Maite Granda Living Room Island Origins Magazine Spring 2018
Writer Calibe Thompson | Photography Rolando Diaz
In the trendy area of Miami known as downtown Brickell, a two bedroom condo in one of the area’s newest buildings became a blank canvas for Cuban American designer Maite Granda.
Floor to ceiling windows bathe living spaces in sunlight during the day, while offering the young Brazilian couple who have made this their vacation home, a breathtaking, panoramic view of the city.
Clean, modern and eclectic are words that come to mind when observing Granda’s design aesthetic. A variety of bold patterns find their way onto floors, pillows and walls, never becoming overwhelming, always knowing their place.
She says her biggest challenge on this project was the large, lean, structural column piercing upward through the living room, from the floor below and into the floor above. Instead of approaching it as an eyesore to be hidden, Granda embraced its peculiarity, and made it the focal point of the room, taming its rotund opulence by adding equally prominent blocks of muted color to its base.
In the sitting rooms, the black and white color palette with grey and pastel accents suggests an effortlessness, belying the meticulous attention to detail that allows fuzzy pink pillows to coexist peacefully with a wicker basket lampshade, sleek modern cabinetry, and slick, white art deco chairs.
The sitting room with black and white color palette and grey and pastel accents| Photography Rolando Diaz
A swirl of deliberate, black paint strokes dance across a plain white canvas, rounding out the exquisite curiosities in the sitting room, meant to catch your eye.
White and pink patterns on the wall are a sneaky, inverted nod to the pillow’s whimsical silhouette | Photography Rolando Diaz
In one of the bedrooms, another fuzzy pink pillow is nestled into simple, white bedding, basking under an accent wall whose white and pink patterns are a sneaky, inverted nod to the pillow’s whimsical silhouette. Blue and grey tones add subdued points of interest here, and throughout the other rooms.
There’s a work area whose black and white decor is punctuated by a single pop of red on a wall, a few green leaves, and a pair of wicker arm chairs. With a tidy collage of perfectly positioned wall hangings, the room is clean and simple, but far from boring.
Granda’s clients left her with a blank canvas, and returned to a newly completed vacation home that they “absolutely loved”. She declares, “I just love the process. Reinventing and designing without limits. If you care about your craft and your ideas, you’ll take the extra time, and add the touches that you know will make your work really shine.”
No stranger to creatively demanding projects, Pignard Jr. is known for thinking way beyond standard techniques. The challenge that led to him becoming an industry leader though, was the need for a system that could recreate consistent natural light for sensitive shoots, and that could be manipulated on location. His response to that challenge was to develop the pioneering ‘lighting balloon system’ for lighting company Sourcemaker, led by owner Peter Girolami.
The cutting-edge technology allows directors to mimic realistic sunlight and moonlight. The system is now widely used throughout the film industry.
He most famously used it to generate 500 kW of balanced daylight, in rain created by special effects on the night set of the 2014, Darren Aronofsky film, ‘Noah.’ His innovative lighting also came in handy for reenactments of the Vietnam War in Steven Spielberg’s recent film, ‘The Post.’ “I lit the scene up for him with four, ten-foot cube lighting balloons that had to be moved around the woods as a source of sunlight,” recalls Pignard Jr.
Creating day in the middle of the night for famous directors is just another day at the office for Pignard Jr., who is also a certified member of The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) in New York, and a graduate of the International Academy of Design and Technology. “Troubleshooting is literally the job,” he explains, “We need to figure out the schematics of how to light a set, from the generator to the very last plug.”
Pignard Jr. credits his Caribbean parents for his enterprise and ambition. His Haitian mother, who was born in Hinche, and his father, a native of the Dominican Republic, met and married in Port-au-Prince before migrating to New York to raise their family. Though American-born, Pignard Jr. has a deep appreciation for his Caribbean roots, particularly after attending school for four years as a child in Port-au-Prince. The experience, “was definitely a tough transition,” notes Pignard Jr. “Back then, as a child, I didn’t really understand what my parents were doing. But as an adult, I completely understand.” In addition to becoming fluent in Spanish, French and Kreyol, and making close friends on the island, “I know I am the person I am today because of Haiti,” he declares, “because Haiti showed me what struggle really is – why you should always be appreciative of what you have.”
