Erin MacLeod

A week into pandemic-induced closures, the prospect of long-haul isolation seemed unfathomable. Still, we needed something to do—not just a diversion, but an emotional necessity. And so, in late March, after tweeting a call for members to join a new virtual listening club (“like a book club, but for music”), we gathered nearly a dozen people—most of them strangers—on Zoom for our first weekly session. Our inaugural pick was The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, who’d died earlier that month. For two h...

Now that the feathers and the sparkles and the high-octane soca music have left the streets of the Trinidadian capital of Port of Spain for another year, what’s left is what is referred to as the feeling of “tabanca.” It’s a post-Carnival malaise that some say is only cured by more bacchanal.

"O Canada," reads the first line of anthem celebrating the vast country ranking second in the world on the basis of landmass. It continues, "our home and native land. True patriot love in all our sons command." Or at least it did, until this Wednesday, when that second line was officaly altered to read: "in all of us command."
The two-word change took over thirty years.

Every step I take I remind myself that I can get through just about anything, Erin MacLeod writes
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"I can't run," I told my athletic Auntie Clare. I mean, I could run for about 15 seconds, but there was no way that I could run a five-kilometre marathon or the even longer distances that she'd accomplished – and rather quickly at that.
But every time I mentioned it, she al...

This essay is one in a series celebrating deserving artists or albums not included on NPR Music's list of 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women.
Walls of huge speakers delineate the outdoor dancefloor, the warmth of the air matched by the warmth of the bass: This is a Jamaican soundsystem dance. One of the best things to hear at one of these events is the powerful, smooth sound of Marcia Llyneth Griffiths's voice floating over the rhythms. Hers is a voice that can be trusted, relied on; powerful,...

Augustown (Pantheon), Kei Miller’s novel about Jamaica, history, belief, race, and class, touches on a collective human desire to think about why we believe certain things. As Jamaica turns 55 this year, while also marking 179 years since emancipation from slavery, the book considers ideas and conceptions of freedom.
The context of the novel is the story of religious leader Alexander Bedward, a legendary Revivalist active in the early years of the twentieth century. He resisted oppression, ca...

Dubs are the ammunition used to fight for domination in the clash. Every clash fan has a favorite dub, and every sound has dubs they know will surely receive big forwards. Walshy Fire, former host of the televised Guinness Sounds of Greatness sound clash (also of Black Chiney sound system as well as Major Lazer), certainly has his favorite: Garnett Silk’s “Hard Nut to Crack.”
“This was the first time a dub drew energy out of me that wasn’t hype,” he says. “It was a serious song about a sound ...

Chronixx: Chronology Album Review | Pitchfork

Any history of reggae going global must trace a path directly from Kingston to London.

Lennox Coke on His Controversial Jamaican Yellow Pa...

For the latest season of its flagship business podcast, “StartUp,” Gimlet Media advertised a character-driven portrait of an intrepid entrepreneur trying to restart a failed business. “Buckle up,” the company tweeted.

Nice'n'easy listening: why Jamaica loves Celine Dio...