Blog Posts

City Hall homage to Marley & RasTafari ~ Toronto Reggae & Canadian Reggae World

1/21/2019

Toronto Reggae YYZ, Jason McLean tweeted City Hall from November 2018 to present {weekly} to change the colors of the TORONTO sign, on the 6th February, Bob Marley’s earthstrong, to the colors of the Jamaican flag

When The Hall decided to agree with the change of color, they chose those of the red, gold and green of RasTafari, which was Jason’s first choice but he never believed that they would change it to that

They did

Will

On the Wednesday, 6th February, 2019, the colors of RasTafari will be on the TORONTO sign, starting at dusk where the colors will stand out nicely against a dark sky to signify Bob Marley’s earthstrong and homage to Reggae as well as RasTafari

Ites up Jason McLean

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

We will be on hand to shoot pics of Toronto reggae lovers from 7:00pm – 8:00ish, {if it aint too cold}

Our hope is to get a HUGE shot of reggae Toronto, so reaching out to all reggae heads to come out and share in this historical moment in Canadian reggae history, standing in front of those colors

We have also decided to resurrect The Lion’s Den for a night {an after party of sorts} with some of the amazing DJs / Selectas that have played through the years at the popular Monday night jam

Line up is African Star, Spicegad, Briggidier Kingsley, Xixgon and Friendlyness

Pure love

We will have a limited number of “coupons” for $10.00 off the cover charge of $20.00 to give away at the photo shoot

If you can’t make it for a coupon, bring a non-perishable food item for the Daily Bread Food Bank Parkdale and also will get you a $10.00 discount at the door

Our location for the after party is Remix Lounge ~ 1305 Dundas Street west

Doors open for 9:00pm

Our host and guest of honor will be Michie Mee

9:30 – 10:00pm Ras Xola Lololi will blessing the room along with the Nyabinghi Drummers

10:00pm ~ close, dancing recommended

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Feel Reggae ~ Dub Chronicles ~ 26th January, 2019

1/19/2019

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Coolest vibe is look through the historical lenses, I met the Dub Chronicles when they were playing with a much bigger band {totally forgot that we all hooked up at The Cage years ago}

Always rootical conscious, the different variations of bands, no matter the size, played good roots, conscious reggae music and a blessing to watch them morph into what seems to be their first love, "dub"

Many conversations, trial and error, many performances since and now they come to a Feel Reggae Seminar, to perform and play their music, answer a few questions on the history of dub and will do some jamming with Canadian veteran Carol Brown, the lyrically sweet Nkrumah and the soulful stylings of Tréson

Honored to work with this crew

Always blessed to have photo evidence of time served together along this reggae journey

Not sure what year but this is at least 4 - 5 years ago

The Chronicles Dub Trio at the time performing with Nkrumah

Tréson here performing with The Human Rights

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Reggae Value

1/13/2019

10 Comments

Reggae a Toronto / Canada as I see it

Everybody want freeness

The fans, the artists, the promoters... all want reggae for free

Fans don't want to pay cover

Artists want free promotion

Promoters want artists to perform for little and nothing and don't want to shell out for promotion

I get it

The die has been cast

Reggae is a less valued commodity in the eyes of the community that buys it

It is so because we practitioners have no respect for the true value of the music, the art and the culture

We have accepted the limited value babylon puts on reggae

There is an old adage that poor people don't know how to ask for money {in my case it has been true for a long time}

But now, not so much

I love reggae and reggae culture... obviously

I try my best to pay those that work for me and I won't work for free for those stuck in an archaic culture of expecting freeness

We should actually create commerce among ourselves

1. If I have a show, there is no guest list. Every artist MUST put something in the pot. When I come to your shows, I pay cover, even when I am on the guest list

2. All artists and 'friends' must pay cover at ALL artist's shows

STOP ASKING FOR GUEST LIST

Support your artist friend's talent and pay them for said talent

3. There is a pricing guide on CRW. Don't send me a flyer without payment

CRW receives 300 - 600 hits per day on average

You decide if that works for your event

4. Think consciously of how to raise the fiscal rewards to those within our own communities

Those thoughts will lead you to purchase the talent that you came to see / listen to

