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This week the Jamaican cyberspace has been fairly active with a number of issues, trends and personalities vying for the top position. The difficult part of reporting on the Jamaican cyberspace is the ever changing internet space. Since this is my personal view of the state of the Jamaican web, I will now try to provide a summary of my top 5 for the week of Oct 21.
Reggae music continues to be the cornerstone of the Jamaican web and notwithstanding some of the negative press recently has been the pillar of strength. We therefore have to begin with two reggae icons in this week state of the Jamaican web.
1. Sean Paul
Sean Paul “Ever Blazin”, just when some people thought he had lost steam. Sean Paul achieved another milestone, the “Trinity” album made history selling over 107,000 in its first week, the highest ever reggae debut and single week sales for a reggae artist in SoundScan history. Although deservingly he belonged in last week’s list, Sean Paul was the most download music, most searched Jamaican reggae artist for the past two weeks.
Silencing his detractors, Sean Paul has been the most consistent Jamaican reggae artist for the past two years at least.
Posts that contain Sean Paul per day for the last 30 days.Get your own chart!
Sites to check out for more on Sean Paul
2. Rumor of Sizzla’s Death
I am sure Sizzla would prefer making this list with more positive news than rumors of his death. According to the news, Sizzla had crash and died. However as we all know by now there was never a grain of truth to that news item and Sizzla is alive and well.
3. Redemption Song- Reggae in Africa
This may appears as an unlikely list maker especially given that the focus is on the Jamaican web. However, the influence of the Jamaican culture especially through its music continues to go far and wide. This is news items taken from the Boston Globe or boston.com. The article highlights the importance of reggae music for survivors of Sierra Leone long civil war. Read the full article Site
It demonstrates how a group of musicians can realize success in the midst of degradation and despair. This about the group “Refugee All Stars” formed in the Sembakounya refugee camp in Guinea and their rise to stardom. Again not a likely list maker but an important trend as reggae music continues to deliver positive brand for Jamaica.
4. Passa Passa
This Jamaican term coined in 2003 has been very prominent on the Jamaican web especially on Jamaican entertainment websites and forums. Most of us who watch the videos have different opinion on the nature of these dance sessions. The past months have seen Passa Passa taking a back seat to “Dutty Wine”. However, Passa Passa is back in the news with Guyana now calling for a ban of all Passa Passa dance. This comes on the heels of Barbados, Grenada and a few other Caribbean islands banning “Passa Passa” dances.
Some Jamaican website owners would be amaze at the number of “Passa Passa” web searches currently taking place. Passa Passa continues to be a real hit maker especially amongst the hardcore Jamaican web surfers. I will certainly watch this Passa Passa trend over the next few weeks especially leading up to the Christmas season to see where this one is going.
Posts that contain "Passa Passa" per day for the last 30 days.Get your own chart!
Go to these websites for more on “Passa Passa”
1. Dancehallreggae.com
2. Jamaica Star Forum
3. A Passa Passa Video
4. Dutty Wine
What can I say? Once again I just had to include Dutty Wine on my top 5 list. Video clips of “Dutty Wine” on Youtube and other video websites, remains extremely popular. As I pointed out last week, there are now over 5,000 video clips of people performing to the “Dutty Wine” dance tune. Obviously a number of websites have caught up with the craze and have dedicated “Dutty Wine” sections or forums on their websites. On a final note, I caught the recent trend where people were searching for “people who have died while dancing “Dutty Wine”.
Posts that contain "Dutty Wine" per day for the last 30 days.Get your own chart!
If you need to check out more Dutty Wine clips go to the following websites
1. Youtube.com
2. MySpace.com
3. dancehallreggae.com
4. muzikmedia.com
Until next week walk good and happy surfing
John Crowe
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