Production duo The Ballaz has its sights set on making a bold statement in the New Year with a handful of riddim projects. These include Style and Rio De Jamaica.

The Ballaz team includes Damian Hall and Nigel Whitfield. The team has been responsible for hit riddims including Grimey, Spanish Fly, Buckle Up, Rat Poison, Style and Swagga, Almshouse, Gyal Segment, and Bacchagal. Additionally, the duo has produced hits including Hey Sexy Wow by Lord Kossity and Chio, Gangalee by Voice Mail, and In My Life and This is How I Feel by Terro 3000.

According to Hall, the duo has been working audaciously to solidify its place in dancehall music. “We have been working on a number of juggling riddims as well as a new sound for Terro 3000. There’s some good material that we plan to release over the next couple of weeks so keep your eyes to the ground,” Hall cautioned.

He also hinted that a deal is about to be signed with a UK-based label for the licensing and distribution of productions out of the Ballaz camp.

aid Hall, “Over the years we have worked with almost every artiste worth mentioning in some capacity either as a producer or engineer on a song. We have music coming out with Busy Signal, Voicemail, RDX, Wasp, TOK, Lady Saw, Tifa and Timeka Marshall. The list goes on.”

Hall believes that the Ballaz has a place in the market. “In my opinion I think that Ballaz is bringing back the authentic sound of dancehall, and it can be seen by the number of dancehall sounding riddims that have been released since we put out Style and Swagga. I have also been receiving a lot of feedback from artists, selectors, other producers and people who just love dancehall music, from all over the world, on the impact that Style and Swagga has made. Authentic dancehall is not only about the pattern or sequence, it is more about the tone of the music”, Hall opined.

Former Rising Stars contestant signs with overseas based label

Manchester based recording artist Hylton Golding who records under the moniker Major Fresh has signed with the US-based Mr Vision Music label. The dancehall artiste is confident that the association with label will reap rewards as far as his career is concerned.

“Next year I want the name Major Fresh to be big in the dancehall music industry. I have been putting in the hard work over the years, as matter of fact next year I am going to work even harder. I am not going let 2012 finish and the dancehall fans don’t recognize me as a top act,” vowed Major Fresh.

The former Digicel Rising Star contestant is currently enjoying strong rotation on radio with his latest single, Wah Dem Hate Mi Fah.

Hot Flashes

Foundation reggae singer George Nooks is set to perform at the Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival in January. Nooks, has been riding high in recent months with the chart topping single Broken Vessel. Fans can expect Nooks to belt out perennial favourites including covers of God is Standing by, Zion Gates, Lean on Me and Hero. His hits from the 1970’s including Forty Leg (which he recorded as Prince Mohammed) is another crowd pleaser.

Alicia Keys heading to Jamaica to work on music related projects in the New Year.

Rapper Ludacris teamed up with Damian Marley and up and coming R&B singer Kevin Cossom on the track Cross My Mind. The song is earmarked for inclusion on Luda’s forthcoming 8th studio album Ludaversal.

Chart Updates

British soul singer Adele scores her best sales week with her album 21 which moved 399,000 copies over the past week. To date the album has sold some 5 million copies stateside making it the best selling album of 2011. While Adele is nudged at number two on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Michael Bublé continues to lead the throng for a fifth week as Christmas sold an additional 467,000 copies. Rapper Young Jeezy’s TM 103: Hustlerz Ambition debuts at number three with 233,000 copies.

Over in the UK, Christmas by Michael Bublé is still the number one selling album. On the UK pop singles chart, the race for the number one song for Christmas was won by Military Wives featuring Gareth Malone. Their collaborative single Wherever You Are sold 556,000 copies to take the keenly contested number one spot.

Billboard magazine’s top selling reggae album for 2011 is the live album Live Forever: September 23, 1980 by Bob Marley & the Wailers.

Sean Paul scores his second number one single in Europe for 2011. She Doesn’t Mind the second single off his upcoming fifth studio album, debuts at number one on the pop charts in Switzerland. The song is number three in France, number 34 in the Netherlands, number 43 in Sweden and number seven in Belgium.

DID YOU KNOW

Celine Dion who is billed to headline the upcoming staging of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival has quite a number of covers among her catalogue of hits. But did you know that her 1991 hit Beauty and the Beast which features Peabo Bryson, was actually a cover?

Actress Angela Lansbury best known for her starring role in the television series Murder She Wrote recorded the original version of Beauty and the Beast.