He trains in the martial art of Jui Jitsu to maintain the stamina for his physically demanding job.
Pignard Jr. recently completed work for Martin Scorsese’s next project, and will continue to work on the new season of ‘Orange Is The New Black,’ as well as Julia Roberts’ next film, ‘Ben is Back.’
For young Caribbean-American creatives seeking to break into the film industry, Pignard Jr.’s advice is not to be afraid to make your own way. Though his academic background and early filming experience focused on visual effects, that didn’t stop him from pushing the boundaries in another field.
“If you can’t afford to go to film school, that doesn’t stop you from making a movie,” says Pignard Jr. “Study whatever you can get your hands on, and start your own projects. Don’t just talk about it, do it, because the film business is literally that. We are making films in rain, hail and snow. No matter what, this project is going to be done. So don’t ever give up on your own ideas.”
Check out other Caribbean-Americans creating magic on the other side of the camera.
BARRY JENKINS Film Director
Did you know that Miami-born filmmaker Barry Jenkins (director of the Oscar-winning film ‘Moonlight’) is of Haitian descent? He grew up in Liberty City, the youngest of three siblings. He studied film at Florida State University, first broke onto the scene with his 2003 student short, ‘My Josephine,’ and made waves later on, with his first film, ‘Medicine for Melancholy.’
AYANNA JAMES Costume Designer
Jamaican-born and South Florida-bred, costume designer Ayanna James has quickly made a name for herself composing looks for the small screen. A graduate of Florida A&M University, she serves as a personal stylist for the likes of Usher, Jidenna and B.o.B. She’s become most celebrated as the costume designer for HBO’s hit show, ‘Insecure.’ She works directly with showrunner Issa Rae on the characters’ distinctive looks, from the slick designer outfits worn by the show’s hot-shot lawyer, Molly, to the instantly viral t-shirts donned by the witty heroine, Issa.
Wyclef Feature Island Origins Magazine Spring 2018
Writer Copyseed.com | Photography Courtney Chen
When Wyclef Jean’s name hit the headlines back in 2010, in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, we all sat up and paid attention.
“I made the decision to run for president of Haiti the minute I landed on the ground,” said Wyclef. “I saw over 250,000 people under the rubble. I looked to the right and my wife was picking up bodies. That puts everything into perspective.”
Once we had adjusted our brains to the idea of a rapper and a beloved Fugee running for the presidency of Haiti, we all collectively, said, OK, hey, why not? And almost overnight his highly publicized candidacy was met with international approval.
But there was something more to it than that. Haiti was in serious trouble and needed a visionary, a unifier and a leader. We, along with Haiti’s majority youth population, decided the preacher’s son, raised in New Jersey but a child of the soil, was just the man for the job. Or so we all secretly hoped.
As a Grammy winning songwriter, producer and one-time political candidate, Wyclef Jean has achieved great highs and suffered some pretty great lows, privately and professionally. But through it all, he has never stopped doing what he does best – making music.
It’s 11:30 AM and I’m talking to him on the phone. He’s somewhere in Jersey, or it could be Jamaica, where a few days earlier, he wowed crowds on stage at the Shaggy and Friends concert in Kingston. That’s where Wyclef is at his best, on stage – philosophizing, prophesying, identifying.
For those of you familiar with carnival’s traditional ‘ole mas’ characters, Wyclef is the Midnight Robber of hip-hop, full of ‘robber talk’ or storytelling, extempo style. But, unlike the Midnight Robber, he doesn’t carry a dagger or a sword or a gun in his hand. His weapon of choice is a microphone.
Wyclef Jean sporting the iconic guitar of Third World’s Cat Coore | Photo by Courtney Chen
In 2010, when Wyclef Jean launched a bid for the presidency of Haiti, he was a highly visible celebrity. Half-way through the election race, he was kicked out due to a technicality.
