Singing Melody takes the gospel route

Singing Melody emerged on the music scene in the late 1980s with covers of popular American recordings. In the 1990s he hooked up with Lukie D, Thriller U, and Tony Curtis to form LUST. Even though he was a part of the group, he still maintained his solo projects. He scored hits with a cover of Take That's Back For Good (which he renamed Want You Back), Say What, Let It Flow, Good Enough, When A Woman's Fed Up, I Wanna Know and Shower Me With Your Love.

These days, Singing Melody is singing a different tune. A gospel tune that is. The singer, who was born Everton Hardware is now a born again Christian.

Singing Melody said his conversion to the Christian faith was eminent for sometime. "At the end of the day you don't want to work for two masters. Only one and that one is the Supreme Being," he explained.

But has his conversion altered his singing material in any way? "Not really. God knows I had a job before. He knows what is best and he prepares people. The lyrics are no longer just for the girls, it's for the people as well," Singing Melody said.

He has so far recorded the inspirational Reason and the gospel-infused Talk About Jesus with his LUST members.
Reason, which is on the Fat Eyes label, is currently climbing the New York Reggae chart. Last week the song debuted at number 27. His biggest hit on that chart to date has been Say What which peaked at number three in 2000.

Singing Melody says he plans to do a lot more music videos this year to get his music to reach a wider audience. He is presently working on his third album for VP Records. "The album is going to have a variety in its musical journey," Singing Melody assured.

Spida hopes to spin a web of hits

For Christopher Boswell, aka Spida, music is a way of life. No wonder he goes by the name Spida, an indication of how he got himself caught into the musical web. He grew up with a healthy appreciation for music. His admiration for the art form saw him developing a fondess for material from the likes of Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye.

When he was 17, the former Kingstonian migrated to the US. While attending school there his friends invited him to several shows. This fed his desire and before long he was writing nail-biting lyrics and performing them at various local stage shows in the New York tri-state area.

It was during one of those performances that he met Haitian-born rapper/producer/musician Wyclef Jean, who told him about a studio he (Wyclef) owned in New Jersey. He ended up doing some work with the Fugees and even opened shows for the Grammy-winning trio. That stint saw him being featured on MTV, BET, and Showtime at the Apollo.

In 1996, he branched off to do his own thing. He eventually built his own recording studio, Tarantula Entertainment. Spida has produced not only his very own projects but he has worked on projects for several up-and-coming acts in the New York area. Rapper Fat Joe has also recorded a project with him.

Last year Spida released his album Forgotten One. The 12-track disc features Lonely Guy, Lucky Guy and Goodbye. As the promotional machine moves into gear, Spida is concentrating on moving to a higher level as far as his career is concerned.

Kip Rich rides high with Baby Song

The amusing Baby Song by Kip Rich, which is on Christopher Birch's Military rhythm project, has been making strides on the charts of late.

This is the first major chart entry for Kip Rich since he was a featured artiste on the number one hit Bad Man Nuh Pet Gal five years ago. That song was from Louis 'Flabba' Malcolm's then prolific Hurricane rhythm.

Kip Rich has had a handful of hits since he emerged on the scene in the late 1990s. They include Leggo Di Bwoy, Imagine This and Cut Him Off.

These days Kip Rich is busy readying his debut album for the Big Yard label. He will shortly head overseas for a series of shows.

George Nooks' Give Thanks due March 29

March 29 has been earmarked for the release of George Nooks' forthcoming gospel album. Nooks and producer Norman 'Bull Puss' Bryan have been in the studios putting the final touches to the project. The first single, which is the disc's title track Give Thanks, has been serviced to local radio.

Nooks says the gospel project will display his versatility and open his music to a wider cross-section of music lovers.

No video for Lovers and Friends

Music video fans who have been waiting for a video for the track Lovers and Friends by Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz featuring Ludacris and Usher, will be disappointed to know that this will not materialise anytime soon. Word is that there has been some form of record label politics which has prevented a video from being shot.

Last year, Lil Jon and Ludacris teamed up with Usher for the number one collaborative hit Yeah. Interestingly, Lovers and Friends is number one on Billboard's Rap Singles chart and Top 10 on both the R&B and Pop charts without the aid of a video.

Just in case you didn't know, Lovers and Friends was originally recorded by Miami- based reggae singer Michael Sterling. The track first surfaced on Sterling's 2002 album Right Now.

Documentary plays the chart game

Rapper The Game debuts at number one on Billboard's 200 album chart this week as his sophomore album Documentary sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week of release to take over the top spot. On the singles chart, How We Do by The Game, featuring label mate 50 Cent, continues its upward climb on the rap, R&B and pop singles charts.

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Warrior King, who hit the scene four years ago with Virtuous Woman, Never Go Where Pagans Go and Breath of Fresh Air, will release his sophomore album in March via VP Records.

Singer Anthony Cruz looks hit-bound with his faithful reading of Aerosmith's Don't Wanna Miss A Thing. Nice cover.

The Grimey rhythm from the Ballas camp is one to keep an eye on. It is laced with hit-packed tracks from the dancehall's top names. Remember their debut project, the Spanish Fly rhythm?

Greensleeves has snapped up Mario C's new project, the Bomb a drop rhythm.

Dancehall group TOK has teamed up with popular Soca artiste Machel Montano of Xtatik out of Trinidad and legendary rapper Dougie Fresh on a brand new track entitled We Not Giving Up for this year's soca season. The group flies out to Trinidad to kick off the season this week, to promote the track and will be guests at Xtatik's annual season launching concert on January 29. TOK will take part in a week-long build-up to Carnival before returning to Jamaica.

TOK scored a hit with soca and reggae fans alike with last year's Fire, Fire from the Mad Instrument Dance rhythm.

Dancehall deejay Vybz Kartel left the island yesterday (Thursday) for New York to record a collaboration with rapper Missy Elliott. The still untitled recording is said to be earmarked for inclusion on her forthcoming Atlantic Records album.

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