Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Hail The 2011 Digicel Rising Star - TASH
After 12 long weeks of performance shows, Jamaica has finally chosen their 2011 Digicel Rising star. All hail Tash!
Seventeen year old Chantal Lamont aka Tash, set the bar high in the beginning of the season, and for the most part maintained her standard, until it all finally paid off!
“I feel wonderful, I feel great! Actually doing so much hard work and it paid off? Awesome!” she said moments after being announced the winner. “I can’t wait to go to Edna so that I can study the saxophone, keyboard, just all the music that I can! And hopefully in about a month, I can release a single! I want to go hard!”
Jamaicans carried Tash all season like a favourite football team, but do they really know who Tash is?
Hailing from St. Thomas, the intriguing and eccentric Tash, raised primarily by her grandmother, is a recent graduate of the Yallahs High School.
“I have graduated, yes, but them call me back, and said come back to school Monday morning, because I never got to do all of my subjects.” She said noting that she has to meet the minimum CXC subject requirements to take advantage of one of her prizes, a one year scholarship to the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. “I'm going back to do the science subjects, biology, chemistry, food, and hopefully I get to do music, cosmetology and clothing, because I want to do everything!” she continued excitedly.
Always singing and ready to entertain, Tash has sang with her school choir, performed at concerts, Karaoke’s and has been participating in the JCDC Festival competition since primary school with quite a few gold medals to her name. But not only is she in the business of entertaining, this active young lady is also an avid sports woman, “I play netball, do track and field, play football and dance!” she said proudly.
When she was first asked what her main goal in the competition was, she replied “To win!” and from her first performance to her very last, Tash proved that she meant it. Her first performance on stage brought out her true character, the Rising Star on the inside. She showed her competition that she was a force to be reckoned with, and that they should expect her back every week, more spectacular than the last.
Her most memorable performance, and eclectic, high energy performance of Beyonce and Lady Gaga's Telephone, blew the minds of voters and viewers alike and will definitely go down in Digicel Rising Star History as the performance that sealed the deal!
But somewhere closer to the middle of the season, Tash's performances, though still very entertaining, seemed to fall just below the very high bar she had set for herself, and the judges and viewers let her know.
“My journey has been hard, very hard, and sometimes you say, you know what, I feel like to give up, I don’t care what comes. You have negative thoughts about it sometimes, but you have good thoughts too.” she said about her minor stumble. But Tash's faithful fans could not care less about her less than perfect performances, as they kept Tash in the competition out of sheer loyalty, hoping that with each new performance she would redeem herself.
“Mi haffi big up the voters dem who believe in me.” She said. “The vendors them downtown; let me tell you, to me the people them weh can barely afford it, a di one dem weh a vote. The rich people dem, dem doe wah spend di credit. The poor people dem, the sellers, dem people deh give you a push, they're one of my stepping stones.” she said earnestly, referring to the push she got to make her comeback in the final performance shows a success.
“And all the artiste dem weh a show me love, they gave me the push to say child you can do it, don’t even back down!” She said, referring to local artistes who made their love for Tash known during the season, mostly on the popular social networking site, Twitter. Dancehall veteran and well known local recording artiste, Wayne Marshall tweeted “If you ask me who the real star is, I gonna say TASH! I waah work with her bad!”
While Dancehall's femme fatal, Cherine Anderson tweeted “Tash is my choice... she has mad presence, and has kept Jamaica entertained for twelve weeks” Now that she finally has the title she has worked so hard for, what’s next?
“I want to be bigger than everybody else, I want to achieve something never seen before, never heard before!” Tash said bright-eyed. Then added “By the end of next year mi supposed to have, hopefully three or more albums” noting that she is eager to work with artistes such as Taurus Riley, I-Octane, Wayne Marshall, Shaggy and hopefully, even Lady Gaga, “I love her!”
So who is Tash? “I’m confident and I'm an out-going person. And yes, I'm just 17. Just 17! Everything you see on stage, off stage, when I'm campaigning, that's Tash, that's Chantal!” Apart from her title Digicel's 2011 Rising Star, and her scholarship to the Edna Manley College, Chantal ‘Tash’ Lamont also walks away with a cheque for $1Million, a BlackBerry smart phone, a record single and a music video.
