Jamaican singer WINSOME BENJAMIN receives a Citation

WINSOME BENJAMIN, receives a Citation from the President of the Society for the Advancement for the Caribbean Diaspora ( S A C D ) Ms Minna LaFortune ( right ) at left is Mr Errol Maye Chair of the Fund Raising and marketing Director for (S A C D)

The Citation was giving on behalf the Borough President of Brooklyn New York, Marty Markowitz.  The event was a Scholarship Fundraising held at St Francis College down town Brooklyn on Saturday June 29^th 2013.

Ms Benjamin also receives Citation from City Council member

Jumaane D. Williams of Brooklyn New York. 

The large crowd kept asking the singer for more and more of the sweet Reggae music she was offering. 

SHANE BROWN TEAMS UP WITH TARRUS RILEY

Prominent producer, Shane Brown has now joined the team of highly-acclaimed Reggae singer, Tarrus Riley.

Brown will now co-manage Riley alongside fellow manager and renowned saxophonist, Dean Fraser. The arrangement was announced on Wednesday.

Riley and Brown re no strangers they have enjoyed success together before as they teamed for Riley’s hit single, Start Anew in 2009. They also joined forces for Riley’s debut album, Challenges in 2008.

In addition to his partnership with Riley's team, Brown also co-manages former Digicel Rising Stars winner Romain Virgo.

STONE LOVE MEMBERS DENIED U.S. WORK PERMITS

The members of Stone Love sound system are in shock because some their top selectors were recently denied work permits for the United States of America.

It is said that nine members of Stone Love went to the U.S Embassy recently to secure work permits for upcoming tours, only three persons were granted. The other six persons were denied.

According to Winston "Wee Pow" Powell none of his crew have ever been in trouble with the law. He further said that he was trying to get an explanation from the embassy as to why they were refused and they just said that they should read the green paper that they gave to them.

Several shows are already booked in the United States for the sound Powell is at a loss and says he does not know what will happen.

JOJO MAC

JoJo Mac, beautiful and talented singer and songwriter, adds to the copious Talents, which hail from the parish of Clarendon in Jamaica West Indies. She has lived in the United States (U.S.) for most of her life, and can tackle any music genre; however, she will admit that she has never strayed from her reggae roots. In 2002, JoJo met the late Sir Clement "Coxone: Dodd, who was so impressed by her creativity and style that he recorded a song with her the very first day they met by way of introduction by Reggae veteran Ernest Wilson. She recorded 22 songs of which she wrote 20 in an eight month period. Two singles, "Good Girl Go Bad" an original, and a cover "Viictm" originally done by Candi Staton, were released during the making of the impending album. Unfortunately, the album was never released due to Coxone's passing.

Determined to not let a setback keep her from pursuing her career in the music industry, back in the U.S., JoJo continued her pursuit by singing in nightclubs and opening for major acts in the reggae industry, capturing the attention of every audience she encounters leaving them gratified. JoJo has the tenacity to display versatility on any genre of rhythmic grooves and has a knack for being one with the beat. As a performer she is electricity personified and has a commanding way about her with an "in your face" delivery of her songs from other artists. She never ceases to mesmerize her audience, small or large, garnering their full attention. She was recently the only Reggae act at the Philadelphia Latin Festival, an annual event.

JoJo Mac is a brand and she wears many hats. She was the host of a cable television show, "Reggae On The Move" in Washington DC, while at the same time writing for a Baltimore newspaper "Caribbean Connection," giving advice to the lovelorn in a weekly column called "Issues of the Heart." She also had a part in a voice that was independenty produced by a Washington DC production company, production company, Blackberry Productions. The Philadelphia resident is currently a news correspondent for several radio stations across the US and the United Kingdom. Her voice has also been used for voice-overs. Despite her many talents and experiences, she would be quick to point out that her first love is singing and performing. She is an avid songwriter who either wrote or co-wrote all of the songs for her Debut Album/CD "SuperStar" released digitally in October 2011. The spin-off album titled "Superstar Relodaded" is her newest release with an official video for the track "Forget Him" to follow and a hot reggae track with Chaka Demus.

JoJo Mac is definitely one to watch.

AMBELIQUE

Following in the footsteps of Gregory Issacs John Holt Ken Boothe, Beres Hammond, Freddie McGregor and Dennis Brown Ambelique has now agreed to a selective group of artists from Jamaica who sing and make deep soulful reggae the way it should be!