For too long freeness a run tings

Not I

I n I am not reliving slave mentality

I respect the value of the talent and the culture around me and will charge or pay accordingly

I n I know the value of what reggae provides

I implore conscious fans to protect the integrity of the art

Bless

JuLion

Pricing 2019

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Flyers with scantily clad women are discouraged

"The strongest foundation of our independence is the development of Our economic resources" H.I.M. Haile Selassie I

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R Kelly Benefits From Original Sin

1/7/2019

4 Comments

Hurt my heart to see a quote, "because it is black girls, no one cares"

Surviving R Kelly

A talented pedofile

The statement is true

Black girls / women believe this as a truth

It is true

The abuse to black women is real

It is also true for lots of girls... children

Some are having a difficult time separating the musical genius from the sick individual

There are women today defending R Kelly, saying, "he's just a freak... my kind of freak"

Our system of abuse towards women have women defending abusers

I liked NUFF of his tunes too and if they come on at a jam I'm at, before I catch myself, I start dancing

That is also a spiritually entity

Music

Hence the conflict with the morality for some

I Believe I Can Fly, for me is one of the greatest songs of hope in the history of song. How can one not love the author?

I did

R Kelly is proven sexual predator of underaged girls

Yet the spotlight has been on him for a while and nothing has changed

EVERYONE heard, saw, gossiped, rumors of his exploits with teenage girls for years yet he sold millions of records on hundreds charts

Predation is rampant in black and white homes

Daily

Don't get caught up in media hype about a high profile sexual predator and lose sight of the predators sitting next to our children at all family gatherings

No one cares if it is any girl

Men don't care

It's a man's world

Some fulljoy the power the construct gives us so we turn our heads when it happens to our daughters and sisters

We will maintain this masculine power at all costs

I have written about this in the past yet I will do so once again

Some of these bible toting clowns blame Eve {women} of original sin saying that Eve being tempted to sin was the easier target hence she is weaker, so she must be dominated for her own good

Cowards

Bible cowards

When you all go to church next Sunday, ask the pastor boy why Adam was such a coward and didn't tell Eve to put down the apple or whatever metaphor, tree of knowledge, serpent, satan, whatever...

Ask why the benevolent religion has excluded women as pastors, preachers for centuries

Coward ideology

Adam was a coward as are the law makers today

Adam takes no blame for his part in the "first sin"

Coward ideology

I don't want to be ruled by cowards

It weakens our children

We need Lions to rise

The cowards are killing the race

Many cowards run the planet

Men cowards

Bill Cosby, R Kelly, Harvey Weinstein and millions of men in our own families

Predators

What are we doing for the victims globally?

Who's identifying the pedofile{s} within the family and protecting the children from them?

What are we doing today to protect our daughters?

Lions / men need to step up

There must be balance of the masculine and the feminine within each individual. We need the correct amount of interaction from both for humans to be whole

We NEED masculine and feminine in balance and a coward cannot teach this

Man have to stand up to the abusive system weakening humanity

Balance

RasTafari

Recognized the mind fuck of these images to the psyche of humans for centuries now

If you apprecilove what we do, write, say feel free to donate

Etransfers: canadianreggaeworld@gmail.com
PayPal: reggaelaneking@gmail.com

All contributions go toward the continued movement of reggae music as a positive force for our human family

JuLion

#reggaeforlife

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Feel Reggae ~ Michie Mee ~ Bad Gyal Revenge

12/27/2018

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http://michiemee.com/

As we grow and gain momentum I am focused on not only earning for I self, but to also to generate income for others

Clearly, it has been too long that we have allowed a white supremacist culture to stifle brilliant talent within the black community and stunt our ability{s} to earn

It is incredible the numbers of globally respected and known artists that have contributed to world music, having these racist roadblocks before us, curbing the earning power of artists in the so called "urban" genre

Michie Mee is a globally respected musical icon that took some of her valuable time to come and "Feel Reggae"... Fingazz, Laza and Peter played for her

We talked history, present and future

Her performances displayed clearly that soulful, reggae, R&B, hip hop talent that still has no peer