“I feel wonderful, I feel great! Actually doing so much hard work and it paid off? Awesome!” she said moments after being announced the winner. “I can’t wait to go to Edna so that I can study the saxophone, keyboard, just all the music that I can! And hopefully in about a month, I can release a single! I want to go hard!”
Jamaicans carried Tash all season like a favourite football team, but do they really know who Tash is?
Hailing from St. Thomas, the intriguing and eccentric Tash, raised primarily by her grandmother, is a recent graduate of the Yallahs High School.
“I have graduated, yes, but them call me back, and said come back to school Monday morning, because I never got to do all of my subjects.” She said noting that she has to meet the minimum CXC subject requirements to take advantage of one of her prizes, a one year scholarship to the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. “I'm going back to do the science subjects, biology, chemistry, food, and hopefully I get to do music, cosmetology and clothing, because I want to do everything!” she continued excitedly.
Always singing and ready to entertain, Tash has sang with her school choir, performed at concerts, Karaoke’s and has been participating in the JCDC Festival competition since primary school with quite a few gold medals to her name. But not only is she in the business of entertaining, this active young lady is also an avid sports woman, “I play netball, do track and field, play football and dance!” she said proudly.
When she was first asked what her main goal in the competition was, she replied “To win!” and from her first performance to her very last, Tash proved that she meant it. Her first performance on stage brought out her true character, the Rising Star on the inside. She showed her competition that she was a force to be reckoned with, and that they should expect her back every week, more spectacular than the last.
Her most memorable performance, and eclectic, high energy performance of Beyonce and Lady Gaga's Telephone, blew the minds of voters and viewers alike and will definitely go down in Digicel Rising Star History as the performance that sealed the deal!
But somewhere closer to the middle of the season, Tash's performances, though still very entertaining, seemed to fall just below the very high bar she had set for herself, and the judges and viewers let her know.
“My journey has been hard, very hard, and sometimes you say, you know what, I feel like to give up, I don’t care what comes. You have negative thoughts about it sometimes, but you have good thoughts too.” she said about her minor stumble. But Tash's faithful fans could not care less about her less than perfect performances, as they kept Tash in the competition out of sheer loyalty, hoping that with each new performance she would redeem herself.
“Mi haffi big up the voters dem who believe in me.” She said. “The vendors them downtown; let me tell you, to me the people them weh can barely afford it, a di one dem weh a vote. The rich people dem, dem doe wah spend di credit. The poor people dem, the sellers, dem people deh give you a push, they're one of my stepping stones.” she said earnestly, referring to the push she got to make her comeback in the final performance shows a success.
“And all the artiste dem weh a show me love, they gave me the push to say child you can do it, don’t even back down!” She said, referring to local artistes who made their love for Tash known during the season, mostly on the popular social networking site, Twitter. Dancehall veteran and well known local recording artiste, Wayne Marshall tweeted “If you ask me who the real star is, I gonna say TASH! I waah work with her bad!”
While Dancehall's femme fatal, Cherine Anderson tweeted “Tash is my choice... she has mad presence, and has kept Jamaica entertained for twelve weeks” Now that she finally has the title she has worked so hard for, what’s next?
“I want to be bigger than everybody else, I want to achieve something never seen before, never heard before!” Tash said bright-eyed. Then added “By the end of next year mi supposed to have, hopefully three or more albums” noting that she is eager to work with artistes such as Taurus Riley, I-Octane, Wayne Marshall, Shaggy and hopefully, even Lady Gaga, “I love her!”
So who is Tash? “I’m confident and I'm an out-going person. And yes, I'm just 17. Just 17! Everything you see on stage, off stage, when I'm campaigning, that's Tash, that's Chantal!” Apart from her title Digicel's 2011 Rising Star, and her scholarship to the Edna Manley College, Chantal ‘Tash’ Lamont also walks away with a cheque for $1Million, a BlackBerry smart phone, a record single and a music video.