There is an old saying "nothing happens before its time" It could have been coined especially for Ambelique who despite his wealth of current hits and soaring popularity among grassroots enthusiasts, waited patiently for his breakthrough in reggae big time Then again Ambelique is no ordinary singer His expression and voice tone technique is simple stunning and soul in his voice so moving at times the listener is reminded of early R & B greats as Sam Cooke

Jamaican by birth, he grew up in Waltham Park areat Kingston same town that gave us Dennis Brown Freddie McGregor and Sugar Minott The Stewart Brothers [Tinga & Roman] It was Ska and Rocksteady Legend Derrick Harriott who took him to the studio for the first time

Ambelique left Jamaica to New York, it was in New York, where he introduced and helped hand, Third World lead singer Bunny Rugs with touring band Hugh Hendricks & The Buccaneers Ambelique moved to Los Angeles, where he joined a group called only with a group called Third Eye ago with Methuselem During this time He has started their own production projects under the guidance of the renowned Engineer / Producer Carl Pitterson

In 1994, he returned to Jamaica and was introduced to Sly & Robbie Jamaica's musical giants as Noel Brown andThan on the recommendation of Colin''Bulby''York - for which he later recorded hits Lonely Soldier Stick To The Task and Soldier On The Front Line, it was Sly & Robbie, who gave him his long-awaited entry into the mainstream with their reggae version of Brian McKnight One Last Cry and R Kelly's for both of you explode to the top of the New York Reggae charts in 1996 and played a Caribbean single "Cuando Cuando" inspire a whole album of covers entitled Ambelique Sings The Classics released the following year and rocked The Reggae Chart realize the commercial potential Iceland Jamaica soon as he issued and Chevelle Franklin's cover of Richie Valen La Bamba on CD single Ambelique also contributed two songs to the Sly & Robbie & Friends Grammy-winning album from 1999 - one ofthem Penny Lover and the other a non-accredited version of the Rolling Stones' Satisfaction featuring Keith Richards on guitar The future looked bright from the most self-effacing of newcomers, but Island Jamaica folded leaves Ambelique and Sly & Robbie to seek their fortune elsewhere

Hans R & B sound and feel worked beautifully on a handful of singles released by Classic Albums such as worker's Man''Me Oh My "and" Is it still good to you Ambelique became a freelance soon after recording tracks for Gordon 'Flash' Lee Fat Eyes and Clive Hunt in Jamaica-High Power Phillip Smart [Shoulder To Cry On] Don One [Hands of Time] in the U.S. The impact he created in America can be measured by the prolifbete tracks included on VP Records best selling Strictly The Best and Reggae Gold Series

In 2000 Ambelique shot to the top of the Reggae chart with the song Sheriff in Town Bluer Than Blue both win a seat on the Rhythm Selector Series on Jet Star

Ambelique singles has repeatedly appeared on the Jet Star compilation of his work in the UK have also achieved success in the U.S. with the hit "Doctor Love" topped the New York Reggae chart once he has completed albums for Phillip Smart Don One and Jet Star a late charge a track from his 2nd the album also topped the charts in New York "Share My Love" featuring Chevelle Franklin again enstating him as the most popular loving artist in this millennium Followed by the album "Love Got a Hold on Me and Special Attention Reggae Gold Classics each one holding a top position in Reggae Album Charts

Ambelique albumsin Devious Records Label is set to be released in 2005 to much acclaim "Entitled Let's Take a Chance

his next album" The Vibes of Ambelique "is set to release 2007

This album is very special Ambelique since it includes a selection of some of his best works

A super songwriter as a master stylist of his goals is to make timeless music that will last for generations to come and true form has achieved this on virtually everything he has touched since re-entering the business during the mid-nineties

" People just want to be famous and make money but I want to make songs that still sell ten to twenty years from now "

You see music is the medium through which everybody can be taught as an artist we should say something meaningful" Ambelique

CONGRATS - JOHNNY OSBOURNE

JOHNNY OSBOURNE and MAJOR LAZER'S "Jah No Partial" which samples Johnny's song "Mr Marshall" is #44 new entry on BILLBOARD DANCE MUSIC CLUB PLAY CHART.

