Sweet Preserve

For Sean Kingston , [the EPIC records joint venture] was almost like a prophecy beginning to be fulfilled. Not only is music his love, it is in his blood. Iconic Reggae artist Buju Banton is his uncle and Jack Ruby, who produced records for Bob Marley and Burning Spear in Jamaica, is his grandfather. Now Kingston says he’s looking forward to making music and living out his dream.

ABOUT SEAN KINGSTON

After producing an endless array of hit records for the likes of musical heavyweights such as 50 Cent, The Game, Rihanna and Snoop Dogg, production savant J.R. Rotem has turned his attention to one of the most innovative young talents in music, Sean Kingston, the first signing on his Beluga Heights label.

Kingston, a 17 year old native of Jamaica who now lives in Miami brings his very unique triple threat of talent of rapping, reggae chatting and soulful harmonization with the 2007 release of his debut yet to be titled album.

“As an artist, my whole goal is to make powerful and classic music,” Sean divulges. “I want everyone to feel me and understand where I’m from and that’s what this album will do. The music is all about an authentic Sean Kingston vibe. JR is a talented dude and a dope producer and he saw that I had something different than any other artist out there. Together we’re a powerful force.

In addition to J.R., The Runners, Cool and Dre, DJ Felli Fell, and DJ Khaled will be supplying beats. In just a short time, Kingston has already done what few in his age bracket can accomplish – solidify a following in the streets and get people excited about music again.

He has two certified thunder knockers on his hands with “Colors 2007” and the Jamaican remix. The original version is a lyrical brouhaha with Kingston showing he can hang with the acclaimed guest MCs. Miami Mayor Rick Ross and the multi-platinum west coast superstar, The Game. The reggae remix of Colors is a Caribbean hailstorm featuring the legendary Vybez Cartel and the always profound Kardinal Offishall. Both records maintain the same theme of unity and self-reflection.

“That’s the whole campaign,” Kingston, whose parents are from Jamaica, elaborated. “The song is about representing every flag that you’re loyal to – whether it is Jamaica, the States, your block etc. It’s a lifestyle record that can be a street anthem no matter where you are. I couldn’t ask for anybody better than The Game and Ross to join me on the track. The Reggae version came up because I knew I had to do one special for Jamaica. The first person I thought of was Vybez Cartel. His verse came out crazy. Then Kardinal Official, that’s my homie, he really attacked the track.”

Kingston’s album is shaping up to be as diverse as the colors are on the different flags he talks about.

The melody of “Stand By Me,” also acted a muse for the first official single off the album “Beautiful Girls.” It is way more than puppy love when Sean lays his vocals on the record, singing about a shattering break up.

“You’re way too beautiful girl,” he sings about heartbreak. “Girls will have you suicidal when they say it’s over.”

“I heard the track ‘Stand By Me,’ one night in the studio, the radio was on. “I asked J.R., did anybody ever flip that? He made the beat the beat right there on the spot and I wrote the songs in a few minutes. It’s hard when you’re in love and a girl tells you that it is time to end things. I know everyone can relate to that, so that’s why I had to write about it.”

“Drummer Boy” finds Kingston sticking mainly to rapping over the trouncing pounce of drums, while “I Can Feel” takes it to the party and incorporates a sample of Phil Collins’ timeless “In the Air Tonight.”

Perhaps one of the most eye opening track however may the song “Prosecutor,” where Kingston vents about what he calls the wrongful imprisonment of his sister and mother. “You’re lying and there’s no way to prove it,” he fumes.

Sean says he was inspired to write the record after he saw his family incarcerated when he was just 14 years old.

“I always had my sister and my brother,” he began to explain. “My brother was doing his own thing, he was there but he was running around doing his own thing. When my mother and sister went away, it took a lot out of me. My sister went away for four months and my mom been away for over a year. When she went way, I was like ‘nah man, this is too much.’ I was only 14. I missed her like crazy but I pulled through and used it as my motivation. “Prosecutor” is a defining song on the album for me – nothing fake about it because it touches on something very personal to me. The dope melody that’s on there makes me feel even closer to it.”

Kingston wants to make it clear that he is no cookie cutter artist that has the songs laid out for him. He comes up with 100 percent of his lyrics.

“Man, it feels good to get that creative freedom,” he says. “Not a lot of artists are put in that position. I don’t feel that just because I’m a young dude, somebody should write my songs and say ‘ok spit it this way.’ I think music is better when it comes from the person, when it comes from your heart. I feel comfortable writing my own music and them letting me do it, is a great situation.

Sean talks about J.R. more like a big brother, rather than an Executive Producer of his album. Couple of years ago, Kingston started randomly hitting music industry contacts on MySpace. Although none of the A&R reps responded, Rotem emailed him back. J.R. almost had no choice, “Sean would hit me up at least three times a day!” J.R. says.

“He just had a real distinct sound,” Rotem remembers. “I worked with some of the best and I don’t see why Sean can’t grow to be one of them. His potential is limitless.”

Rotem invited Sean for a meeting in Los Angeles, coincidentally; the young performer was already in the process of moving to California. Shortly after their initial meeting, Rotem had a flagship artist for his Epic records joint venture, Beluga Heights. For Sean, it was almost like a prophecy beginning to be fulfilled. Not only is music his love, it is in his blood. Iconic Reggae artist Buju Banton is his uncle and Jack Ruby, who produced records for Bob Marley and Burning Spear in Jamaica, is his grandfather. Now Kingston says he’s looking forward to making music and living out his dream.

“In the future I want to have my own label and work on the business side,” he said. “I went to acting school when I was younger, so I want to get into that. I want to get into every aspect of the business. It took me a little while to develop and build my sound, to find out who the real Sean Kingston was. I didn’t know if I wanted to harmonize, or to rap. But I found out that I can do it all.”