Marlando Stepping With A New Style
“…Jamaicans need to once again be leaders in our own music”.
Armed with a passion for music and an equal desire for his talent to take him to the highest level, fast rising Reggae/Dancehall artiste, Marlando St. John Vassell contends that he is not satisfied with the direction that the genres have been taking. As such he is using his gift of a superb sound to propel him on the right path.
Inspired by a genuine love for the art form while at the same time quenching satisfying his desire to be different Marlando aims to be different. After simply dabbling in music since high school the artiste believes that now is the right to take his talent to the world and make it a viable career. He has educated himself about the trends in the entertainment industry and is revving and rearing to go.
Known more popularly as Marlando St. John, this 2002 winner of the Caribbean Face of Fashion competition and former Saint International model is working to etch a dominant place in the entertainment business for himself. Now residing in London, Marlando says he sees great potential for what he deems as authentic Jamaican music and desires to be a catalyst for change by taking his style to the international market.
Marlando left a rewarding career in the fashion industry to pursue music and is confident that he will make it, having taken valuable lessons from many of the founding fathers of Reggae and Dancehall. He is no stranger to challenges having grown up in the economically challenged inner-city community of Central Village, in Jamaica’s former capital Spanish Town.
Even after setting a solid academic foundation by reading for a BSC in Hospitality-Marlando at UWI, Marlando believes that success in the entertainment industry will be the icing on the cake.
He has observed that Jamaica is indeed the rock when it comes to many musical sounds and is perturbed that many talented artistes become so involved in lashing out against each other that they lose the essence of the art form. He adds that many international acts are benefitting from the genre and sees this as a worrying trend for the local industry: “If you look at what is coming out of America and Europe these days a lot of it is infused with our music. These artistes are taking advantage of our styles and innovations. There is nothing wrong with that but we as Jamaican need to once again be leaders in our own music. I hope with my style I can help to lead that charge”
The artiste has not limited himself to the aforesaid genres but has recorded on hip hop, house, garage beats and funky tracks. He welcomes the appeal that he has created as a result of his diversity and is busy promoting his latest videos for his songs New Style and What You Want.
Like the freshness of the morning dew, this emerging artiste takes lovers of true talent and diversity down an aesthetically pleasing musical journey.
Inspired by a genuine love for the art form while at the same time quenching satisfying his desire to be different Marlando aims to be different. After simply dabbling in music since high school the artiste believes that now is the right to take his talent to the world and make it a viable career. He has educated himself about the trends in the entertainment industry and is revving and rearing to go.
Known more popularly as Marlando St. John, this 2002 winner of the Caribbean Face of Fashion competition and former Saint International model is working to etch a dominant place in the entertainment business for himself. Now residing in London, Marlando says he sees great potential for what he deems as authentic Jamaican music and desires to be a catalyst for change by taking his style to the international market.
Marlando left a rewarding career in the fashion industry to pursue music and is confident that he will make it, having taken valuable lessons from many of the founding fathers of Reggae and Dancehall. He is no stranger to challenges having grown up in the economically challenged inner-city community of Central Village, in Jamaica’s former capital Spanish Town.
Even after setting a solid academic foundation by reading for a BSC in Hospitality-Marlando at UWI, Marlando believes that success in the entertainment industry will be the icing on the cake.
He has observed that Jamaica is indeed the rock when it comes to many musical sounds and is perturbed that many talented artistes become so involved in lashing out against each other that they lose the essence of the art form. He adds that many international acts are benefitting from the genre and sees this as a worrying trend for the local industry: “If you look at what is coming out of America and Europe these days a lot of it is infused with our music. These artistes are taking advantage of our styles and innovations. There is nothing wrong with that but we as Jamaican need to once again be leaders in our own music. I hope with my style I can help to lead that charge”
The artiste has not limited himself to the aforesaid genres but has recorded on hip hop, house, garage beats and funky tracks. He welcomes the appeal that he has created as a result of his diversity and is busy promoting his latest videos for his songs New Style and What You Want.
