Ulf from Mash Up International sent Tobi some more images with Mash Up and SEEN shirts a while ago. See my favourite – with Ulf wearing the LIFE SWEET T-shirt – above. Thanks, Ulf, and the whole crew!

Mash Up International – MIX for Swedish Radio – nr 1 by Mash Up International

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My second trip to Kingston totally made sense. I got a better picture of the city, got to see a couple more neighborhoods, and took a bunch of pictures of course. In a way I have a love/hate relationship with Kingston, my mood there is up and down too … for example, my last day there sucked, I spent all day inside staring at the computer (Kingston is not a city where you just walk around and make friends with locals) – but than that night I hung out some serious gangsters, took pictures of guns and stuff, I can’t go into details here. But at the end of the night no one could take the smile off my face. (via Freshngood)

See more over at Artcoup and Freshngood.

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Gal a mine mi fi wine me she love me off,
She say she a go a town she mi say bring mi Clarks,
She say wah kinda style yu wah,
Me say bring it inna suede, leather every material fi de Boss.

No doubt women play a destructively encouraging roll in the Chi Chi Bad man phenomena. When before the effeminate boy especially in inner-city communities would be ridiculed and at times ostracized for acting/talking like a sissy now he now has a place in the company of older women who enjoy the company of a young Shebada. They cajole and encourage these boys to act more outrageously, they discuss in the presence of these children their adult/sexual relationships and instead of a functioning adult-child relationship the boys are treated as girlfriends and provide comic relief for these older women, providing the punch line for very explicit situations. Eventually they learn to beg, either implicitly by imitating actions of the elder female or explicitly being told to do so. Thus, begins the erosion as without a real male figure to instill such values as real men work, they protect and provide for their families, these boys eventually learn the hard way there is no such thing as a free ride when they beg the wrong men.

For the uninitiated the Dancehall video light is more than just an avenue to »big up« oneself and friends, it is more than just a catalog of a hype party. A video light especially one from a very well known party is a market of the flesh. Long before e-harmony and match.com the video light acted as a community notice board advertising the best and »baddest« a particular subculture had to offer. Dressed in the finest and dancing in very sexually suggestive ways is a means for one not only to cement one’s place in this subculture but also acts as a means for a »big man« to see a hot girl and say »a who da girl deh she bad eeh.« This may eventually lead to him knowing this girl in a more biblical sense. Therefore, one can understand why some players in this culture would bitterly oppose wasted hours of important video time spent on peacocks. Essentially the culture that sprang up of male dancers; they act in an identical manner to the women they »model« and brag and big up friends and their sexual prowess. And in some cases they beg more than any woman ever could. Where the conflict arise is these Chi Chi bad boys some posing as dancers will muscle out women from the video light. In theory these Chi Chi Bad boys compete for the same spoils and have no qualms reminding females that in comparison to what they have to offer a pussy has no value.

– Second post of a 3-part piece by Eve Mann. Orginally posted on her blog The Phoenix in a Gas House. Read »Chi Chi Badman« Pt. 1 here.

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There is this phenomena set to music by Beenie Man and further defined by Dr Imani Tafari-Ama [Blood Bullets and Bodies: Sexual Politics Below Jamaica's Poverty Line, 2006, Chapter 6, pages 219-220] that I grossly need help understanding. That is, the phenomena of the Chi Chi Badman. Tafari-Ama states;

In most every way, these Chi Chi Bad Men or bad Chi Chi Men are the ultimate binary opposition to emerge from the concrete jungles of Kingston’s urban slums… No sociologist was able to predict that the product of the most violently antagonistic and consistently anti-homosexual discourse in the ghetto – the bad boy gunmen- who are supposedly the very antithesis of anything queer, gay or funny, would suddenly and voluntarily switch their sexual orientation to become the very kind of persons that they had previously hated so passionately – batty men. [...] In effect, they have become lower class male prostitutes who service upper class gay men for top dollars.