Youtube strips Universal & Sony of 2 BILLION fake views.

YOUTUBE —

Google slashed the cumulative view counts on YouTube channels belonging to Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG, and RCA Records by more than 2 billion views, a drastic winter cleanup that may be aimed at shutting down black hat view count-building techniques employed by a community of rogue view count manipulators on the video-sharing site.

Universal’s channel is the one that took the biggest hit. According to figures compiled by the YouTube statistics analysts at SocialBlade, the record company’s YouTube channel lost more than 1 billion views from its preexisting tally of 7 billion views.

Photo via SocialBlade

Sony/BMG was the second largest sufferer, dropping more than 850 million views in one day, bringing its total number of views to a mere 2.3 million. RCA, which got off scot free by comparison, dipped 159 million views. Its tally now sits more modestly at 120 million views.

In addition, each label’s YouTube archives are now surprisingly thin. UMG, which had long held a heavy hand in YouTube operations, now only boasts five videos on its YouTube channel, none of which are actual songs—and none of which last more than 1:23.

Sony’s page, by comparison, is currently empty. The company did not respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.

RELATED STORIES

How a terrible music video cheated its way to 8.5 million views

Royalty Free: Why YouTube and Creative Commons can’t coexist

Bitcoin strippers tell all

Other notable channels affected include the ones belonging to Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Beyoncé, and Avril Lavigne, among others. More than 500 prominent YouTube channels have been stripped of preexisting YouTube views in the past 30 days, something that causes concern when you consider that YouTube views counts, unlike subscriber statistics, are cumulative and cannot organically drop at any point throughout their existence.

Google’s takedown of these major music channels came on the same day that hundreds of YouTubers took to Google forums and their own YouTube channels to inform their peers that they’d been subject to a series of video takedowns for violations of YouTube’s Terms of Service (TOS). Some speculated that the widespread video takedowns were caused by a technical error, but YouTube confirmed that the users violated TOS item 4, Section H, which bans automated methods of inflating view counts.

“This was not a bug or a security breach. This was an enforcement of our viewcount policy,” wrote a Google representative on the forums.

The apparent crackdown on fake views became a major talking point Wednesday on Black Hat World, a forum where users trade tips about unethical search engine optimization tactics.

The thread’s first post alluded to a friend of the poster who “sells likes” and was recently told by four different customers that their videos “got deleted due to TOS violation.”

“Now I also got a message from a customer who ordered views from me that his video was removed,” the individual wrote, sparking a six page conversation that continues on to this moment—and mentions Universal Music Group throughout.

“I spoke with some people on Skype and 2-3 more have the same problems with videos being removed for fake views,” the original poster added in a later post. “Likes are from YLH (YouLikeHits) and AddMeFast and views from ViralSocial in my case.”

Later in the thread, the conversation turned towards an individual known in some online circles as Tapangoldy, a 16-year-old seller of YouTube views who is prominent on the cheap favors website Fiverr and claimed last month to have already raised $60,000 through the site. Recently, he closed up shop for a few days “to fix all issue thanks.”

Tapangoldy, who among other things had offered YouTubers an excess of 10,700 new views to any video of their choosing for $5, held a 98 percent “Gig Rating” before becoming inundated with negative reviews on Wednesday, most of which painted him as a fraud who uses bots to accrue YouTube views.

Although Tapangoldy seems to be one of the top-rated sellers of YouTube views, he isn’t the only Fiverr user whose business has been affected. One Black Hat World user wrote, “I’m just having great fun watching the Fiverr bloodbath. Most the top rated gigs for views are either paused or being flooded with bad reviews.”

How closely is Tapangoldy tied to Universal, Sony, and RCA? It’s something we can’t presently confirm. The Daily Dot has been unable to contact him during his temporary exile, and he could have nothing to do with the labels’ overnight YouTube collapse. But Tapangoldy’s sudden change in fortune comes at an interesting time considering all of the preexisting elements, their pertinence to the major label music structure or otherwise.

YouTube did not respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.

UPDATE: Universal acknowledged the sudden drop in views, and told the Daily Dot that the Universal Music Group channel, though popular, has been mostly dormant since the company shifted its focus to individual channels hosted on Vevo, which Universal founded in conjunction with Sony Music, Abu Dhabi Media Company, and E1 Entertainment in 2009.