Then, the rumors ensued. Wyclef and his nongovernmental organization became the subject of much talk, suggesting funds raised by his personal charity, Yèle, had been grossly mismanaged. The preacher’s son, bloodied by his brief brush with island politics, issued a statement, in which he denied the claims laid against him, calling them “misleading, deceptive and incomplete”.
“Yes, I felt betrayed. Not by the Haitians on the ground in Haiti, but by the Haitian diaspora in America. I wanted them to fight for me. I wanted them to stand up and protest on Brooklyn Bridge and say ‘you won’t do this to our guy.’” He chokes, his voice disappears for a moment, the hurt still sounds raw. “I felt like Martin Luther King Jr.,” he adds, “When they stoned him in Chicago.”
After that, Wyclef Jean sort of just – disappeared. That was almost ten years ago.
Then, just recently, out of nowhere, Wyclef came back. Like a robber in the night, with all his swagger and musical genius. He re-emerged from his hiatus to present Carnival III, the final album in the Carnival Trilogy, to the world. Billboard dubbed it ‘Top 10, critically acclaimed.’ Download it, you’ll immediately understand why.
If Carnival II was about the fall of a refugee, then Carnival III is, without doubt, the resurrection of hip-hop’s philosopher king. “I think that my strength and resilience is that I am a Caribbean man. I understand my African culture so it’s going to be hard to take me out of the game. When I show up in Kingston, Jamaica – I’m like a local artist.
“My mentality is always hard wired to the Caribbean.”
But how did Wyclef get back? How has he reconciled his past with his future? For the answers, he says, we must journey through the Carnival.
“The Carnival featuring Refugee Allstars was what it felt like as an immigrant coming from Haiti and showing up in Brooklyn. About how I pulled through as an immigrant. And it was a narration of what I saw and experienced – that clash of cultures. So we start with records like ‘Apocalypse’ and ‘Guantanamera’ expressing a fusion. And these albums have all of us in them – four, five languages, on purpose – including patois.”
I ask him to unpack Carnival III, the final act, in theater, sometimes referred to as the denouement, (pronounced day-noo-mahn). It’s a French word meaning the untying of a story plot to reveal the final resolution.
“Yes, it’s like a three act play,” agrees Wyclef. The initiation, the confrontation, then resolution. “Through this musical journey, you see me discovering things. Every song represents discovery of myself, and where I am, and where I come from. Every song represents a place in time.
“In Carnival III after the whole political thing, I felt like I had sacrificed my whole career to try and move my people ahead, but they tried to Marcus Garvey me using the Edgar Hoover method. But I was able to rise again”
Wyclef Jean is impossible to predict, and his confidence is huge. But that’s because he has a lot to be confident about. He survived.
“In the end it’s about where we come from and what we come through. We are a people that can’t be painted into a box.”
Earlier on in the interview I ask Wyclef about growing up with Christianity. “As you know my name is Wyclef Jean. I’m named after John Wycliffe, the English reformer. But I denounced my father’s form of saying “this is what you have to do,” the same way John Wycliffe redefined the Catholic Church. But at the end of the day I’m a believer of God, and I’ll always be a believer of the faith.” On the question of the musical legacy he’d like to leave behind, there’s a thoughtful pause. He replies, “It’s yet to be written.”
“That soulfulness, that syncopation, she has a very inherent sense of rhythm and the ability to move her body in an articulation that I think can only come out of her culture. And it really does inform her dancing.”
Robert Battle (Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) speaking on Belen
It is possible she was born to dance. They say the best dancers have a way of moving that grabs you by the heart. The same is true of Belén Pereyra-Alem. On stage, Belén believes dance, as an art form, has the power of transformation.
“It feels like the most organic, the most human of the genres,” explains Belén, “I feel I can speak a billion languages with my body – and I have A LOT to say!”
Born in the Dominican Republic, the 29 year old Alvin Ailey dancer wholeheartedly embraces her Caribbeanness, her movements reflecting resolute commitment to both her art, and her heritage.
Professional dancing just sort of fell into Belén’s lap as a consequence of her mother’s love of the arts.
“It was her idea,” says Belén, smiling. “It felt like I started dancing more for my mother’s enjoyment. My family, like many others, didn’t think of dance as a real profession, it was more of a fun hobby.”
