After last week's post on dancehall legend Shabba Ranks, I've been getting a ton of google hits related to his alleged passing. So just to put this to rest once and for all, I talked to a friend of mine, Nicky, who lives in Kingston and whose sister Julia is one of the top video directors in Jamaica. That's about as good a source as you're going to get for this, as the Associated Press' Dancehall coverage seems to be a bit lacking. Anyway, she says that there has been no news of Shabba's death in the local news and confirms that this is just a rumor. That's good enough for me, so the case is closed as far as I'm concerned.
I don't want those of you who found your way to this site looking for news on Shabba to go away empty-handed, though, so I picked up a new reggae mixtape from DJ Kool Kid. The tape is called Ah Who Seh Meh Dun, which I assume is a phrase that means something to Jamaicans, though I couldn't tell you what. It features some of the newer dancehall artists like Baby Cham as well as old school ragga names like Pinchers and Lady Saw.