Dennis Brown makes strides on Amazon, iTunes

THE music of the late Crown Prince of Reggae, Dennis Brown, has jumped on iTunes and Amazon charts following leaked music and also an influential media report listing him among the world's 50 'great' voices.

This week his music charted three places on Amazon, including:

*#1 with Love and Hate;

*# 3 with Milk and Honey; and

*# 4 with Bless Me Jah.

He was also # 3 on iTunes with Love and Hate. Digital sales account for one-third of global music sales and iTunes is the dominant online music store in the US and Amazon is fourth, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Digital Report 2010.

Brown's music, however, has not charted in the top 10 on iTunes in recent memory as the chart is dominated by the latest releases from international reggae artistes, along with the catalogue albums of Bob Marley, Sean Paul and Shaggy.

All of the albums charting by Brown are catalogue hits. However, this month an updated version of Brown's classic single Promised Land featuring US rapper Nas and deejay Damian Marley was leaked online. The single has been receiving a lot of Internet buzz which may have triggered interest in his back catalogue. It is part of the artiste duo album Distant Relatives, delayed for a year, now set for a late May release date.

The Promised Land maintains the chorus and heavy bassline of the original, but Marley and Nas trade verses. The song's theme re-imagines Africa enjoying the prosperity of US. The album's first official single, As We Enter, features the duo deejaying in a call-and-response formation.

The duo stated on their Myspace.com page that the album is not aimed at being commercial, however it is highly anticipated.

"What we're about to do right now is go back. Back to a time when rap's greatest hits were created in basement soundrooms, not corporate boardrooms. When dancehall and hip-hop music was all about moving the crowd not moving units," a joint statement read.

Also last week, National Public Radio (NPR) the US equivalent to the BBC in the UK, published an article on Brown in its section entitled 50 Great Voices. The article included interviews by Damian Marley and Freddie McGregor, who both lauded Brown as the Crown Prince of Reggae. The series will run weekly throughout 2010 and feature a "great" singer from around the world.

Brown died in 1999 after a career spanning four decades.

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