Born July 12, 1973, Bishob grew up in Benin City, Nigeria, where he studied mass media and broadcasting in college. In 1996, he decided to leave for Spain, but he got short of money and had to end his journey in Mali.

Although he sang since he was child, Bishob had never considered it a vocation. But 1998, after two years of hardship in Bamako, he eventually realized his voice was a gift that could earn him a living. So he began performing in the capital's hotels. For six years, he sang rock, jazz, soul, afro-beat and reggae standards, accompained by the band of the Sofitel of Bamako.
In 2005, bassist player Wolopine lead Bishob to the studio Tiken Jah Fakoly had just founded in Mali. That's where he met Manjul, who was working there at the time.
Soon enough, hearing Bishob's voice, Manjul offered to produce the single Get Up and Try (with lyrics from Sierra Leonean writer Ian Abioseh Johnson.)
From then on, Bishob felt more and more involved in and attracted to reggae and Rastafari, as if awakened by a revelation.
This encounter marked the birth of a true friendship and cooperation between two strong spirited artists. On the album Get Up and Try, Bishob's voice is highlighted by Ian Abioseh Johnson's lyrics (on eight tracks) and Manjul's music. Just like Makafresh previous release, Takana Zion's Zion Prophet, Get Up and Try is produced by Humble Ark records and released by Makasound.

www.makasound.com

Like Knowledge, Black Roots is more than just a group. It's a company created in Bristol's Jamaican neighbourhood in the late 70's.

Although they were all born in Jamaica,its members followed their parents in the many successive immigration waves that emptied the island in the 50's and 60's - and still today -, driving American, Canadian and British wannabes abroad. In Bristol, as it happened. Growing up in Bristol's Jamaican community, in streets resounding with the rebel songs of Burning Spear, Peter Tosh and Bob Marley, the eight "youths" decided to found their own group, Black Roots. It all began at a street corner, around a game of dominoes, as remember Jabulani Ngozi : "Black Roots was formed in 1979. We were already playing in different small groups. But we were all childhood friends and had been knowing each other since the mid-60's. We all went to school in England. With only the dole ahead of us, we decided to create this group while playing dominoes, one day. It came from a blues we wanted to control".
Their first 2 albums ("Black Roots" & "On The Frontline"), released in 1983 and 1984, were critically acclaimed by the press, specialised or not. The Guardian wrote : "The best of the new British reggae bands". Black Echoes and oher in-depth magazines wrote : "The next great hope for reggae in this country" and "One of the most polished and uplifting reggae albums we had the pleasure to hear".
Makasound reissued both in 2004 under the title On the Frontline.
In Session revisits these tracks with two live studio sessions recorded at BBC Radio One by famous live broadcaster John Peel and his partners David "Kid" Jensen and Peter Powell.
The first recording dates back to April 1982 and was broadcasted on May 27. The other was broadcasted on November 14, the same year. Both were put together on the 1986 album In Session, reissued for the first time in 2007.
We completed the 10 original tracks with the band's first singles ("Bristol Rock" / "The System"), and some alternative versions of the other pieces ("Chanting for Freedom" / "Confusion" / "The Father" / "Tribal War"). All this is released on CD for the first time.

www.makasound.com

Jamaican reggae-rock band Rootz Underground are all set to take their artistry to a new audience, this month, when they embark on their first five-show tour in the American state of California.

Today, the group is slated to perform at the Monterey Bay Reggae Festival before their September 8th and 12th performances at the Shattuck Down Low and the Temple Bar in Berkeley, respectively.
The California tour continues as Rootz performs at Jamaica 360, a charity concert designed to bring awareness and prosperity to the empowerment of Jamaica by building schools and training facilities, training and educating students and creating jobs. Access Hollywood's Jamal Munnerlyn will host the concert at the Key Club in Los Angeles. Also performing are Spragga Benz, Half Pint and Doug E Fresh. Rootz doesn't stop though; they continue the same night to perform a late-night set at Jamaica Live at Dragonfly in that city.
"Mystic Urchin is so proud to have the honour to present Rootz Underground's first US tour, I am confident that anyone who sees this band live will become a Rootz fan," says Steve Wilson of Mystic Urchin.
"I'm very glad that the US is waking up and taking notice of a Jamaican band. We are elated that bands are making headway; people are stopping to take notice. Wherever they perform not only will they win new fans with their style and presentation but will generate more bookings," said Jerome Hamilton of Headline Entertainment.
Rootz Underground's first hit single Victims of the System has had heavy rotation locally and internationally, and the video has peaked at number two on both RETV and Hype TV. Rootz also maintained a number one spot on MTV Tempo's Cross Caribbean countdown for five weeks and stayed on the charts for a total of 20 weeks.

