Sizzla

Sizzla Kalonji, or simply Sizzla (born Miguel Orlando Collins, 17 April 1976, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae musician. He is one of the most commercially and critically successful contemporary reggae artists and is noted for his high number of releases. As of 2014 he has released over 70 solo albums.

Biography

Sizzla was born in Kingston to devout Rastafari movement parents. Like them Sizzla subscribes to the Bobo Ashanti branch of the Rastafari movement. He was raised in August Town, Kingston, Jamaica where he studied mechanical engineering at Dunoon High School.

Career

Kalonji witnessed a dancehall explosion, and with the music came the lifestyle: drugs, guns, and "slackness" (vulgarity). Formally adopting the Rastafari faith, with its advocacy of repatriation to Africa and its use of cannabis, he joined the ranks of the Bobo Shanti in the mid-1990s.

Sizzla began to develop his own style whilst serving his musical apprenticeship with the Caveman Hi-Fi sound system. He has used his music as a vehicle for his message, kickstarting his recording career in 1995 with a release through the Zagalou label, he then teamed up with "Bobby Digital" Dixon for a series of singles. Extensive touring with fellow roots and culture artist Luciano followed, earning Sizzla notability.

Phrase

In everyday speech, a phrase may be any group of words, often carrying a special idiomatic meaning; in this sense it is roughly synonymous with expression. In linguistic analysis, a phrase is a group of words (or possibly a single word) that functions as a constituent in the syntax of a sentence—a single unit within a grammatical hierarchy. A phrase appears within a clause, although it is also possible for a phrase to be a clause or to contain a clause within it.

Common and technical use

There is a difference between the common use of the term phrase and its technical use in linguistics. In common usage, a phrase is usually a group of words with some special idiomatic meaning or other significance, such as "all rights reserved", "economical with the truth", "kick the bucket", and the like. It may be a euphemism, a saying or proverb, a fixed expression, a figure of speech, etc.

In grammatical analysis, particularly in theories of syntax, a phrase is any group of words, or sometimes a single word, which plays a particular role within the grammatical structure of a sentence. It does not have to have any special meaning or significance, or even exist anywhere outside of the sentence being analyzed, but it must function there as a complete grammatical unit. For example, in the sentence Yesterday I saw an orange bird with a white neck, the words an orange bird with a white neck form what is called a noun phrase, or a determiner phrase in some theories, which functions as the object of the sentence.

Morgan Heritage

Morgan Heritage is a reggae band formed in 1994 by five children of reggae artist Denroy Morgan, namely Peter "Peetah" Morgan, Una Morgan, Roy "Gramps" Morgan, Nakhamyah "Lukes" Morgan and Memmalatel "Mr. Mojo" Morgan. In two decades, they have had a number of successful reggae albums.

Career

Morgan Heritage formed in 1994 made their first appearance at Reggae Sunsplash in Jamaica. They were subsequently signed by MCA and released their debut album Miracles the same year. They have since criticized the Miracles album as being overly pop-influenced.

After the release of Miracles, the family moved to Denroy's homeland of Jamaica. In this period, three family members left the group. Once in Jamaica, Morgan Heritage began working with famed reggae producers Bobby Dixon and Lloyd James, resulting in the release of their critically acclaimed second album Protect Us Jah (1997), followed by One Calling (1998), and the spiritually-inclined Don't Haffi Dread (1999). They have released three compilation albums by "The Morgan Heritage Family and Friends", and a live album, Live in Europe!, recorded on their 2000 tour. Following the release of their 2001 album More Teachings... Morgan Heritage toured Europe again, and they have returned several times since.

Garnett Silk

Garnett Silk (born Garnet Damion Smith; 2 April 1966 – 9 December 1994), was a Jamaican reggae musician and Rastafarian, known for his diverse, emotive, powerful and smooth voice. During the early 1990s he was hailed as a rising talent, however his career was ended by his early death in 1994, while attempting to save his mother from her burning house. Even today still hailed as a reggae prodigy, Garnett is considered inspiring and a credit to reggae music

Biography

Little Bimbo

Smith was born in Manchester, Jamaica. His musical career began at the age of twelve, when he performed under the name Little Bimbo. During the 1980s he worked as a deejay on sound systems such as Conquering Lion, Soul Remembrance, Pepper's Disco, Stereophonic, and Destiny Outernational (where he first met Tony Rebel). He recorded his first track in 1985, but it would be two years later before his first single, "Problem Everywhere" was released. An album of material from this period (Journey) was later released. In 1988, he joined Sugar Minott's Youth Promotion label, releasing "No Disrespect", and working regularly with Tony Rebel, Smith now being billed simply as 'Bimbo'. The pair began performing as a duo around the sound systems to much acclaim. The Garnett Silk Meets the Conquering Lion: A Dub Plate Selection album dates from about this time and features a clutch of exclusive recordings the DJ cut for the sound system from the mid-1980s through the end of the decade. Rebel, a Rastarfari, eventually converted Smith to his religion with the help of dub poet Yasus Afari, a close friend of both the DJs.

Kodak Black

Dieuson Octave, (born June 11, 1997), better known by his stage name Kodak Black, is an American rapper from Pompano Beach, Florida, United States.

Biography

Octave was born in Pompano Beach, Florida. His parents were immigrants from Haiti. Octave was raised by his mother in Golden Acres, a public housing project in Pompano Beach.

Octave began rapping with his cousins at age 12 while in elementary school. He then became affiliated with the local rap group "Brutal Youngnz", and then with the "Kolyons".

Octave was placed into a juvenile detention center three times in one year, and then placed on probation.

In 2014, Octave was working towards his high school diploma.

In 2015, Canadian rapper Drake posted a video of himself dancing to one of Octave's songs.

In October 2015, Octave was arrested in Pompano Beach and charged with robbery, battery, false imprisonment of a child, and possession of cannabis. He was released from custody, and shortly after signed a deal with Atlantic Records.