These last few days have gone by so quickly. I think this is the first time I’ve had a chance just to sit down and take it all in.

The launch went incredibly well by all accounts. The show opened with an energetic performance from Dubai rap group Desert Heat, who were a last-minute addition to the show after their impromptu post-sound-check performance the night before impressed everyone in the room. Seeing two seasoned rappers spitting hard in Arabic while dressed in the full-on traditional robes wasn’t something I’d ever seen before in my life, but it was definitely something I’d like to see again and the perfect way to start the show.

A lot of people were talking about the significance of launching an MTV channel in the Middle East and what it stands for, and even though I only visited one of the region’s most liberal cities, Dubai, for just a few days, the overall consensus from the people was loud and clear: “We love music.”

 Ludacris music

Music plays a very important part in Arabic culture, and the tastes of the young people there are incredibly eclectic and widespread, from more traditional sounds to a thriving underground hip-hop scene to superstar dance DJs like Erick Morillo, who visits regularly and was there for the opening. Our arrival has been long overdue.

By the time local R&B sensation Karl Wolf came on the stage, all protocol had been thrown out the window and the front five rows were out of their seats and dancing right up by the stage. Earlier, I’d been told that Karl is like the Middle East’s answer to Justin Timberlake, and judging by the screams of some of the girls in the audience, they were probably right.

Then it was time for the big boys. Ludacris came out to the entire 700-strong crowd chanting his name over and over. I remember thinking that I wasn’t sure if the sheikhs sitting at the very back of the room in the royal box had ever seen anything like this. Nevertheless, I’m told they were all smiles and some even got down and sang along. Luda, who also played an integral part in the launch of MTV Arabia, performed a mixture of new and old hits before hanging back offstage to give his take on the new channel and what it means to him to be one of the first major hip-hop stars to perform in the Middle East.

And if that wasn’t enough, it was Akon’s turn. At this point, the crowd was at fever pitch, and with a little coaxing, the full house (including the sheikhs) stood up as Akon took the show home. He certainly did his thing giving the Middle East a taster of what they can expect from him when he returns on tour in a few months.

It was an awesome launch, bringing in a new era to the Middle East, with a vision to one day launch a new internationally successful music star from the region. If you had said that MTV would be launching a channel here 10 years ago, they would have said it was impossible. Not anymore!

This article explains smokers opinions and the pros and cons about smoking.

Lately I have been researching why people smoke, the good of it, the bad things about it and the other things some people just don’t know about.

• The Good:

Most smokers say that it gives them a very strong bond with other smokers some have a sense of gratification when they smoke. The drug nicotine gives them a feeling of pleasure. Some smokers says it gives them a break from there kids, and it is used as a stress reliever.

•  The Bad:

The list goes on but here a just a few key points -
That horrid after smell, nagging cough all day … But that’s nothing compared to not being able to breathe properly, heart disease, Decayed teeth , skin and fingernails turn yellow, having lots of phlegm and losing your voice half way through a sentence. One huge problem about smoking it is a social drug such as alcohol making it very addictive and hard to quit. Also smoking doesn’t help your income at all, buying them 2 – 4 times a week at average $7 dollars adds up fairly quickly you could use that money to socialise such as going out with friends or seeing a movie.

• The Ugly:

When you inhale smoke you put over 4,000 chemicals into your body just some of these are Benzene the chemical found in paint stripper, Hydrogen Cyanide used in rat poison Ammonia the bleach found in toilet cleaner.

Smoking can also have some terrible effects on your body some of these include death at the age of 40.

It can also make blood vessels and blood cells sticky causing dangerous fatty material to build up.

The chemicals can lead to Macular degeneration (blindness) this is because the chemicals get into the bloodstream and induce the damage to the macula in the back of the eye.

 

• Conclusion Of these facts:

Overall most people think smoking is not fit for any lifestyle as it can lead to disease, blindness, amputations and even death. Australia in particular have banned it from most hospitals, working areas, and some restaurants and clubs only allow smoking in car parks or in a designated area.

Quite possibly the coolest 10 year old girl in the land, Alaina Podmorow, was moved to action after her mother Jamie (coolest mom in the land?) took her to hear a speech by Canadian journalist and human rights activist Sally Armstrong.

”I heard about bombings in Afghanistan. I was unaware. That night, I got educated about it,” said Alaina.
In her speech, Armstrong explained that while many Afghan girls have gone back to school since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the fear of local warlords and militia groups continues to keep girls out of classrooms.

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Got a PlayStation 3? For those of you that have picked up Sony’s shiny black plaything, we’ve put together a Digital Home top ten of tips that you won’t find in the user manual.
1) Play games from any country

Harbouring a desire to play Super Gaiden Ninja XI? Now you can. In fact, you can handily play any PS3 game from any country. On holiday in the States and spot the latest release at a bargain dollar-to-pound price? Help yourself. So far, at least, PS3 games aren’t being region coded. That said PS2 and PS1 games are so you can’t play a US title on a Euro console.

And let’s not forget that Blu-ray movies are region-coded so the barriers aren’t completely down yet.
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2) The secret video reset

One of the most annoying aspects of the PS3 are its video settings. Take it up to the bedroom portable or round to a friend’s house and there’s a good chance that you won’t be able to see anything onscreen because your ‘new’ TV is running at a different resolution or using a different cable connection. And – because you can’t see anything – you can’t change it. Until now. Shut down your PS3 then restart by pressing and holding the power button. This will reset your PS3 to its most basic 480p graphics mode so you’ll be able to see enough to choose RGB SCART, component, HDMI or whatever from here.

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