went into a bit more detail when she said, "I thought this maybe wasn't the right song, and even if it was the right song it should have been in a different key so that you could have better managed the low and high parts.. there is no doubt that you have a voice."

Tune into TVJ this Saturday at 9pm to see which four contestants will stay and which two will go home from the first 6, and Sunday at 8pm to meet your second set of semi-finalists. And don't forget to vote!