Like the freshness of the morning dew, this emerging artiste takes lovers of true talent and diversity down an aesthetically pleasing musical journey.
Intense Clashes Expected For Guiness Sounds Round 2
The series, which began on Saturday September 3 has already seen eight Hot Shot sound systems battling it out in the hopes of winning over $1Million in cash and prizes and the bragging rights of being labelled Guinness Sound of Greatness 2011.
In Round 1, the first clash between Rich Squad and Crazy Chris saw Rich Squad reign supreme and prove that they had the strength of character and skills to move forward in the competition. That clash was followed by Bredda Hype versus Area Code 876 on September 10. Bredda Hype reached for greatness and walked away with a win.
The third clash in the series was between Kingston based sound system Coppershot and Westmoreland sound Black Blunt. Contrary to many expectations, it wasn’t a walk over as Black Blunt had to work hard to secure a win. September 24 saw what was expected to be the wickedest clash of round one, Maestro and Boom Boom, and Jamaica was not disappointed. The clash was so intense that there had to be a tie-breaker which Maestro won with a vintage Everton Blender.
This Saturday October 1 will see the start of Round 2 with the four Hot Shot sounds who reigned supreme in Round 1 squaring off against each other and four veteran sounds also competing to be the top sound to reach the final.
Round 2 will begin with Rich Squad squaring off with Bredda Hype. Rich Squad which comprises DJ Izzle, Paro, Reagan and of course head honcho Little Richie, started only two years ago. Little Richie who leads the sound has had stints with radio station Hitz 92 FM and sound system Swatch International. On the other hand, Bredda Hype, the man at the helm of the sound system of the same name, says his affiliation with the art began from a very tender age as he would follow closely the trends in the business. The sound system which started in 2005 comprises Bredda Hype, Hammer Head and Fire Finger.
The second Clash in Round 2 airs on October 8 between veterans Bodyguard and Silverhawk. This is said to be the most anticipated clash of the series as these two sounds have never met in all sound clash history. Bodyguard, which hails from Clarendon, was formed in 1987 and is no stranger to the sound clash world with many titles under its belt. The outfit was the first World Sound Clash winner in 1993 in London. Their formidable opponents, Silverhawk, brainchild of producer Steely who died in 2009, were heavyweights in the clash ring from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Silverhawk has had several memorable clash wins, decimating the likes of Stone Love, Bass Odyssey and several others.
Saturday October 15 will see a return to one of the greatest rivalries in Jamaican sound clash history: Black Kat versus Ricky Trooper. Black Kat, based in Manchester and lead by Pink Panther, has been in the sound business for more than 17 years and has the envious reputation of winning five world clashes back to back. Ricky Trooper, who now runs the Sound Trooper system, has a long history of clashing against Pink Panther, especially when he was the lead toaster on Kilimanjaro. According to Trooper, he has killed the most sounds, won the most trophies and played in the biggest dances.
The last clash of Round 2 will be between two of the hottest sounds in the competition: Black Blunt and Maestro. Maestro, a native of Western Kingston, credits the founding fathers of Reggae and other genres as the life blood that fuelled his passion for music. Formerly of Swatch International, Maestro knows the dancehall crowd and has a great feel for selecting the right songs at the best time.
Lead by their charismatic leader, Avatar, Black Blunt hails from the parish of Westmoreland. Formed approximately three years ago, Black Blunt is seeking to prove that talent from rural Jamaica is just as good as, or even better, than urban talent. Avatar’s infectious and animated personality allows the audience to feel what he is feeling. Avatar is joined by fellow front man selector Young Blood and describes the sound system as the voice of the ghetto people.
This Saturday October 1, Round Two of the Guinness Sounds of Greatness unfolds with exciting matchups as four veterans compete for a chance at maintaining their dominance and winning over $1Million in cash and prizes. On the other hand, there are four Hot Shot sounds that all want to be etched into dancehall history by beating a veteran for the title of Guinness Sound of Greatness. Watch the show every Saturday night on Television Jamaica at 9:30pm as sound clash history is created.
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