She is still supremely gifted

I and the room full of fans were treated to conversation on the realness of the industry, ups and downs, triumphs, failures, heartbreak culminated into indelible memories

We all felt proud and honored to have shared a couple of hours with her

In this first video, Michie speaks on getting signed at 14 years old, in the music business and her many experiences along the way

I have gratefully been around the music from the jump as a child growing in Jamaica, to having my own children and growing them in music in the home. My oldest two, Alyssa and Dillan grew up on NUFF music including Michie Mee and stars aligned to bring them together at this event. Dillan aka Dillan Ponders is able to speak with a mentor that he is familiar with

My pride in this moment "feels" nice

Louis March of Zero Gun Violence Movement asking Michie about the meaning of "Resilience" and the need for that in the business and daily life... "Some know the definition yet do not ovastand the meaning"

First performance of the night was "Don't Want To Be Your Slave"

This one is called "No Man" from her current works

This first one of a Smokeshop riddim, "Bad Gyal Revenge" I believe that it is called is Michie's versatility on full display... charisma and charm in full effect as well

This one a tribute women in reggae on se stalag riddim...crucial dancehall flow.... a guy fe know

Click on the pics below to enlarge them

Still moments tell their own stories of some of the "feeling" in the room when we do these events

If any of this resonates with you and you apprecilove seeing Michie Mee, you apprecilove the “Feel Reggae” energy, the apprecilove the performance{s}, the knowledge, feel free to donate as we build a stronger platform for future events

It is no secret that “urban music” as these bigots label it has no bearing in their estimation hence has no future in their minds

Dem cyaa curb we

I ask you the fan base to aid where you can to provide a donation and to forward to other like minded soldiers

Etransfers: canadianreggaeworld@gmail.com
PayPal: reggaelaneking@gmail.com

All contributions go toward the continued movement of reggae music as a positive force for our human family

JuLion

#reggaeforlife

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Feel Reggae ~ Why to donate ~ 24th December, 2018

12/24/2018

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Feel Reggae is a program of glorifying self

The genre of reggae has been in Canada for awhile now; over 50 years with zero support

Ever!

I call it racist

You can label it whatever you like

No matter the label, I find the CRTC, City Hall, the CBC and any other organization USELESS to my path

So we create our own path

You see the skill and the quality of talent and knowledge that we bring with each Seminar each month

I spend the next couple of days sifting through photos as well as footage to upload to the CRW blog for global viewing

There will be insight{s} and performances from the original Queen Bee, Michie Mee on her reggae / Hip Hop journey{s}

For those who apprecilove the art, the artists, the music, the genre and wish to aid / support our continued upward movement, please donate generously to our culture

I thank those who have already donated. We were able to rent equipment from Long and McQuade, as well as purchase a hot plate and ingredients for JuLion's  love soup

A heartfelt thank you

Reggae dancehall, hip hop, bring messages that our youth actually hear {listen to}. Feel Reggae generates positive imagery, spirituality and knowledge to the massive

Donate to something positive and strong

Bless,

JuLion

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Etransfers:  canadianreggaeworld@gmail.com
PayPal:  reggaelaneking@gmail.com

All contributions go toward the continued movement of reggae music as a positive force for our human family

JuLion

#reggaeforlife

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Garry Lowe ~ Big Sugar ~ 28th December

12/23/2018

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A few months ago, I was looking for mi bredda Garry Lowe

As usual, I’m having a convo with Mojah and I say that I owe Garry a shout and he, Mojah was talking to Garry about some tunes that they were working on / recording

Next day I shouted him and he told me that he was in Texas

His voice was soft

Different

We talked for a while

I was filling him on my Feel Reggae concept a few years earlier because of Raffa. I did not know Raffa Dean was terminally ill at the time

I just thought that, from my experience{s} around live music / reggae music, I had never seen anything like Raffa Dean and what a magician he was behind a kit and his incredible ability to make any band sound better. {I have seen him make shitty bands sound good and great bands greater}

Raffa’s skill was the most unique thing I had ever seen and we are all innately aware that that level of skill cannot be taught, yet a young protégé could “feel” it. I had contacted Raffa maybe three to four months prior to his passing about the concept