Usually the inner-city male is seen as the epitome of the Jamaican version of the macho man. Further more there is on other group in Jamaica so vehemently intolerant and opposed to the homosexual lifestyle than that of the Jamaican Shotter/Inner-city male. If you still subscribe the ideal male figure projected in songs from independence to present he is a very strong classically masculine figure constantly facing and overcoming the pressures of being male and underclass. Therefore, the phenomenon of the effeminate badman is an unforeseen paradox of our time. One is very amazed when observing these “men”; bleached faced, very arched eyebrows dressed in pastels that the girliest girl gravitates to because it totally expresses femininity.

Not to mention the very close fitting female jeans worn strategically below the rump by these men. It gives the feeling of an advertisement of easy access rather than to convey the notion of strong, hard male protector. While generally the idea of a homosexual male is usually that of a tame, fragile, extravagantly flamboyant, RuPaul- esque male, however, today this is definitely not the case with the Chi Chi Badman and no better description could be found than that postulated by Ama in which she states;

Make no mistake about it. These new inner-city Chi Chi Boys are not your ordinary tame and domesticated/sophisticated kind of homosexuals. These are not the poor, defenseless and victimized Jamaican homos whose cause the British gay group Outrage! likes to champion. No, these Badman Chi Chi Boys are tough young killers who can defend themselves and who will not hesitate to shoot or cut up anyone trying to criticize or mock them for their decision to embrace this still distained lifestyle.

– First post of a 3-part piece by Eve Mann. Orginally posted on her blog The Phoenix in a Gas House.

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In 1986 Robert Young along with artists Nathalie Phillips, Adel Todd and Camille Selvon out of necessity began pushing the boundaries of the clothing technology available by working and reworking designs. Printing, painting and making meaningful garments that they felt that could not be replicated by anyone else. The women would later move on to other projects and school respectively. With over 24 years in the business it is safe to say that Young is an expert when it comes to his chosen craft of fashion, design and clothing, he loves african fashion trends. Admittedly Young says he “fell quite clumsily” into design. Moving from an agricultural at CXC to a Lab Technician, the birth of ‘The Cloth’ came about more from necessity and capitalizing on the Structural Adjustment measures placed on the island. During this period some Caribbean islands such as Trinidad and Jamaica had a ban placed on imported goods (clothing etc.) to save foreign exchange. Hence, citizens were only allowed to extract from the central bank approximately $200USD for travel per year. This gave many local industries the space needed to develop.

1997 Young had a show called ‘No Chorus Yet’. This intrinsically meant, “I have no definite way of doing anything yet!” Watching his show one would find that very hard to believe. As over the years the Cloth has become known for its unique shows, like opting for a live band to play in the centre stage during a show. This years Caribbean Fashion Week was no different. While all other designers had their models stomping the runway to the sound of over played and meaningless tunes, models for the Cloth walked pensively to the sound of a river meandering the runway mimicking the flow of water. As Young admits, “I have always had a story but the (design) process came about clumsily.”

At the end of the show instead of doing the customary walk of the designer trailing his designs Mr. Young had something more substantial than a wave and smile. Amid much microphone trouble the message was not lost. He said, “We cannot move forward if you don’t buy your own”. But how do we move forward? How do we move the Caribbean fashion industry from a third world odd ball to a first world fashion mainstay? Young confesses that it is not for his generation but for the ones coming up as much is currently lacking. Issues such as adequate capital to make economies of scale a sensible and profitable option or the ability to mass-produce to rival larger markets inhibit today’s Caribbean designers.

Instead we should first ask, “How can we get access (in our current state)?” Also, and possibly most important is, we must recognize that what we do has value. The smart options he presented were the development of high-end niche markets; develop interesting stories around our products, and ensure the quality is high. The key however is the reinvestment of profits and stemming the tide so common in industries in the Caribbean – that of flight of capital. What is needed is a revolution of the mind; in that we not only actively support local industries but in turn local employers pay staff better and where applicable explore the option of employees being part owners in the bran. Invest in real economies, instead of more abstract industries such as speculations and futures, thus minimizing the effects of a collapse of such unstable markets for example the Cash Plus/ Olint fiasco that still plagues Jamaica. The key for Caribbean islands is to build and or rebuild tangible industries thus creating real employment opportunities, instead of seasonal ones. Thus making a strong foundation for future generations and making it more attractive for present ones to invest, also there is a great need to harness the strength of the Diaspora through networking.

