ATI Celebrates 10 Years of High Energy and Wild Abandon

Alex Chin, a promoter involved in the ATI party weekend recalls that the absolute concept was arrived at using Brand Jamaica as the platform. Jamaica has given the world many absolutes; absolute athletes, absolute thinkers, absolute vacations and so much more. Using this concept, they dreamed of another type of absolute. They wanted to create the Absolute party experience.

The ATI team worked at the concept, which was the brainchild of Alex Chin, and it finally became a reality in the summer of 2001 when a group of young promoters hosted for the first time Absolute Temptation Isle, ATI. It was the hosting of several events over three days during the Jamaican Independence holiday season in Negril Jamaica. The promoters combined the forces of several of Jamaica's best party promoters to put out a novel concept in the party industry, one which apparently had cured the craving of their friends from across the globe and Jamaica's party population.

The recipe for this formula was 18 hours of partying with 6 hours of sleep, spread out over three days during the Holiday weekend in the most idyllic spot in the Western Hemisphere, Negril, Jamaica. This innovative concept set a precedent which undoubtedly caused many to gravitate towards, and even attempted to replicate. However, with each staging of the event, the concept is reinvented so that ATI remains the premier weekend party experience.
Negril has now evolved into the party mecca of Jamaica, and over the ten years, the Appleton Temptation Isle event has exploded from 6,000 patrons in 2001 to over 20,000 in 2008.

The team is not resting with these numbers, and it still setting its eyes on bringing this party experience to the rest of the world. Over the years, the founding promoters has been sharing this conceptual genesis with other party promoters from Atlanta, Florida and Kingston with the fruits to be borne later.

With this in mind, we take a look at the party over the years:

Year 2001
Parties - Stages – 14 hours, Bikini & Shorts, Beach Bums, Crave, and Jungle after parties.

Year 2002
Title Sponsor: Appleton Jamaica Rum
Parties -Welcome Party, Crave, Bon Fire, Stages, Bikini & Shorts, and 4 Jungle Parties.

Year 2003
Title Sponsor:  Appleton Jamaica Rum
Parties -Stages, Flirt, Jungle Nights, Bikini & Shorts, Fully Loaded and Appletini.

Year 2004
Date:  August 5 – 8 
Title Sponsor:  Appleton Jamaica Rum
Parties -Temptation, Beach Bums, First Fridays, KFC Summer Hotshots, Ripple Effects, Bikini & Martinis, Stages, Colours, Atlantis and Flirt.

Year 2005
Date:  July 29 – August 1  
Title Sponsor:  Appleton Jamaica Rum
Parties -First Fridays, Tempted, Beach Bums, Stages, Colours, Wild Sides, Temptation Live Summer Shots, Ripple Effect, Extatiq Pretty in Pink, Bikini & Shorts and White Knights.

Year 2006
Date:  July 28 – August 1  
Major Sponsor:  Digicel & Smirnoff Vodka
Parties -First Fridays, Tempted, Stages, Colours, Wild Sides, Extatiq Pretty in Pink, Soul Food, Smirnoff, Temperature, DayDreams, Temptation Live, BET Celebrity After Party, Bikini & Shorts, Fusion, Free Entry into the Jungle.
Absolute Temptation Isle brought on board a new title sponsor namely Red Stripe, out of this partnership was born Red Stripe Temptation Isle “RTI”. 
Year 2007
Date:  August 3– August 6
Title Sponsor:  Red Stripe
Associate Sponsor:  Digicel
Parties -Tempted, Jungle Madness, DayDreams, Stages, Colours, Temptation Live I, Wild Sides, Pretty in Pink, Temptation Live II, Fusion, and Fever.

Year 2008 
Date:  July 31  –  August 3
Title Sponsor:  Red Stripe
Associate Sponsor:  Flow
Parties -Tempted, Day Dreams, Pretty in Pink, Temptation Live I, Stage, Colours, Temptation Live II, Wild Sidesand Fusion.

Year 2009
Date: August 5-9
Title Sponsor: Appleton Jamaica Rum
Parties -Stages, Wildsides, Pretty in Pink, Joker's Wild Colours, Tempted, Rhythm and Booze and Hip Hop J'Ouvert.

ATI is one of the summer’s most anticipated and celebrated party series, held in Negril Westmoreland. The series of parties pulls thousands of Jamaicans and overseas visitors together in party unity, with each party bearing a distinct theme and flavour.