Growing up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, a diverse region with strong Hispanic influence, she became involved in local Peruvian folk dancing. As a young girl, the love she developed for the craft laid the groundwork for her transition into styles like modern and ballet.
After high school, she says, “I realized this was a dream I had to hold on to and pursue! I had the determination of a billion suns. Although I didn’t know where I would end up, I was determined to die trying—I would dance. I had to dance.”
Of course in those early years, Belén faced her fair share of ups and downs. She graduated from the Boston Arts Academy as class valedictorian, but then endured a series of agonizing rejections from dance schools she auditioned for before she tried out for Ailey.
“When I got rejected, I always concluded it just was not for me, that something better is coming! I am a true believer that I manifest my reality with my thoughts, words, and choices, so I choose to stay positive.”
At the time though, she would sometimes question why, amid such disappointment, she continued to push herself so hard. For her, dreams were not enough, and excuses were not an option. Dedicated to an unwavering work ethic, she prepared tirelessly so she would be ready when the right opportunity was presented. Her audition for Ailey was just that.
As Artistic Director Robert Battle attests, the sense of rhythm informed by Belén’s culture was something that made Belén a standout in her audition for the ethnically diverse Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Once accepted, Belén says she felt like she had finally come home, to a place that fully celebrated her creative expression.
“I was able to feel loved, supported and gain the courage to believe anything was possible.”
Now that she’s living her dream, her life isn’t just about work and positive thinking. As an ode to her Dominican home, she occasionally allows herself to indulge in her favourite West Indian foods, like “rice, beans, chicken, and plantains!”
Every day I speak to my fears to let them know they are not real. It is my belief that wellness begins in our heads.
The best medical advice I ever received was from my surgeon, Frederick Moffat, at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Before any surgery or chemotherapy began, Dr. Moffat would urge me to begin the healing process in my head – with my thoughts. This is how I learned to think about and visualize myself back to wellness.
A SERIES OF DEVASTATING DIAGNOSES
As a young person, I did all the right things – I didn’t smoke, I didn’t do drugs, and I took care of my body. One day in the 90s, my mother found me passed out on the bathroom floor after exercising. Shortly after I was diagnosed with kidney disease. From what? Too many ab crunches? This led to a host of medications and treatments, including dialysis, and by 2000, a kidney transplant.
In 2005 I was getting ready for a cousin’s wedding. After flipping my then middle-of-my-back, fresh-from-the-salon, blow dried hair, I felt a lump in my right breast and immediately became frightened. Luckily, I lived in a house with a mother who was really progressive, and encouraged me to be aware of any changes in my body. By this time she herself was a breast cancer survivor of nearly ten years. I found out that this lump was stage two cancer.
I knew I had to take control, and not let this new health challenge overwhelm me. I found a boldness in myself I didn’t know I had. First, I made a private appointment with my husband’s barber to trim my hair into a close cropped buzz cut. Then I chose a mastectomy without reconstruction – only the right breast. I was young, and I had just had the kidney transplant. I didn’t want to risk my new perky breast becoming infected, and then possibly damaging my new kidney. For what? To fill out a Victoria’s Secret bra?
In 2007, a mammogram helped me to find my second cancer. The first thing that crossed my mind was that if I needed another kidney transplant, I’d have to be five years cancer free. I was only two years cancer free – with a second cancer! So in 2007, I had my second mastectomy.
Carla Hill Breast Cancer Survivor Island Origins Magazine Spring 2018
DECIDING TO THRIVE
Social media makes us feel that everyone is enjoying a perpetual, bottomless mimosa brunch. While Instagramming can be fun, if you’re not careful, it can make you believe that what you’re going through is not the “brunch” of life, but a mere microwaved egg sandwich – from the gas station!
My kidney transplant and cancer journey (WHEW!) has forced me to be more bold about the way I approach life. I sat in a state of disappointment and “why me” for many years. I wish I didn’t have to go through these illnesses, but they’ve forced me to find courage and strength I would never have tapped into, had my life been “normal”.