So then, right away, I know who a go deh pon bass if Raffa deh pon drum

Garry Lowe

Years later, I am reaching out to one of Canada’s greats, to come speak / perform at a Feel Reggae Seminar and of course he says yes

IBA aka IBADAN aka Garry Lowe was sometimes a real raggamufin, rough neck

Duh cross him

RaLion reminded me of the time a soundman was not able to bring the constant, piercing, feedback sound, popping up every couple of minutes for like ½ hour straight. Never to be seen before or since, Garry Lowe went to a microphone and cuss nuff, fuck, rass and claaat and kick bwoy inna face, if dat fassyhole soundbwoy nuh fix dat ting soon

I was like, “Alrighty then”

Years later, it is one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed. No one else wanted to say anything. Garry did not shy away from that responsibility nor the necessary language it took to fix the situation

He was also a wise councillor. One of the few people that could reprimand or praise with one look

A man who I would quietly seek council from or with and felt a proudness vibe, knowing him

Big Sugar became my band {whatever that means}

Whenever “Digging A Hole” would play, I would run to the TV like a little kid, just to watch de big Lion pon bass

He wasn’t the tallest man yet his presence was BIG

How big?

I watched a white bwoy, Canadian white rock and roll band, somehow move from Hugo Boss sponsorship to the colors of the ites, gold and green of RasTafari

Each year RasTafari shone more with the band’s appearance{s}

Garry’s presence is so big that RasTafari, who he is, lead a rock and roll concept towards RasTafari

Not by words but by deeds

He elevated me

It was clear that RasTafari is his guide and passage through life

He requested that his last ceremony be by RasTafari elders and singers and players of instruments. Xola provided that service

That service elevated the room

It elevated I n I

He seemed to do that for Big Sugar

He certainly did it for his children

I saw his daughters cuddle up to him enough to know that they knew of his love for them and all of his children

He constantly spoke about his children

This lion elevated his community

So proud to have been in his presence and traveled time and roads with him

It’s his earth date 28th December

There’s going to be a celebration of his musical life

I can see that chin popping on this tune

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Feel Reggae ~ Michie Mee

12/17/2018

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Feel Reggae ~ Michie Mee

Global and Canadian Hip Hop icon

Jamaican born

A Jane and Finch lioness

First Canadian MC to sign a record deal with a major American label

Many ups a few downs in this very storied career , first woman MC signed, first ever MC out of Canada, girl / woman in the industry, Hip Hop in Canada, Reggae in Canada, she’s coming to perform a few of her hits, joined by bassie Peter Holung of IBADAN, Laza of Mountain Edge on guitar... drummer to be named

Rated as the first / one of the first to fuse dancehall, roots reggae with Hip Hop beats and lyrical flow

A pioneer

A living legend in our midst... Don’t wait for “them” to come tell you. Come see for yourself

One of the greatest to have ever done it.... AND STILL DOING IT

Hip Hop is another family member of reggae. Come learn how and why. We do this for a living. Come learn from those who “feel” a frequency that can’t be played or understood on the CBC or respected by the CRTC

But we don’t need them

Come “feel” it from those who know it

David Kingston coming to spin some tunes.... early days roots and dancehall vibes

JuLion bought a hot plate so yes, there will be a lovely RasTafari, JuLion, handmade, love sip {soup}
We have room twenty chairs available and another ten to fifteen, standing room for this {Will pre-sell and reserve spaces for those who wish to sit}

~

If you can’t make the event in person but look forward to the photos and footage afterward, feel free to donate to the reggae vibes that we bring
Grateful to do this reggae works
Etransfers: canadianreggaeworld@gmail.com
PayPal: reggaelaneking@gmail.com

All contributions go toward the continued movement of reggae music as a positive force for our human family

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NEWSLETTER ~ Volume 13 ~ Reggae & The UN ~ December 2018

12/4/2018

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One must excuse my skepticism

I do I level best to deal in a loving path of RasTafari which is embodied in the reggae music that inspires me

Nyabinghi drums and spirit drives the core of many including me as it flows in much of the music

Reggae taught me

Reggae continues to council me with truths and rights and touches the moral compass of the planet

