New Zealand’s 2011 Raggamuffin Music Festival has announced that New Zealand acts Salmonella Dub, Nesian Mystik, 1814, and Sons of Zion will be performing in Rotorua on February 5, 2011. The New Zealand acts will be joining international music stars Mary J Blige, Jimmy Cliff, Maxi Priest, Sean Paul, The Original Wailers, and Ky-Mani Marley [...]

Today the lineup for New Zealand’s Raggamuffin 2011 reggae and music festival was announced.
Performers at 2011 Raggamuffin will include:

Mary J Blige, the R&B star from the United States, will headline the event.
The Original Wailers are also confirmed for the show.
Ky-Mani Marley
Jimmy Cliff
Maxi Priest
Sean Paul

Additional New Zealand acts will be announced next week. Update: the [...]

[ February 5, 2011; ] Raggamuffin 2011 has been announced for February 5 in Rotorua, New Zealand. This is the 4th annual Raggamuffin event, bringing dancehall, reggae, and R&B to New Zealand and Australia. The headliner, Mary J Blige, and supporting acts including The Original Wailers, Sean Paul, and Ky-Mani Marley, have all been announced.

Here’s the Raggamuffin Music Festival [...]

Cristy Barber, VP Records‘ Vice President of Marketing and Promotions, has finally taken action to end the uneven representation of reggae acts at the Grammy awards. As an example, Barber notes that Tarrus Riley wasn’t nominated for Contagious, this year’s wildly popular lovers’ rock reggae album, nor was Queen Ifrica nominated for Montego Bay.
Billboard [...]

Reggae star Shaggy has teamed up with producer Christopher Birch to create a song, Rise Again to raise money for the Digicel Haiti Relief Fund. The project is sponsored by Digicel and aims to use Caribbean art and artists to assist the Haitian people.
Shaggy and Birch rounded up a who’s who of Caribbean artists to [...]

The 52nd Annual Grammy nominees for Best Reggae Album (Vocal or Instrumental)
have been announced.
One of these nominees will win the best reggae Grammy at the 52nd annual Grammy awards:

Rasta Got Soul by Buju Banton on Gargamel Music, Inc.
Brand New Me by Gregory Isaacs on Tad’s Record
Awake by Julian Marley on Ghetto Youths/Tuff Gong/Universal Republic
Mind Control [...]

The VP Records, perhaps the leading contemporary reggae label, recently released this video documentary of their history, including their work with dancehall and reggae hitmakers Shaggy, Sean Paul, and Elephant Man.
From: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSy6tqOM9WA.

Sean Paul won the Best Reggae Gong at the 2009 MOBO awards last night in Glasgow, Scotland. He did not attend though, and his acceptance speech was recorded. It was a tough category – other nominees included fan favorites Mavado, Serani, Tarrus Riley, whose recent album is Contagious, and Vybz Kartel.
International dancehall deejay Sean Paul [...]

Rebelution is serving up fresh reggae music with Bright Side of Life, their 2nd reggae album. The Santa Barbara reggae band’s August 4 release has jumped to the #1 spot on the iTunes reggae album charts and is at the #3 iTunes spot for all US album downloads, a rare feat for any reggae release.
“After [...]