I’ve tried to put my experiences out of my mind so much that I’m always in shock to hear that someone is inspired by my story. Until very recently, I wanted to be unremarkable.
If you asked me how things were going, I’d reply that everything was great! In the Caribbean community you’re expected to push through all your challenges quietly, and with a smile. But anyone going through cancer or any other life changing disease isn’t and shouldn’t feel happy about such a diagnosis. They deserve the right to be upset, and to grieve their old body, lost hair and altered sense of self, without judgement.
I’m a good Catholic girl, but I don’t believe that God punishes. I don’t think that I did something wrong and somebody up high is zapping me with cancer. I think we live in a world that’s filled with things that we can’t avoid, that aren’t necessarily good for us, and that we just have to deal with the best way we can. I have a support system that’s fortified me enough to deal like a champion.
EMBRACING @BRSTLSSBEAUTY
After my second mastectomy, I made the decision to live a breast-less life. I named my new alter ego and social media handle @brstlssbeauty. I’ve claimed my “beauty”. I have decided that I’m still girly, fashionable, sexy, without breasts or luxurious hair. How truly courageous am I to totally shun traditional beauty standards and define my womanhood in my way?
Chemotherapy has left me and my husband without the prospect of having kids. We have decided aloud that WE are our family. If, how and when we choose to grow this family is no one’s business but our own.
My carnival-loving extended family is from Trinidad and Tobago. Trinis like to use the word “Bacchanal”. This word can mean all kinds of things. Bacchanal can be a great time. It can be a scandalous event. Somebody can actually be Bacchanal! I’ve used my culture to assess the events of my life and I’ve now embraced my personal bacchanal. I don’t alter my clothing or my carnival costumes to give the illusion of breasts. I don’t hide the transplant scar across my belly when wearing my scanty regalia at Trinidad carnival. I now channel my bacchanal when I’m marching down the road there, and proudly parade in all of my breast-less glory.
To those surviving their own personal battles I say – you are more powerful now than you ever were before. Cause a BACCHANAL!
Sounds of the Caribbean Island Origins Magazine Spring 2018
Writer Bekim Rauseo | Photography Supplied
Well before the jumping, the waving, and the chipping on the road wearing pretty costumes during carnival season, caribbean music was an expression of our most human need – freedom.
To fully understand the origins of Caribbean music is first, to understand the region’s dark history.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, African freedom, throughout the islands, was strangled by the hands of colonial rule. But, in its firm grip writhed a strong and passionate people, discovering new forms of self expression.
The horrors of slavery in the Caribbean can be traced back to a time from 1662 to 1807, when a generation was yolked by foreign others. Yet, out of this pitch black, events like the Haitian Revolution of 1789 set an amber blaze that lit a path to new life surrounded by the Caribbean Sea. From this rigid and oppressive hold, a vibrant people gave birth to our earliest music sounds, expressing hope, sorrow and joy.
Rara, a type of festival music, was born out of the Haitian rebellion. Twoubadou is another Haitian musical style that takes its name from the word ‘troubadour’, a medieval poet-musician creating guitar melodies seeped in the storytelling traditions of Africa. Twoubadou is melodic, lyrical and sinuous, with tones that swirl over the tempo of the short slightly sporadic tapping of drums.
Mento hails from Jamaica. It is a delightfully mellow music, and is considered the founding beat of ska and reggae, with audible similarities to Trinidadian Calypso. However, Mento’s less aggressive treatment sets it apart from other pre-calypso genres.
Then there’s Zouk from the French Caribbean islands, and Benna, a scandalous, call-and-response, calypso-type music from Antigua and Barbuda that held the social power to topple politicians. Quelbe, also known as scratch band music, is the very heartbeat of the Virgin Islands. Scratch bands perform pieces with a briskly moving baseline, peppered on top with the delicate tinkle of iron implements and the feathery sound of flutes. Junkanoo, a passionate music from the Bahamas, is synonymous with the intonation of the “rake and scrape” resting underneath big band sounds of blurting brass instruments, like the trumpet and euphonium.
The sounds are strikingly similar yet pleasantly individual. All these, amazing yet hidden sounds that inspired and uplifted a people from the darkest hours of our islands’ history.
