Popular music: Bay-C goes for "StreetCred"

Bay-C, Part of the 4 member Dancehall /Reggae group T.O.K, has always recorded quality solo singles since he released his project called ‘The Bombrush Hour’ in 2009.  With his venture now though as a bonafide solo artiste, he has prepared a quality EP project entitled “Better Must Come” that he is sure fans will thoroughly enjoy.

Bay-C’s solo artiste push has so far been extremely successful; a dance music single called ‘Flow’ he recorded with British producer Lokate and British artiste Doctor, was recently selected for the latest version of popular video game - Need for Speed. Bay-C is very excited about this achievement and sees it as a sign his solo career decision was an excellent one.

“This is definite major exposure. Plus it is a sign that the Bay-C brand as a solo act is a successful one. Truth is I hardly play video games. It was only after the song was selected that I asked around and heard had that it was a hugely popular game. Needless to say I was even more excited then!” Bay-C shared

The ‘Better Must Come’ EP shows Bay-C’s versatility with a blend of Reggae and Dancehall and a little acoustic sound in the mix. Bay-C is also singing as much as he deejays on the project.

“The EP is a mixture of sounds and themes. My lifestyle is that of a conscious individual with deep thoughts but also a very fun and jovial side. I see myself as that kind of artiste, a conscious lover of life and people.” Bay-C added

The project is executive produced by Bay-C’s Bombrush Records with individual record labels producing each single on the EP; Europe- based Damalistik and his Roots Survival label, Fatta 5 and his Category 5 label, Genius Sound and Bassline Records.

The Eye for an Eye single was released for Reggae month and has garnered exceptional feedback thus far. Other singles on the ‘Better Must Come’ EP include; ‘Straight Outta Portmore’, ‘Hold it out’, ‘Star’ and the title track ‘Better Must Come’.The full EP will be released digitally on Good Friday, March 25, and is distributed by Bombrush Records.

Visuals for Straight Outta Portmore can be viewed on BayCVevo page or on the Bombrush Records YouTube Page, and a music video for the "Eye For An Eye" single will be released shortly. Bay-C will perform next on the RJR Cross Country Invasion Road Show on April 2inside Clarendon, St Elizabeth and Manchester.

Ebony does "Bling" and the HuffPo takes notice

Priscilla Frank (The Huffington Post) writes about Ebony Patterson’s work and her latest exhibition "Dead Treez," which is on view until April 13, 2016at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. 

Step into a Jamaican dancehall and prepare to encounter peacocking. That is, men, expressing machismo through flamboyance, be it in bright colors, bold patterns or lots of bling. To a more conservative Western audience, displaying an attention to the glittery surface of clothing might be considered traditionally effeminate, but in the contemporary dancehall, individuals channel their conception of masculinity through impeccable and outlandish tastes. According to Jamaican artist Ebony G. Patterson, this new breed of macho fashionistos is not simply the result of a consumerist age. Every gold chain, patterned pantaloon and furry vest is hardly just a fashion statement but an intimation of something more direct: the simple yet implausible desire to be seen.

For her newest exhibition "Dead Treez," now on view at the Museum of Arts and Design, Patterson presents a blinged-out deluge of colors, patterns, sparkles and pop, in the forms of hand-embroidered tapestries, sculptures and a site-specific installations. Incorporating jewelry culled from MAD's permanent collection, Patterson conjures the vibrancy and swagger of an entire bustling nightclub, concentrated into a single, dizzying vision. Nodding to the flamboyant masculinity of Kehinde Wiley, the unapologetic glamor of Mickalene Thomas and the hip hop reverence of Rashaad Newsome, Patterson seduces her viewers into confronting difficult questions about race, gender and identity.

"I grew up in Jamaica so I guess I can say Jamaican dance hall is something that's been with me ever since I was a child," Patterson explained in an interview with The Huffington Post. "As a teenager, having gone to a school that was located within the vicinity of downtown Kingston, a lot of the girls came from varied socioeconomic backgrounds and what connected us was this interest in popular cultural music. This was in the early '90s, which was when dancehall for me was really at its height in terms of its creativity and inventiveness."

Although Patterson bonded with her female classmates over a love of dancehall music, the scene at large was, and remains, predominately male. "Women do participate but they are very male-dominated," Patterson said. "It's interesting because Jamaica is a very matriarchal society, but the dancehalls are patriarchal." In a sense, the dancehall acts as a sort of carnival, where norms are reversed, magnified and put on display. Although dancehall offers an opportunity to present gender on stage, front and center, Patterson believes that gender is always performative, whether in the club, on the street or in the home.

"There is definitely a sense of pageantry and a lot of performance when it comes to masculinity. In Jamaica there is a term that we use [meaning] braggadocious, or bombastic, which was popular in the '90s because of Shaggy," Patterson continued. "There are all of these expectations about what it may or may not mean about what it is to be masculine or feminine and we're trying to negotiate what those thing are. These popular cultural spaces provide an opportunity to expand upon these preconceived ideas and also build a kind of self-identity outside of the larger expectations of what that should be. Popular culture provides an opportunity to demonstrate uniqueness and individuality." [. . .]

The juxtaposition between Patterson's mannequins and tapestries illuminate a dismal realization: black bodies are denied visibility throughout their entire lives, only to have their images propagated thoughtlessly after death.

This sentiment echoes Patterson's 2014 performance "Invisible Presence: Bling Memories," a spectacular procession of coffins decked out with feathers, tassels and sparkles, inspired by the funeral practices common in Jamaican, lower-income communities.

"That tradition grows out of communities who feel neglected," Patterson explained. "There is a popular cultural anthropologist Donne Hope who wrote this essay called 'From the Stage to the Grave' about the bling funeral phenomenon. There's this statement she made that's always been with me, something like, 'You may not have noticed me when I was alive but you'll damn will notice me when I leave.' Taking absolute control of how she wants to be seen, even in death, is such a powerful sentiment." [. . .]

For full article, see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ebony-patterson-dead-treez_564271c4e4b060377346c5fa