According to industry analyst, in order for a genre of music to become part of world culture it must remain relevant for at least 100 years. Many would argue that the genre of music known as Reggae, created in the Caribbean island of Jamaica, is on pace to achieve this honor. The rich legacy of music and sounds left by the likes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, continues to propel artist like Lee Scratch Perry, Ziggy Marley, Gyptian, Shaggy, Sean Paul and other recent contributors such as Chronix, Melekel, Jo Mersa (grandson of Bob Marley) Wayne Marshal and many more to higher levels of global musical achievement.
In a time when label executives have high expectations for hit music recordings, former Island DefJam and Interscope Recording artist Melekel is poised to deliver; and in anticipation of releasing his new album “Face Off” on a Major Label, is offering fans a new video entitled “The Jump Off” in late August 2014, directed by LB. “The song makes reference to an Urban culture predominant in most inner cities of the world, ruled by chaos overseen by the police, which is evident in the way officers have no apparent set protocol for dealing with young men of African descent in America; other than shoot to kill“ said sources close to the entertainer.
According to lyrics in the song: “lawless urban youths love Reggae, Dancehall, Hip Hop, Jungle, Drum and Bass; every day twice a day want to live like Scarface,” sound like a personal dictionary definition of the song’s punch line and somewhat of a cultural stereotype. “The Jump Off” will be released over a range of networks based on the targeted legion selected by the entertainer’s camp. These networks include established streaming giants such as: VEVO, Muzu, Dailymotion, and VidZone (Playstation) to name a few.
Melekel is an artist like others from a variety of formats that is reaping the benefits of a recent surge in global popularity and an overall, strong demand for people downloading and streaming hits. Having toured with the likes of Grammy award-winning musicians and the former lead singer of a British Reggae band, he is set to make “Face Off” available to the public on October 31, 2014.
Billboard (http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/6041328/nielsens-q1-numbers-sales-down-streams-up) has reported Nielsen SoundScan 2014 first quarter numbers and on-demand streaming continues to rise, eating into sales. According to Nielsen BDS data, interactive music and video streaming totaled 34.28 billion streams in the first quarter of the year, versus 25.44 billion streams in 2013’s corresponding period. Not only have streams grown by nearly 9 billion, but per-stream payout has improved this year versus last year, according to label sales executives.