Despite their connected origins, the distinction of each genre in Caribbean music is defined by nuanced sound. Simple instruments were made by hand, often from found objects gesticulated to create simple beats. Each island was populated by various European rulers. Their music was influenced by Africans from multiple tribes such as the Ashanti of Ghana, Yoruba of Nigeria, Imbangala of Angola, and the Nyamwezi of Tanzania, bringing with them their unique customs and religions. Once forced into the perimeters of these tiny countries, this clash of cultures fused together in ways that none would have expected.
This melange of Dutch, French, English, Spanish, Chinese, Indians and Africans created a kaleidoscope of sonic color that continued to evolve as the music shaped the identities in each country.
Pre-calypso Caribbean music is so much more than just songs about rum and coca cola, or Harry Belafonte twisting and gyrating to the ping and pang of a steel drum. The decades following Emancipation were witness to the symbolic pongin’ and tinkering of the sound that was refined in the hills of Laventille Trinidad, the cockpit country of Jamaica, and the deep green of Haiti during the 60s and 70s, reinvigorating island music as we know it today. Caribbean music includes and goes beyond the discography of Kassav’, David Rudder, Bob Marley, Barrington Levy, and Chalkdust.
The post-colonial music catalogue of the region and diaspora stretches far into the corners of recent history. Even the contemporary sound of Drake, Tory Lanez and Diplo owes a debt to the score of island music’s history. Despite its rich and treacle past, most people understand the beginnings of Caribbean music as the pastiche parade of entertainment performed in songs like Calypso Blues by Nat King Cole.
But if one were to pull back the beaded curtain for a less obscured view, one would discover the true and hidden sound of the region. At house parties and other family functions, in and around carnivals, weddings, and christenings, you will still hear the faint sounds of yesteryear in the music of the day enjoyed by those closest to its heritage.
The rebellions and riots that inspired this artistic and extremely powerful form of resistance also transformed a people and the celebrations they observe to this day. From Junkanoo parades in the Bahamas, held on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, to the many iterations of carnival celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Grenada (just to name a few), there’s no denying that today’s island music continues to resonate due to the jewels hidden for us in the closed fists of a people under pressure.
Caring for Your Folks Island Origins Magazine Spring 2018
Writer Sandra Spence | Photography Supplied
As our parents age, they may become more dependent on their children and extended family for both physical and financial support. When it’s your turn to help take care of the folks who were once your care givers, here are a few tips to help you be a great guardian, without going broke.
1. UNDERSTAND THEIR FINANCIAL SITUATION
No matter what, caring for elderly parents will cost money. You will need to find out how well your parents have prepared for retirement with savings and investments including Social Security, IRAs, 401Ks, etc. You will need to think about future care, medicine, supplies and very importantly, you must consider where your parents will live, and how much it will cost.
2. GET PROFESSIONAL HELP
Most people have no experience in caring for the elderly, and are unaware of how complex it can become. Fortunately, professional guidance is not hard to find. Consider getting a care manager to assess your situation. These professionals work with families to determine the best course of action for housing, legal services and other necessary considerations. A good resource is the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. (www.caremanager.org). You will also need to find an attorney to guide you regarding a living will, healthcare proxy and other legal issues, on your parent’s behalf.
3. LEARN ABOUT MEDICARE AND MEDICAID.
Most younger people assume that the standard programs will cover an elderly person’s healthcare when the time comes. Alas, they don’t. Medicare for instance, in most situations, will cover hospital, medical and prescription drug costs, but it will not cover nursing home stays. Medicaid will take care of nursing home expenses, but only for people who have exhausted most of their assets. The limitations of these programs often come as a shock to children, so do your research and know the facts.
4. GET THE FAMILY INVOLVED
If you have siblings or other willing family members, don’t try to do it on your own. Enlist help from other relatives to help ensure that it’s a family effort.
5. MAKE YOUR OWN RETIREMENT PLAN
Consider your own financial situation carefully. How will your future be affected by your new role as a caretaker? Are you able to live comfortably if you are unable to work? Planning for yourself is just as important as planning for your parents. Seek advice from a qualified adviser to prepare for a stable future and a good quality of life for your parents.
