“It’s a great idea to give people flowers while they are alive and so I’m on the boat in the interest of the development of the Guyanese music industry as an artiste,” says Sherlock Whyte, aka Daddy Rusty.

He and 21 other artistes based in the Diaspora, including Aubrey Mann, Donna Makeeda, Zebulun De Counsellor, Kapa Shanti, Prince Ally and Mandela Manning etc. support the cause of the Guyanese Canadian Artistic Entertainment to create a network of Guyanese artistes and entertainers the world over.

Though not as popular in Guyana as he is in the Canadian Guyanese circles, after 10 years away from the local scene, the Berbice-born, Daddy Rusty, has returned home to support the development of the industry as has the other Diaspora-based artistes.

Like the rest, he will be part of the Guyana Musical Sunsplash carded for April 24 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, then on April 25 he will be among the awardees at the Guyana Artistic Music Awards.

Daddy Rusty started singing and spinning records as a boy in Guyana on his brother’s sound system. At age ten, he joined the church choir and thereafter began entering a few music and Deejay competitions, which led him on a journey to becoming an artiste.

In 1990, Daddy Rusty relocated to Canada to further his music career and has since won several awards and trophies internationally.

His first single "Teach the youth" was distributed by Tuff Gong records, Bob Marley’s company in Jamaica, and was voted Top Reggae Single at the Canadian Reggae Music Awards. In 2004, he released his first CD titled “Love and Unity” which was very successful and won many awards.

He is no stranger to the entertainment industry, and has shared the stage with several well-known international artistes including: the Mighty Sparrow, Calypso Rose, Rupee, Bunji Garlin, Shurwayne Winchester and Machel Montano also Reggae artistes like Beenie man, Morgan Heritage, Everton Blender and Elephant Man.

Rusty has toured Europe and the United States, where he performed at the World Reggae Music Awards in Atlanta and has made appearances in several Caribbean countries.

Daddy Rusty has a new CD dubbed "Bless Me" which he believes can be an inspiration to the young people anywhere.

It is due out in August. Now that Rusty is finally recording this kind of music, he realises that it’s the direction that he was always originally supposed to move in. “I believe that the music coming out of Guyana is great and I hope that the relevant authorities will recognise this and work towards making sure that the artistes and producers get their dues through the implementation of copy rights legislation.”

Like the others, he is encouraging Guyanese music lovers to come out and support their own. Also cared to perform are Major Joe B aka the Firenese, Jumo, Shelly G, Vanilla and First Born.

(by Mondale Smith)

Having not performed in Guyana for more than a year, Canada based Guyanese artiste Matussala Mandela Manning is anticipating “great things” to unfold for artistes as a spin off from the inaugural Guyana Musical Summer Splash and the Guyana Artistic Music Awards. They are slated for staging at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on April 24 and the National Cultural Center on April 25.



The artiste said “performing on home soil with a real purpose that goes beyond entertaining is the best experience one can have”. He said he boarded the plane to Guyana last Friday from Canada not because “I believe that events like the Musical Splash and the GAMA awards mean that Guyanese artistes have something to look forward to no matter where they are and it also provides a golden opportunity for networking which can only work to build the music industry.”



Of the two shows, he said Guyanese are not know for coming out to support their own but he is optimistic and is hoping that people will come out and ensure that the promoters and the artistes are encouraged to make the event an annual affair.



Manning said “Some might see this event as a joke thing but to me it’s a motivator for artistes and writers and producers to create more Guyanese music that would eventually hit mainstream. This I as well as the other artistes from the USA, Canada and other parts of the world believe whole heartedly can and will happen on united front that’s why we are here.”



Years ago Manning became popular on stage shows for performing singles such as ‘Teach the youth’, ‘don’t look for me’ which he did with Little Lexus, and ‘Ruff and Tuff.’ But the most popular hit was ‘Rally round’ done with the internationally acclaim Steel Pulse band.



When asked about a possible album release he said in time to come he will release an album from his collection of singles. He recently released in Canada singles such as Survive-don’t make them stop yah’, ‘Woe Wicked man’ and ‘Journey’. He’s also working on a song titled ‘back way officer’ that reprimands police ranks who break the laws as opposed to enforcing in their selfish drive for wealth. Of the shows he said patrons should “look for high energy entertainment from me because while the road ahead is long I’ve matured musically”.



Starting at age nine, Mandela has progressed and continues to surprise audiences with his lyrical potential and performances. As such it is no surprise that he could become a rated reggae artist especially since his life has always been one of musical influences from persons like his father Ras Sangie, who is also a reggae artist.



As a talented boy Mandela was called on stage by Maxi Priest in 1993 to perform and then later began to tour with Guyanese promoters Zico, Professor and Punk Sherlock on home soil.



Then he moved to bigger stages for shows such as Reggae Sun Splash and Sun Fest in `93/94 along side major artistes the likes of Steel Pulse. In `94 and 95 he sang as an act on Sun Splash and Sun Fest shows with backing from the Ruff Cut band.



