JUNIOR 'SOUL' MURVIN - PASSES AWAY

2013 will be  forever marked as the year when the world lost one of its greatest and most inspirational statesmen Nelson Mandela, whose sad passing came just days after the loss of one of Jamaica's most underrated performers, Junior Murvin.

Best known internationally for his 1976 single 'Police and Thieves', Junior first burst onto the Jamaican music scene in the late sixties with hits for Derrick Harriott and Sonia Pottinger, although it was his work with Lee 'Scratch' Perry in the mid-to-late seventies that brought him global exposure and widespread acclaim.

Immediately following his spell with the producer, he enjoyed varied success with recordings for a number of Kingston-based music makers, including Joe Gibbs and Henry 'Junjo' Lawes prior to launching his own Port Antonio-based 'Murvin' imprint, although by the 1990s had eased off from his recorded work.

Shortly before his passing on the morning of 2nd December, the singer-songwriter, whose real name was Murvin Junior Smith, had been admitted into the Port Antonio Hospital in Portland, suffering with advanced stage diabetes and hypertension.

Jago - The Wicked Try

The Wicked Try is the first release from Jago, a vocalist who has made his name over recent years as one half of much talked about production duo Hylu & Jago. The track sees Jago stepping in to his own as a vocalist to be reckoned with on a sophisticated roots production from The Sea. Joining Jago on the track is Serocee, Ghost Writerz & Junior Dangerous. On remix duty is the mighty DJ Vadim, who comes with a dubbed out hip hop mix, perfectly complementing the original. Closing the release is a Dub from The Sea himself, which is sure to set sound systems around the globe on fire.

The release is the second on Hundred Years, a new label split between London, Bristol & Paris. The release follows on from Galak Spiritual’s debut EP, released earlier in the year, and builds on the platform of authentic UK reggae & hip hop music from some of the scene’s fastest rising stars, and marks the label out as a very exciting imprint to watch over the coming months.

www.hundredyearsrecords.com  

Jago ‘Prince Lanka’ Boue

Vocalist and producer Jago came to fame as one of the front men for the dub/reggae outfit onlyjoe. He also works with DJ/Producer Hylu in the Unit 137 studio where he collaboratively produces the duo’s original riddims, as well as performing those live at events all around the country, and internationally.

He is currently working hard on his debut album which is set to be released very soon. “The Wicked Try,” his first single, sees him step in to the light as a vocal talent to watch over the coming months. Not only is his lyrical content and performance devastatingly on point, but his ability to draw together some of the brightest and most exciting singers and MC’s from around the world to perfectly compliment his own style, on any given riddim, is unparalleled.

His work with Hylu has seen him fast become one of the most talked about underground producers in the UK. Their unique and instantly recognizable style fuses flawless composition with crisp production skills and spans genres from reggae & dub, through the spectrum of modern UK bass music. The duo continue to work with some of the biggest vocalists in the world, as well as some rising stars, and of course all the artists in the Unit 137 camp, who continue to cause a stir, both on their own sound system as well as at dances and festivals all over the country.