ATI begins in 22 days, see you in Negril from July 30 to August 02.

Source: Headline Entertainment

Reggae Sumfest Honours Voicemail's O'Neil

Kingston Jamaica: Summerfest Productions, organizers of Reggae Sumfest have dedicated Dancehall Night to the memory of the late O'Neil Edwards, former member of Dancehall group Voicemail. Headline Exclusive

The energetic and colourful O'Neil passed away on Wednesday, May 26, two weeks after falling victim to a vicious assault by gunmen at his home. The Reggae Sumfest team felt it was a fitting tribute to a man whose music has played a key role in the maintenance of the flair, fun, and finesse of the dancehall culture.

"It is appropriate to honour a vibrant personality that was loved in the music business," explains Johnny Gourzong, Executive Director of Reggae Sumfest. "The Voicemail group has brought the fun factor in the music, and O'Neil was a key element in this regard. He was loved and respected by fans, fellow artistes, promoters and just about everybody in the business, so we will honour his memory with this dedication."

Voicemail will be performing on Dancehall Night Thursday, July 22. The remaining group members Jerome "Craig" Jackson and Kevin Blair expressed gratitude for the gesture made by Reggae Sumfest and promised a fitting tribute performance. Speaking on their behalf, Craig stated their appreciation.

"It's a very good gesture," he noted. "We support the move and are pleased. I think O'Neil would be very happy for something like this so I guess he is where he is now smiling and giving us support."

Craig and Kevin have planned a special tribute performance in memory of their fallen comrade. They intend to include the single Praise His Name written by the group before O'Neil's untimely passing. As Craig remarked, the Reggae Sumfest dedication is another sign of Jamaica's love for the group and what they represent.

"Personally we're overwhelmed right now…I knew that Voicemail was loved but never knew we were loved like this. If there was any thought of ending the group Voicemail, this would be inspiration for us to continue - not that there was any, but if there were, that alone would convince us that the journey should continue…best thing to do is to be strong and continue to do what he would have wanted and what he would have done."

O'Neil Edwards was shot on May 10 at his Duhaney Park home in, St Andrew, and succumbed to his injuries 16 days later. He died just three weeks after his 35th birthday. He's survived by his then six-week-old daughter, girlfriend, mother, five sisters and four brothers.

Voicemail will perform on Dancehall Night, joining a list that includes Bounty Killer, Mavado, Elephant Man, Vybz Kartel, Tifa, Cecile, and Stacious. Reggae Sumfest continues the following night with International Night One and will feature International recording artist Chris Brown as well as Queen Ifrica, Jah Cure, & Gyptian. International Night two brings to the Sumfest stage mega platinum sensation Usher, Shaggy, Beenie Man, Tarrus Riley & Gramps Morgan.

Tickets for the Beach Party on Saturday, July 17 are available for $1500. Tickets for dancehall night (Thursday, July 22) cost $2800 presold and $3000 at the gate, and for International Night one and two (Friday, July 23 and Saturday, July 24), advance tickets cost $4700 and $5000 at the gate.

In Montego Bay, tickets are available at El Paso Records, Pier One, Fairview Texaco, Fontana Pharmacy, Wexford Hotel, Pier One, Mobay Proper Ltd. and Parkway Supermarket. In Kingston, they're available at York Pharmacy, LG Service Centre, Rory's Texaco, Acropolis and Sportsmax Zone. In Ocho Rios they're available at Pierview Vacation Inn, in Negril at Times Square Shopping Mall, in Portmore at Travel Mania, and in Mandeville at Fontana Pharmacy

Source: Headline Entertainment

Wayne Marshall Set To Capture Hearts and The Airwaves

Wayne Marshall has done it again. The dancehall artiste is set to launch the video for his increasingly popular single Messing With My Heart with a scorching hot 4-minute feature that tells the story of the tune, with stunning realism and exhilaration.

Set to premier on local TV on Friday night, Marshall says that he is extremely excited about the song and the video and hasn't felt this way since the release of Marshall Town, his first chart-topping single and subsequent solo video.