In 1997 he went to the USA where Davie Simmons became his manager and the youth during that period played a staring role in Buju Banton’s ‘I wanna be loved’ music video.



Incidentally, Buju Banton is one of his musical influences. After three years in the United States performing at many charities, benefits and mini shows he returned to Guyana in 2000.



He linked up with Guyanese artistes such as Negus Narine aka “Little Lexus” (now based in French Guyana) and began to make demo tapes in a bid to become popular. Then in late 2006 he migrated to Canada where he presently resides.



Once there Mandela met with Canada Based Albouystown boy Cyborg, and Ras Sangie at the Reflex Studio. In his words I’m moving from strength to strength and I hope to one day eventually hit main stream where I’ll tell the world unapologetically that I’m a proud Guyanese because my music is here to stay.


(By Mondale Smith)

Jamzone goes International to celebrate its tenth anniversary set to commence on August 13th and concludes on August 22nd.

Hits and Jams Entertainment will be celebrating its tenth anniversary for “JAMZONE SUMMER BREAK” this year and the promoters have already planned various activities that will be held to commemorate this special occasion.

Since 2001, when Guyana experienced the first Jamzone Summer Break, Hits and Jams has consistently maintained a very high standard and a level of professionalism and this year will not differ as the team ventures to raise the bar with an unsurpassable level of entertainment and leisure aimed at attracting both local and international tourists and sustaining their ardent contributions to the tourism industry.

In 2009, Jamzone was transformed into an inaugural four days event which featured several super concerts and the renowned Miss Jamzone Pageant and Beach Jam held at the Splashmins Fun Park and Resort. However, this year will see major changes as the pageant will feature delegates from around the Caribbean including Guyana who will vie for the coveted crown and top prize of US$10,000, runner ups will also benefit from prizes valued at US $15,000.

The organizers promise to make this the mega event of 2010 by hosting several Super Concerts which will feature some of the biggest names in Reggae, Chutney, Dancehall and R&B/Pop/Rap.

Newcomer Jackie Hanover also known as “Jackie” who recently premiered on the music ‘scene’ during the Carib Soca Monarch Competition is speedily grabbing the attention of local music lovers.

Jackie who is also one the new frontline singers for Guyana’s ‘Heatwave Band’ is one of two artistes featured on Jory’s first mix tape with a freestyle entitled “ Put on de condom’ which has been receiving great reviews and tremendous airplay via radio and parties nationwide .

The song which speaks about the importance of practicing safe sex and getting tested not only sends out an important message, but is extremely entertaining with its groovy, old- age reggae with a modern-day flow; and is often compared to the recent “Teenage Pregnancy” song by Jamaican Dancehall superstar Vybz Kartel and Gaza Kim.

“Despite the fact that Guyanese are well-educated about HIV/AIDS they still ignore the facts and take the risk of getting infected. People should act wiser than that!” says Jackie when asked about the song.

The song is actually a series of bantering between the two artistes whereby Jackie insists on ‘riding’ without a condom by stating “Baby nah worry bout boots plus condoms too rough…” while Jory defends the opposite. She tries tirelessly to convince the star that she would like to get pregnant and condoms are uncomfortable but Jory stands his ground and eventually they both agree to get tested.

Jory first came up with the idea for the song but needed a female that he considered capable of handling such a task. He contacted Jackie who immediately loved the idea. The two met and recorded their co-written song a few hours later. “Yo that song mad I like Jackie’s style! She is very confident, talented and unafraid to try new things so I thought she would be the ideal person and I was right since everyone loves the song”, said Jory.

This song along with nineteen other blazing tracks on Jory’s new “Say what I want to say” mix tape can be heard blazing the airwaves, parties and popular Dj’s mix tapes.

Born 1976 in Georgetown, Guyana, as Jomo Proctor, he attended Craig Nursery School and also had some of his primary schooling at the Houston Community Primary School, East Bank Guyana.

In 1986, he migrated to the USA where he completed his formal education by graduating from Staten Island College, New York, with an Associate Degree in Business Management.
He is at present a licenced carpenter for the Motor Transport Authority in New York.

Also known as Kapa Shanti, through his grandmother who was an active churchgoer, he enjoyed hearing his grandmother singing her song-keys.
While walking home from school he would hear reggae music blasting from music boxes of some his favourite artistes such as Gregory Isaacs, Freddy Mc Greggor, Bob Marley, Yellow-man etc.
But what really inspired him to pick up the microphone and following his dreams as a singer and performer happened one day while he was looking at an underground tape hosted by David Levy from Barbados now a radio DJ on one of the international channels in America (WBLS).

