Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Police and guns in a club – Bounty Killer’s b’day party
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2011, birthday, jamaica, june, killer, kingston, mavado. bounty, quad
Leave a Comment It happened at the Quad nightclub in new Kingston on Bounty Killer’s b’day. As Mavado arrives with his entourage, there’s a scuffle and armed police shoot his friend, who later dies in hospital. All in the presence of TV cameras.
All I have to add is did the police really deem it necessary to have a presence at this event? I think the club security would have been a better idea.
This is Mavado’s answer to the incident. He says the gun was “popped” with no provocation.
Coke Court date set
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2011, crime, dudus, gardens, jamaica, june, tivoli
Comments (3) The trial of Christopher Dudus Coke will begin on September 12th 2011.
He’s been awaiting a date since he was arrested in June 2010 and then extradited to the US on drug and gun charges.
The main thing going on before that date is the motion filed by Dudus lawyers to throw out wiretap evidence, used in the extradition order against him. That would be pretty crucial in the case – his lawyers argue that it contravened Jamaican law to hand it over to the Americans.
But as Coke continues to be holed up inside a cell in the US, how are things on the outside in Tivoli Gardens. West Kingston?
The govt say they are dealing with crime with an ‘iron fist’ reporting 700 fewer murders over the last year. The police also say they are making significant inroads in efforts to eradicate gangs, dismantling 50 per cent of the 57 targeted since the New Year. Is it leading to safer streets and will it last I wonder?
I am mainly listening to …
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: chipmunk, every, gyal, mavado
Leave a Comment Vybz Kartel’s new hairstyle
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: hair, jamaica, kartel, vybz. new, weave
Comments (1) The new style, longer so he can play with it …
Spring break – Gully God and Drizzy
Drake and Movado on stage together – I wish I had been there!! After Drake uttered those fatal words “bloodclaat” the plug was pulled on the show, due to the laws regulating swearing on stage. So there was no freestyle from Drake which would have been the icing on the cake.
Dudus aftermath – 1 year on
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2011, aftermath, christopher, coke, dudus, gardens, jamaica, kingston, may, tivoli
Comments (3) Christopher Coke, aka Dudus has been in US custody on narcotics and firearms charges for nearly a year now and there is still no sign of a trial date. He made his 7th court appearance in Manhattan today – Tuesday May 10th, 2011. No-one’s talking to the press yet, but despite this, there’s already a book out about him, called ‘Jamaica’s First President’ , he was known locally as the Prezzie for short.
Zinc fencing photo by Benjamin Lozovsky
So what is going on in Tivoli gardens since his removal? At the time, there was much talk about the power vacuum that would be left behind in his wake, which would lead to more violence and gang warfare. I wrote this blog post about it around that time and also Kingston Mayor Desmond Mckenzie met with US Embassy officials, as detailed in a leaked wikileaks cable – read more about that here.
PM Golding on a wall
Meanwhile, the Jamaican JLP Bruce Golding government has stubbornly clung on to an illusion of power, through an enquiry into the Manatt Phelps and Phillips affair – which basically showed how the Golding govt were protecting Dudus from US extradition all along as they were telling the Jamaican people something else entirely. It led to an admission in Parliament that he had lied to them previously. Naturally, his reputation is shot to pieces, but he thinks he can claw it all back for the general election next year.
Judging by a useless opposition leader by the name of Portia Simpson miller, this is not beyond the realms of imagination.
Buju Guilty
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: banton, buju, cocaine, guilty, jamaica, prison, sentence, trial, verdict
Comments (2) well, it’s all over the news so perhaps all I need to do is provide some links here and here .
I was kind of surprised as my last post indicates, I thought things may have gone the other way after the last trial, but the audio and video evidence could not be overcome.
Now he faces a long stretch in prison, some say 20 years - given his last stretch inside before he was out on bail, prison life didn’t suit him as he complained about his treatment.
But this does not have to mean the end of his music, he managed to release his grammy award winning album whilst inside. He will have plenty of time to mull over lyrics and melodies, but he probably won’t feel like singing just yet.
Buju – guilty or not guilty?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: banton, buju, cocaine, Drugs, grammy, trial
Comments (4) 
Buju at the start of his re-trial, photo by Paul Henry
I keep looking for the result - but if the jury couldn’t decide last time, things are more hopeful for Buju this time round.
Also, the fact he just won a grammy is a good sign.
The rasta drums must be working their magic, but still could go either way for him yet.
If he gets off, let’s hope it gets him off the drugs, away from cocaine for good.
I do like his music, but haven’t heard the new album. I like this one, Mr Nine about the guns, he sings it so sweet.
When I met him one time, i couldn’t believe how lucid and intelligent he was whilst red eyed from the weed.
Rent boys vs go-go girls
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: clubs, go-go, jamaica, kingston, night, rent, sex, trade
Leave a Comment I have been thinking about the stark differences between the male and female sex trades in Jamaica. The reason it has come up is this case, where police officers are alleged to have gang raped an ‘exotic dancer’ – a woman who dances in Jamaica’s many go-go clubs. To be a female sex worker in Jamaica is no joke and this crime highlights the lowly status and terrible risks these women face. They face rape, they’re really looked down on and there are many cases of young girls getting drawn in.
Kingston by night photo by panthony brown
Compared to some of the boys who work in the resorts, it’s just so different. I spoke to a guy who did this job in Montego Bay. He was young and good looking and he seemed to pick and choose the women he liked and from the impression he gave, he seemed to be enjoying himself – although perhaps this was not always true. He described nights going into womens’ bedrooms and finding them there naked. And after they left, he would ply them for ‘birthday presents’ gifts and wired money. So this was a long term venture which almost seemed to play with the womens’ feelings – using their guilt to keep him in the money.
But i guess there must be similarities too – risk of sexual disease and feelings of low self esteem sometimes.
Kartel and Cake Soap
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bleach, bleaching, cake, jamaica, january. 2011, kartel, lightening, skin, soap, vybz
Comments (2) What is the man doing?
Here’s the photo doing the rounds on the internet – Kartel looking so handsome in the good old days with the glowing skin and the after photo – after the skin bleaching. Comments I received on facebook included, “idiot” and “he now looks like a monster”. I think it’s just so sad and tells me that the guy is seriously losing his way. This is not what someone who loves and respects themselves does.
I actually really like the song though, been listening to that alot and also the counteraction song, has a good vibe to it.
He talks about it in this video – forward to 3’23