Takana Zion was born June 30, 1986, in Conakry, Guinea. He took an early interest in history as schoolboy, outraged by the iniquities occuring in his country and in the rest of the world.

Growing up, he realize that the combination of words and music was a powerful weapon and decided to use it against social injustice.
Moving in the world of Guinean rap and dancehall, he quickly gained respect and made a name for himself. However, he became more and more attracted to the Rastafari movement, a struggle that seemed to meet all of his social, cultural and spiritual beliefs. Having discovered artists like Peter Tosh or Joseph Hill at a very young age, he started to express himself through nyabinghi and reggae music.
Takana Zion was then spotted by several managers and producers, but he felt the need to stand back and focus on his future. He left Mali to join Brother Ras Samson N'Thiako Zion, the eldest Ghanaian Rasta faithful, who had became his spiritual mentor.
In Bamako, he met many artists like Tiken Jah Fakoly, who encouraged and helped him. He performed repeatedly in live (including a remarkable concert in 2006, at Elysée Montmartre, Paris.) But he also multiplied studio sessions with various musicians, and notably Manjul. The French artist had moved to Bamako in 2001 with his studio and label Humble Ark Records.
United by a common faith, a common rage, similar references and the same love for heavenly creation, Manjul and Takana eventually joined forces to produce Zion Prophet in December and JAnuary, 2006.
This album shows a will to be free, to rise and progress. Emotions are expressed in several languages (Soussou, Malinke, English and French) and the musical inspirations are varied, from Nyabinghi to roots reggae, rock steady, Dancehall, and even Blues.

www.makasound.com

Rootz Underground has been added to the Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest line-up for Saturday, July 21, 2007. Saturday night, aptly named Zenith, will see Rootz performing on the same stage as musical greats Beres Hammond, Tanya Stephens and Mary J Blige.

"Our goal is to establish Rootz Underground as the next great band to break out of Jamaica onto the international scene. Performing at an event with the great tradition of Sumfest is critical to our achieving that goal," Neil Robertson (Rootz's Management) commented.
Though Rootz Underground has only just begun digging their 'rootz' in the industry, the band's old soul has already effortlessly enlisted a core of followers. Their first single Victims Of The System has had heavy rotation locally and internationally, and the video has peaked at #2 on both RE-TV and Hype TV. Rootz also has maintained their #1 spot on MTV Tempo's Cross-Caribbean countdown for five weeks.
"We are honoured to be a part of the Sumfest line-up for 2007. We plan to give our dedicated fans and future fans our best performance yet," Newland said enthusiastically.
Since their humble start in 2000, performing at live jam sessions at Harry's bar, to RE Unplugged at Weekendz and then going on to being the main act at Mystic Urchin's Tuesday Nite Live at Village, Rootz are best known for their live performances (Rootz played live for five years before recording in studio). Rootz has also had the opportunity to perform at festivals such as the Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues and Flashpoint Film Festival.
The six-member group unites Stevie G Newland (lead singer), Charles Lazarus (lead guitar), Jeffrey Moss-Solomon (rhythm guitar), Colin Young (bass guitar), Paul Smith (keyboard) and Leon Campbell (drummer) to form the revolutionary roots, rock, reggae band.
Rootz Underground will perform at the 15th staging of Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest on Saturday, July 21, 2007 at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay.
(www.jamaicaobserver.com)

Sometimes an artist has to wait for the right time and place to achieve his goal as in case of fine Jamaican singer Elijah Prophet. Born and raised in Westmoreland, Jamaica, young Elijah Prophet began singing under the mentoring of Garnet Silk and Uton Green.