The song sits sweetly on a Baby G produced riddim and tells a story Marshall contends is "a realistic situation which people can relate to". "I went down to Jammy's studio, which incidentally is the first place I ever recorded, and the riddim was just bouncing in the studio. I jumped out with the first line and loved it so I ran with it, and then developed the idea from there. I wanted to create a story which people would hear, connect with and think was real," he said.

Fast forward through a free-styling session and Marshall's Messing With My Heart was completely penned out and ready to record a day later. Producer Baby G; King Jammy's son; says that the riddim and the song were made for each other. He tells us that the riddim was actually made in New York when he was "just vybing with some friends", but knew instantly that its beat and idea would make a perfect base for a wicked song.

"Every time I work with Wayne Marshall... something spectacular happens. We have a bond that supersedes our work in music because we are real life friends, and so our synergy when we come together to work is just mind-blowing."

Marshall laughs at the fact that the song has become so real, that persons have been asking if he and wife Tami Chynn are going through a rough patch. "(laughs) The lines between music and reality are blurred sometimes but as an artiste you draw inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. Everybody can rest assured the song isn't about me and Tami".

He took the song to friend and director Storm Salter, who is on the brink of releasing his first feature film, to turn Messing With My Heart into an epic video, which Salter has done. "

I wanted to create a something that really made the song come alive and not leave people cheated. I realised that it would take more than just a regular video to do that, and we went to Storm, because he has experience in making great short films and we know each other well and we feed off each other's creative energies very easily," Marshall said.

Meanwhile, he gives praises to Salter for a job well done, especially with cinematography and editing. "I can't tell you too much, but just the way it was shot sets the stage for what is a hot video. It's almost like you're looking at everything unveil from a perspective of a fly on the wall." Baby G, whose real name is Trevor James, concurs."

The video is spectacular! The quality is next to none and the acting is superb. There's just nothing missing from it." The script for the video was already written with the lyrics of the song, and Salter ensures that what will be premiered this weekend on our television screens tells the story of the heartbroken man clearly and properly."

We had to go all out with the acting in the video, and it gave me a chance to show my theatrical side. Mavado is also in the video, and that adds some more excitement, especially for Mavado having done such a good job in his appearance in Drake's video and now persons can see more of that acting side of the 'gully gad'," commented Marshall.

Both Marshall and Baby G are optimistic for the song, which was officially released on iTunes on Tuesday July 6. "I want the best out of it," remarked Baby G. "Good producers produce good music, and it is heart-warming to know that this song is getting such a good vibe, because it isn't what's stereotypically enjoyed or expected from dancehall music."

The good vibe he mentions is certainly fact, knowing that the song is no stranger to airwaves and party speakers internationally, especially in North America and the UK."

The signs are very good," admits Marshall. "So we're going to be promoting this one with a great sense of pride and purpose. I'm looking to do a photoshoot, and we're going to be having a launch for the video on Friday as well so we're definitely doing this one official style," he smiled, adding that eventually the video will also be released on iTunes."

Music is for all, and music heals all wounds. Right now, the music needs a face-life and we need this type of melody and these types of songs where artistes take their work seriously and not just slap-dash music for release."

The video for Messing With My Heart will be premiered on Jamaica's most popular entertainment programme, ER on Television Jamaica this Friday at 9:00pm.

Chevaughn to kick off North American tour

After scoring the biggest hit of 2009 with the summer anthem Holiday featuring Ding Dong, on the Notice Production label, Chevaughn is once again poised as a top contender to clinch this summer's title, teaming up with Bugle and Razz & Biggy for the high-energy song titled Summer Break.

However, with the recent release of a 10-track self-titled mixtape, three new videos
and several singles including Beauty Queen on Digicel's Next Generation rhythm CD compilation, Chevaughn will have to postpone the celebrations as he makes final preparation to leave the island this week for a North American tour with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and music icon Jimmy Cliff, who is also the headliner for the six-week assignment.

The tour will see them making a thorough sweep of Canada and the Unites States of America, before returning home late August.

"It is a great honour and a privilege for any entertainer to tour with someone like Jimmy Cliff, he is an icon in this business and we, as the next generation of recording artistes, can learn so much from his wealth of knowledge and experience. These six weeks I will not just go there as Chevaughn the artiste, but as an ambassador for our music and Jamaica, land we love."

On his return, there will be no time to rest. Chevaughn is expected to join fellow band members C-Sharp for a European tour accompanied by reggae royalty, Rita Marley.

Source : Jamaica Star