It always has

Always will

The reggae soldier has much more of an affinity to Haile Selassie's teachings than it does with the propaganda brought to the sheeple by mainstream media and corrupt politicians

We had a prime minister in Bustamante who reveled in murdering RasTafari

Jamaican people

Alexander Bustamante is no hero. Any leader killing his own people can't be considered as heroic

Since so called independence I don't see an independent Jamaica

We all have the same history books and information and are well aware of The World Bank, The IMF, the CIA, the volume of guns and fire arms the corruption, the ills of being a "third world country", colonial continued racism, bauxite resources stolen, beaches and hotels for white patrons yet no pay for those kept deliberately poor by these divisive powers that surround the culture

I still equate reggae as the type of valuable commodity, if protected by the government, and profits filtered to the people, it would eliminate this fictitious debt we owe to white humans

So maybe that is UNESCO 's path?

Are they protecting reggae for the people?

Are they protecting against those pirates from renaming dancehall riddims so that they never acknowledge Jamaica, Jamaican artists or Jamaican music, and go after them for stealing royalties?

"Tropical House" for instance

Is this the role of UNESCO?

Is the protection a blanket thing?

Does it go after royalties owed to veteran reggae artists?

Skepticism by Rastafari against any colonial government or their initiatives is prudence in my mind

Independence was then and still today a complete farce and completely out of anyone's hand{s} in elevating the life of the Jamaican people

I do hope that a declaration of protection for reggae by the UN finds a path to truly feeding its artists, old and young and further protecting the home of reggae

I'm not trying to throw shade on a possibly really good thing, I just don't know how to push past my skepticism

Time

Time will always be the qualifier

#reggaeforlife

RasTafari ~ Jamaica ~ Reggae Music

I was 3 years old when this photograph was taken

I somewhat recollect the fear that I had for RasTafari people from then till many years later. They were “dirty rasta” aka “dutty rasta” and “black heart people” and if I saw a RasTaman walk towards me on the sidewalk, I would cross the street {like many others in my formative years}

They were described to me as scary people

As I grew into adolescence, the perception changed as I played ball with RasTafari people and some of my favorite reggae stars, Bob Marley, Big Youth, Jacob Miller, Yabby Yout, Burning Spear and others were RasTafari people. I noticed their consciousness was different not only than my family but also different than the racist rhetoric of the so called middle class

I preferred Bob’s and Jacob’s messages more than the uppity, colonialist horseshit conversations that I was sometimes forced to listen to

Equality for all people

Equal Rights and Justice for all humans

Sell out colonialists don’t like that kind of talk as all seek “station” in life. All seeking the attention from buckingham

Sadly that behavior still rules today. This isn’t just ancient history

This photograph hurts my soul

RasTafari has paid great prices to achieve respect of spiritual humans globally because many sacrificed their lives, without violent retaliation, for their beliefs and doctrines and still praise Haile Selassie I

RasTafari is one of the most respected things about Jamaica and many are still frowned upon today by the bourgeois, wannabe, black, brown and white colonialist Jamaican

This photograph depicts black people, Jamaican people, treating another Jamaican the way the white colonist treated black people as slaves

Jamaicans were encouraged to do that abusive behavior by the Prime Minister at the time, Alexander Bustamante

This photo is taken one year after “independence”

Jamaica has succeeded in putting black colonists in place to carry on the work of their white masters from buckingham

Jamaican black men, police were ordered to kill and abuse other Jamaican black people, RasTafari people and they did it gladly

I find myself staring at this photograph, saddened at the knowledge that NOTHING has changed from that time till this very day

The man considered as “the king of reggae”, Bob Marley, could not get his music played on mainstream radio in Jamaica because of his conversion to RasTafari. It got so difficult that he left the country to go live in the US. This story is well known, yet probably glossed over by Bob’s eventual success

Look / stare at that photo long enough and ovastand that black Jamaicans were killing black Jamaicans

The photo don’t lie

I think of my uncle Woody King when I see this picture. He was beaten and shaved by Jamaican police

He took them to their courts and sued them, and won, making it illegal to trim RasTafari in Jamaica

Legally

Illegal tings gwaan all de while

Still

They act like, “that was then and this is now” yet NONE of their behavior has ever changed