Young had a very pragmatic view of Caribbean leaders however, as he puts it “they are us.” Essentially our government deals with problems as we would in our limited experiences they try to make the best of what they have. They act only when there are accidents; it is through these accidents that set the wheels of change in motion. However, across the board respective Caribbean governments can assist in the stimulation of local industries by charging fewer taxes or even negative taxation on goods made and owned locally. His advice to upcoming designers is priceless. That is, they need not be intimidated by the colonizing nature of fashion instead he encourages them to use life experiences to find new ways of doing things. Inspiration proliferates our rich history and culture for example Johnkanoo, Marcus Garvey and even more contemporary figures such as Bob Marley may be used to develop original points of views. In essence use them as practice until you find your footing.

Finally, Yong cautions that while “fashion is a dream space” it can quickly become a nightmare when designers misread the context or do very little in analysis of the message that their garments convey. Therefore a well-made dress in good fabric can send the message that the wearer is a whore when it was not the intention of the designer. This is the result when we perpetuate ideas, which we do not understand, or have any practical use for (for example a winter line in a tropical marine climate). One of the more entertaining statements made by Young during the interview was; “If I could do what I want with these girls from Jamaica I would pull out all their weaves.” While very hilarious to imagine, (and a dangerous road for him to venture-women here are very serious about their weaves) it strikes at the core of us as a people missing the bigger picture, in what is fashionable and the disconnect of who we are. We constantly miss the value and beauty that we already posses, opting to replace the tangible and beauty concentrated with flash.

With all that’s said what other designers do Robert Young like? He mentioned Biggy because of his keen understanding of his niche. Japanese designers such as Issey Myake, Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garçons, his contemporaries who always seem to shine a new creative light on concepts we think we know. This year The Cloth celebrates 25 year of hard work and timeless designs (for example the T.V. Tee-shirt) Tsh5. Stop by their facebook page to see upcoming events and also to order must have pieces. For those in Jamaica the only place to get designs by the Cloth is Kerry ManWomanHome (1876-929-2096).

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In my view an artist/musician is a person with a deep and full understanding of his/her chosen craft, in this case music. He/she should be trained or at some point expanded academically, be it formal or informally in the subject of music and should be able to write music. This, is vastly different from writing rhymes on paper as that is what poets do. An artist/musician should be able to effectively communicate to any musician around the world regardless of language their specific vision/ideas. Therefore the ability to write music is a must. They should possess a working musical vocabulary. It should be evident that this person loves music and is familiar with not only his/her genre but listens widely and is influenced by other artists. Therefore when the host of Gaza dunce bats (among other new artists) state that their major influence begins and ends in the early 90’s there is much cause for concern. In Jamaica’s short yet vibrant musical history where you can only see Kartel, Bounty Killa as role models then something is gravely wrong. And it is no wonder the pool of crossover artists are so small let alone the ones who positively impact the world now.

It is infinitely sad that in a country so young when many of the actual architect of the music still lives and breathes, it feels like no one seeks advice, and guidance from these walking vestibules of knowledge. They are honestly not that hard to find. They still go to the same studios as the newer supposed replacements. They own bars and restaurants that bear their names or the names of the songs that made them famous. However, instead of respect there is contempt and the superficial “big up de elda dem!” Any opportunity they get while they trample and poison any foundation and scaffolding built by them. As Charles de Gaulle said:

There can be no prestige without mystery, for familiarity breeds contempt.

And there is much contempt to go around. Right now if you close your eyes and listen to what is pass off as popular music one would be surprised that this is the same place that gave birth to the likes of Don Drummond, Sly and Robbie, Jimmy Cliff, Toots Hibbert and Dean Fraser.

What is even harder to believe is that the same institutions such as the Alpha Boys Home, church, school choirs and marching bands are still available. Added to this is the wonderful invention called the internet and better access to books of which the predecessors didn’t have. All these options and more are available to this crop of so called budding talent. However one gets the feeling that instead of doing the obvious and putting in the work needed to be “great”, forget that good or even just a little above average musicians, instead do a Milli Vanilli and concentrate on everything except the music especially the image and the money.