He saw Ninja Man, Lieutenant Stitchie and others performing, but none of them stood out and took him with amazement like Shabba Ranks. To him Shabba was his true inspiration to music.
Kapa Shanti said that his first performance in front of a live crowd was in a five-man competition. He finished fifth place. He felt so cheated although he knew that he was nervous and his legs were shaking like Elvis Presley’s. However, all in all he did not allow that experience to sway his musical desire.
His next big show was at Syracuse University in the USA when he opened for Machel Montano. There he got the confidence booster from the favourable crowd response to his performance. That was followed up by calls from various promoters to open for more and more big name artistes.
That list included Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, Pinchers, Sparrow, and many others among them Guyanese artistes Natural Black, Zebulun, First-Born, Yonnette Hooper, and Redemption.

Kapa Shanti has been recording continuously and recently he collaborated with Pinchers and Keisha Martin from Jamaica to produce a song to help raise funds for Haiti to help with the rebuilding process.
He has recorded several singles including the more popular songs such as Money and No Mata.

You can find Kapa Shanti at www.myspace.com/kapashantigt, and also on www.facebook.com/kapashanti. As he prepares to head Guyana’s way for the upcoming Guyanese Music Splash on April 19 at Thirst Park and the Guyana Artistic Music awards on April 25 at the National Cultural Centre he is encouraging Guyanese to look out for his soon to be released album titled ‘Pressure DI Poor.’

Screening has commenced for the inaugural Miss Guyana Earth pageant says coordinator Pamel Dillon and while six delegates have already made the shortlist from a field of 13 who auditioned. But others who are interested have one week to contact the Simpli-Royal committee before the interviews conclude.

While Guyana has yet to field a finalist at any of the major international pageants Dillon is optimistic that Guyanese beauties can actually bring home a crown and shine some positive pageant light on the country. She said “We are looking for beauties to apply for a chance to represent Guyana at the Miss Earth International pageant.”

Several competitions are carded before the big local night on June 26. as aprelude and the organisers are looking for a line up of at least ten of the most exciting, personable, beautiful Guyanese women aged 18- 25.

Dillon added that “The ladies we are looking for have to have beauty of face and figure and possess perfect health. They must also never have had a child, never have been married and should have written CXC. They can be of any race and from any cultural background”.
Lester Rauseo of Trinidad’s beauty bank is the trainer and he is expected to arrive in Guyana shortly while the pageant’s artistic Director is Clive Prowel CEO of the Classique dance Company.

This is the inaugural pageant and Pamela Dillon, the Fanschise holder is emphatic that this is not a free for all, any girl and anything goes pageant it’s a serious event that allows beauty ambassadors to be groomed and then sent to represent our Nation. The winner and her runners up after training should be better able to think on their feet and address current affairs as well as environmental issues as spokes persons on environmental issues during and after the year has ended.
Dillon says thus far the Princess Hotel is the main sponsor of the event but the door remains open for other interested sponsors.
Among the many competitions to be staged before a queen is selected is a high fashion show featuring the delegates competing for the ‘Queen of the catwalk’ title.

The committee has employed the resources of international US based Guyanese Designer Roger Gary for that segment. This will feature the delegates showcasing Garry’s Aqua Couture line as well as creations that focus on the five elements earth, fire, wind, water and heart which symbolises love for nature and humanity.

The committee includes Wazim Khan as chairman, Wanita Huburn Public Relations Officer, Gileon James head of wardrobe, Melessa Payne is Delegate Liaison and Lester Rauseo as trainer.

Sonia Noel is once again creating more opportunities for Guyana's youths, As she has now opened the doors for some chefs from the Carnegie School of Home Economics to participate in this year’s designer/stylist portfolio,

All in an effort to integrate the arts in the branding of a Guyanese identity Sonia Noel has included the culinary arts. A number of budding chefs from Carnegie School of Home Economics will participate in this year’s designer stylist portfolio, partnering with stylists and designers to create team presentation with a unique theme.

Over the years Carnegie has had a large number of chefs graduating of which many have migrated mainly working on cruise ships.
The theme will be chosen from fruits and vegetable grown in Guyana in an effort to highlight, “The Grow More” campaign. They will be expected to go through a number of challenges that will be judged through the competition.

June 27, 2010, at Duke Lodge will be an evening of unbelievable talent called, 'cutting style'.
The atmosphere will unlike anything seen before in Guyana where the theme will be reflected from the decor to the cuisine. The final judging will be done that evening.

The winners will be announced at the finals of Guyana Model Search, designers’ stylist portfolio on July 4, 2010, at the Pegasus hotel.
The eighth person selected to be part of the new and exciting programme was ecstatic to have a chance to express their creativity.

The lucky persons were Shawna Mcrae, Samantha Mosley, Gail Davidson,Mohammed W Karim, Felicia Stewart, Rhea Sandy, Lynne Juniss and Adrian Alleyne .

This year’s portfolio will not have a dull moment and I am excited to have the culinary arts included because that would have probably been my next career choice. I am so looking forward to the creativity that is expected from this fusion.