Pinnacle land is nearly non-existent today

Sad

RasTafari has opened so many doors for the world community at large that it is I belief that Jamaica needs this spiritual guidance from RasTafari to help to quell the violence and murder in the country and build an economic community for this island nation

Yet yu dun know, politics and morality cyaa gree

A so

Click the LINK to see the Youtube channel for Feel Reggae discussions and performances

Also see GROUP on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/feelreggae/?ref=br_rs for info, correspondence and performances

* * * * * *

Big shout to Toronto Reggae YYZ for holding down the vibes year in year out. Big love Jason McLean

Reggae For Life merchandise delivered directly to your door {North America only}

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NEWSLETTER ~ Volume 12 ~ Feel Reggae ~ Carl Harvey ~ November 2018

11/30/2018

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Big day for Feel Reggae having this idrin Carl Harvey coming to speak of this time of reggae that he is still living and experiencing

The thing most known of Carl today is that he has been on tour with Toots Hibbert for over forty {40} years now

Toots & The Maytals

40 years

Member of the original funkmiesters, Crack Of Dawn with his brother, Rupert Harvey as well as others, a producer of five {5} of Messenjah's albums, both these bands signed to major record labels, firsts in Canadian music history, deserves props for said feats

I asked Carl why he nor Rupert are never contacted by companies like the CBC based on these outstanding accomplishments and his answer was, "I don't know. They never have and I don't care much because they don't butter my bread"

One of music's and reggae's top Canadian performers with zero regard to the CBC just like the rest of us

A known guitar impresario of global notoriety and in the past 40 years or so, the CBC and others don't acknowledge him

Interestingly, Carl is one of very few here in Canada who performed and recorded with the late, great Jackie Mittoo yet the CBC knows nothing of him but does features on Jackie

This is another example of why colonizer, white media in Canada are not our 'experts' on reggae. They don't know shit

I speak ill of them with no apology yet I move forward creating our own path

Our Feel Reggae conversation touched on many progressive thoughts and the one we kept coming back to is a "Reggae Society" where there is a place for live, reggae musicians to come and jam / perform weekly

This is the path of Feel Reggae where we do encourage folks in the audience to come jam at the end of the session

That offer still stands

Every week

David Kingston, a wealth of reggae knowledge shared his music and thoughts. This man is a walking reggae encyclopedia, supremely generous with his knowledge. As previously mentioned, Kingston was on air, every Friday night on CKLN 88.1FM for over a decade, bringing this music. His knowledge is vast!

Big love goes out to, five {5} time Juno Award winner, Exco Levi for the strength

I asked him what brought him out this time and said simply "Carl". They had never met before

Exco brought his experiences as a long time performer in the Canadian reggae scene as well as an international artist who has toured Europe and the Americas

A wealth of knowledge was shared

Reggae in Canada is a path by the people in the genre

The establishment has no interest in ever supporting the genre so reggae will always have a different set of challenges yet we seem to have the soldiers in place to deal with this next phase of growing internationally as well as monetizing the genre better than we have in past years

Thanks for the input Exco has given, who himself is eternally grateful for said establishment in his career to date with the programs that have aided his music as well as his travel for reggae. Factor and Socan grants have aided Exco fiscally and those programs are for anyone who wishes to seek them

Contradictory

No

Those who live it know it

The thing is, I am fully aware of the talent available here in Canada. They have proven it time and again and the fact that reggae isn't monetized better is TOTALLY on myself and many others in the genre. My mantra is to say "fuck you" to these bigoted morons yet they are not all alike. There are those with a sense of honor and fair play and a large audience in Canada who are more than ready to listen to this music. I will always focus on the positive. It is how I know how to win

Feel Reggae December will be Saturday, 22nd

Carl here relaying snippets of his life as a musician in Toronto's music scene

Here Exco Levi, 5 time Juno award winner, break out into a nostalgic tune made famous by Max Romeo, "Chase The Devil".

Exco is another of those who ovastand the need for unity and came to support the Feel Reggae initiative as well as the meet guitar legend, Carl Harvey. Jeremy Rempel of Fugitive Minds, jamming along as well