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Therefore it would be irresponsible for anyone to pretend that the present miasma of bad news that hovers so thick over the landscape on the verge of suffocating the economic livelihood of those directly and indirectly involved in the industry has nothing to do with the actions of its actors.

For instance Ricky Trooper should be happy that the only visa that got revoked was the one from America. For some reason Jamaicans seem to think that a U. S. visa is a right. We forget that the only country obligated to put up with our nasty behavior no matter what is the one we spit on constantly i.e. Jamaica. Everyday the world gets smaller and markets more competitive. Therefore no matter how drunk Trooper was, waving a gun and demonstrating how bad the affliction of verbal diarrhea affects him on camera would be the definition of career suicide. Recently Trooper was On Stage with Winford Williams saying that’s just another gimmick and the gun was fake or not loaded, whatever. Stating him good wid everybody and everybody good wid him.

Jamaica is the ultimate contradiction. Seriously, look up contradiction in the dictionary and well maybe you wont exactly see a picture of us or a map of Jamaica but it would be a spot on description of how Jamaicans carry-on in almost all aspects of life. For example the image of white sand beaches friendly happy helpful natives in the ultimate island paradise. Jamaica? No problem mon! The Tourist Board sells that image and the tourists eat it up like fat girls at Portland Jerk Festival. But then for those who live here it feels like the murder capital of the universe and any others that may be parallel to us. We kill without explanation like life is a game and you can restart at your last save point, like we are in a civil war, but we are not. And sadly we seem to have become numb to death and injustice.

Now there is another association, a new one that, if left unchecked will destroy an already weakening foundation. The budding idea that the only thing left in Jamaica is homophobic illiterates that at best produce disposable music with the lifespan of a housefly or at worst murder music is taking root. We can hide behind the premise of Art imitating life for so long and no more. We can hide behind the premise of that is what the people want to hear for so long and no more.

We have to be delusional to think that if we saturate the market with the same songs done the same way on recycled riddims that eventually everyone will not simply get sick of hearing them. For example think of any two recent riddims. I’ll now do a magic trick and name all the songs on the riddims you thought of. Here goes:

1. People badmind.

2. Gal yuh baddy good and yuh can keep yuh man wid yuh good hole and yuh man mine yuh because yuh hole good.

3. Dash out yuh hole……………

4. Lies about oral sex, sex in general.

5. Mi have more money than that nigga and mi can floss and hype more than them too.

6. Mi want money.

7. Some stupid song that passes off as a dance anthem when in fact there is no ‘dance’ just an excuse for a group of long seed man to bleach their faces wear tight pants pink close fitting shirts jump on each other’s ass and pretend that they are not latent homos.

8. Mi have the most gal, I know nothing of sex, love or how to treat a good woman right but mi a galis.

9. And if a rasta man is there mi love jah and jah love me, Selassie I.

There I just named all the local songs that ever made it to radio and in the dance. Give or take a very very few exceptions.

Clearly drastic changes need to be made as unfortunately for us, our music has as much worldwide appeal as a used tampon. Further more it will not be fixed with the projection of domestic violence, sad attempts at a porn career and constant infighting for what is perceived as scarce benefits by the narrow minded. It cannot be that the doors slammed shut after Shaggy and Sean Paul. It cannot be that it is their phennotypical features that attributes to their success. It cannot only be parental legacies why the Marley’s constantly sell out venues and win international awards.

The music is more potent than the weed we… they smoke and the blood sweat and determination of our predecessors for it to be classified as garbage instead of doing what it is suppose to which is positively affecting the world. So called artists and producers need to get off their lazy asses and make something of value every once in a while. Stop claiming that the business was destroyed over night and you had nothing to do with it.

But what do I know? And no one who should will read this anyway.

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Once up on a time the Creator was in the process of naming all the animals in the world. As you can imagine this went on for some time and it was a very big task to come up with really good names. Eventually names like Aye-Aye and Frigate bird can give a glimpse into the Creator Sprit’s disposition. Much time passed (this was before hours were invented) and finally the Creator was done, sighed and melted in a chair due to the sheer exhaustion of the completed task. Then out of nowhere came a small almost frightened voice it said,
Gad?