Elijah Prophet first visited a recording studio in 1996 with producer Jimmy Hinds. This session produced the singles "Mr. Badman" and "Mankind". The same year, he received the 'Best New Artist' award in the Stone Love star search contest. This award caught the attention of other Jamaican producers, leading to a series of singles like "I Can See Dem", "Burn Down The Walls Of Babylon" and "War A Gwaan".
Radio stations in both Jamaica, and Toronto, Canada, began to air the songs written and sung by Elijah Prophet. Both "I Can See Dem" and "Burn Down The Walls Of Babylon" charted. In Toronto each of the tunes topped the charts at number one and Elijah received a 'Tameka Award' nomination for 'Best New Reggae Singer'.
Meanwhile, he started to voice dubplates for the Pow Pow Movement sound system from Cologne, Germany, which then led to recording regular cuts on Pow Pow produced riddims like "Superior", "Blaze" and "First Sight". Tracks like "Put People First" on the "Shanty Town" riddim caught the attention of German reggae lovers in 2002. More Pow Pow material by Elijah followed in the form of "Back For Good" and "King Of Kings" and built a loyal following to Elijah which was spreading in Europe.
And now Pow Pow Productions have released Elijah Prophet's long awaited debut album entitled "King Of Kings". From beginning to end the listener is treated to a solid collection of tunes, all of them dealing with consciousness (i.e. positive lyrics with a spiritual, cultural or social message), and mostly performed over 'live' recorded riddims by different musicians.

Reggaeton (also spelled with the Spanish accent as Reggaetón, and sometimes as Reguetón in Spanish) is a form of dance music which became popular with Latin American (Latino) youth during the late 1990s and spread to North American, European, Japanese, and Filipino audiences during the first few years of the 21st century. Reggaeton blends Jamaican music influences of reggae and dancehall with those of Latin America, such as bomba and plena, as well as that of hip hop. The music is also combined with rapping (generally) in Spanish. Reggaeton has given the Hispanic youth, starting with those of Puerto Rico and Panama, a musical genre that they can consider their own. The influence of this genre has spread to the wider Latino communities in the United States, as well as the Latin American and Central American audience. While not as influential, reggaeton as a genre has also spread worldwide to places such as Europe and Japan.
While it takes influences from hip hop and Jamaican dancehall, it would be wrong to define reggaeton as the 'Hispanic'- or 'Latino'- version of either of these genres; reggaeton has its own specific beat and rhythm, whereas Latino hip hop is simply hip hop recorded by artists of Latino descent. The specific rhythm that characterizes Reggaeton is referred to as "Dem Bow". The name is a reference to the title of the Jamaican dancehall song that first popularized the beat in the early 1990's.
Reggaeton's origins represents a hybrid of many different musical genres and influences from various countries in the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States. The genre of Reggaeton however is most closely associated with Puerto Rico, as this is where the musical style later popularized and became most famous, and where the vast majority of its stars originate from.
Reggaeton lyrics tend to be more derived from hip hop than dancehall. Like hip hop, reggaeton has caused controversy due to its often explicit lyrics and alleged exploitation of women. Further controversy surrounds perreo, a dance with explicit sexual overtones which typically accompanies reggaeton music.

This is Ziggy Marley's second solo album and it's perfectly timed to complement the Summer months. It is a remarkable feat that Ziggy has written, produced and played most of the instruments on most of the tracks on the album - a man of many talents. It loosley based around the personal, social and political themes of the Dragonfly album, but thankfully there's a great harmony between the themes and good music.
For me the theme of love is very strong through the album never more so than in 'Love is my Religion', which is catchy from the start. The opener 'Into The Groove' is also very strong and has plenty of re-mix potential.
Overall a very impressive album, with plenty of chilled reggae beats, funky rythyms, layered with mellow vocals and heart warming melodies.