So God jump up now and bawl out.
A who dat? A who leff?

This little fish walk out of the shadows, still a bit frightened and with really big Puss in Boots eyes says, Gaddami….

Jack Mandora mi nuh choose none.

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Tim Turbo Thursday was a weekly DJ mix podcast hosted and curated by Tim Turbo. He selected and performed, as well as invited handpicked guests on a regular basis. TTT was limited to 50 issues, this is the last issue.

Devil-may-care! It’s over!

This is the last and final Tim Turbo Thursday, but it will be the first live issue! I set up a small but nice event to finish up the TTT series with style: Everybody in Munich, Germany is invited to drop by at Café King tonight and everybody else around the world is invited to listen and watch me, Dubstep wunderkind Danny Scrilla and Bavaria bass legend K.I.T.T. Flori playin’ 50 commemoration minutes each in a live video- and audiostream at seen-site.com/ttt50stream starting around 9:00 PM CET.

I hope you guys enjoyed the last 49 issues. I deffo did! Thank you all for listening and thanks to all my guests for their sets and yeah, I’m sure, Tim Turbo Thursday is definitly over, no Michael Jordan comebacks over here. All you bookers out there: the only chance to get Tim Turbo doing a mix for you is now booking him in your club.

Take care, the message is love!

Sincerly yours,

Tim Turbo

Notes: Check out all the previous issues. Become a fan of Tim Turbo on Facebook. Book me by writing some real talk to: book.tim.turbo[at]seen-site[dot]com, check my music on MySpace & Soundcloud and my take a look at my press kitt.

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Recently I stood in Half Way Tree in an eternally long ABM line. Observing the traffic both on the road and in the plaza (mall) and realized that Christmas was upon us. In light of that I figured I would share a few of my mother’s and other women I know with really great Christmas recipes. Fruitcakes are an integral part of the Jamaican Christmas experience. Even in houses where mommies didn’t bake or cook for that matter, they always had cakes and sorrel at home for when the inevitable visitors stopped by. I still have fond childhood memories of being the official mixer, to which I always got a stern warning every year.

“Nuh change the direction yu a mix in or yu a go spoil mi cake!”

The kitchen was always warm and filled with the aroma of cakes or meats and other traditional Christmas foods. I never liked the taste of batter but my little sister went crazy for it so instead of batter as payment for my labours, I’d get the tester cake. This is a really small cake one would bake usually before to ensure that everything was satisfactory. But in my house the tester cake was usually the last to get baked partly because my mother made it from the leftover batter and also as an incentive to get me to wash the dishes. So without further delay her is the recipe (please just don’t tell my mother I gave it to you).

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 cup (250g) soft margarine
1 cup (250g) sugar
6 eggs
250g (1/2 pound) soaked raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon mixed spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
¼ cup mixed peel blended
125g (4 ozs) cherries
125g (1/4 pound) prunes chopped
2 cups Tia Maria
2 cups red wine
1 cup sherry
1 cup brandy
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
Finely grated rind of 1 lime/lemon
2-3 tablespoons browning

Method

1. Cream margarine, sugar and browning until soft and very fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
3. Sift all dry ingredients and combine bread crumbs. Add to cream mixture alternately with wet (wine, brandy etc.)
4. Add browning and fold in soaked fruits
5. Pour into greased, (Optional) lined 9” round cake pan
6. Bake at 3500F for 1 ½ hours (or just stick a clean knife in the center of the cake when it smells really nice if it comes out clean then the cake is done).

Oh yeah I forgot to mention the fruits used in our traditional fruit cakes are usually soaking in rum or what ever booze of choice for about a year before. If you don’t have that luxury, fruits can be boiled for a short time then left in water to cool. Strain and place fruits in rum and wine mixture. The important thing is that the fruits are blended out properly. So go try it and tell me all about how your Fruit Cakes turned out babies and what substitutions you made if any.

As always sending my seen. babies lots of sunshine and hugs till next time.

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