Writer Calibe Thompson | Photography Robert Johnson
Jamaicans love a great party, sometimes just for the sake of music, wine (the waist variety) and spirits. In the case of Orville Burrell, better known as Shaggy, the diamond selling reggae artist, and his wife Rebecca, the real fun comes after their annual celebrity bash, when they’ve made proverbial truckloads of money, then given it all away!
The 2018 Shaggy and Friends concert, held on the lawns of Jamaica House in St Andrew, Jamaica, was the sixth installment of the lavish event. Every other year, it is hosted by the Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation (SMADF) to raise funds for the benefit of the island’s Bustamante Children’s Hospital.
Two-storey, white tents draped in luxurious fabric, with high ceilings, dripped with crystal chandeliers. The platinum area was heaving with partygoers. Jamaica’s elite, and a throng of well-heeled guests, packed in tight, dressed to the nines and out in force for a great cause.
A lineup of international superstars including Sting, Wyclef Jean, Third World Band and of course Shaggy himself, performed this year, with stars like Lauryn Hill, Eve, Damian Marley and Maxi Priest lending their star power in years gone by.
The stage was breathtaking, with huge LED video walls and multiple levels. The production quality was on par with any internationally televised concert.
For Shaggy though, it’s less about the glitz of the limelight, and more about attracting generous donors with deep pockets. He’s confirmed that his charitable work through the SMADF is far more important to him now than is his music. According to the megastar, “to be put in the same place as these people, where I can get them to do amazing things with their wealth to benefit the poor… I’m going to take that opportunity.”
The goal of the event was to raise US $1 million to fund ten new beds at the Bustamante Children’s Hospital intensive care unit (ICU). Although Bustamante is the only full-service children’s hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean, until now they had only five ICU beds.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
In 2001, during a visit to Bustamante, Shaggy came to learn just how underfunded the hospital was. For years after that, he made his own private donations, sponsoring equipment and facility upgrades.
Then, he met a man whose daughter was being kept alive by one of the instruments he had donated. That man’s profound gratitude touched him so deeply, that he realized that there was a much greater need than he alone could fulfill, and decided that he was not just able, but willing to do something about it. Together with his wife Rebecca, who is a production professional and the executive director of the SMADF, he pulled together the first Shaggy and Friends concert on January 3, 2009, only eight weeks after his interaction with that grateful father.
BUILDING A LEGACY
Shaggy’s charitable deeds have an ongoing prominence in his life. Himself a child of humble beginnings, he speaks passionately about giving back, now that he has seen fame and financial success. He is a patron of organizations such as Food for the Poor and the American Friends of Jamaica, who produce annual fundraising galas to raise money for good causes on the island. Food for the Poor also builds homes and teaches sustainable living practices throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. They now provide the online platform through which donors around the world can make their contributions to the SMADF.
Since that first concert in 2009, not only have the crowds grown, but donations have increased significantly. At each event, the concert focuses on a particular funding challenge faced by the hospital. From the combined funds raised in 2012 and 2014, SMADF financed the first Catheterization Laboratory and the first Cardiac Unit for a children’s hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean. Prior to the 2018 event, SMADF made contributions to Bustamante Children’s Hospital to the tune of over 450 pieces of equipment, over 3500 treated children and over $1.6 million US dollars. According to the team, 100% of event proceeds goes to the hospital.
His commitment to the Bustamante Children’s Hospital doesn’t go unnoticed. Shaggy can now count the doctors and nurses, the children and their families among his adoring fans.
Take Some You Time Island Origins Magazine Spring 2018
Writer Copyseed.com | Photography Supplied
Whether your ideal wellness retreat involves cooking classes, writing workshops or days spent pampering every inch of your body in a heavenly-smelling spa, why not hop over to the Caribbean to kickstart your goals and recalibrate your senses in style.
When the next long weekend rolls around, the islands can be the perfect cleansing antidote to post-Christmas spending blues, lapsed New Year’s resolutions and the general stresses and strains of everyday life. So you don’t have to lift another finger, we’ve done all the hard work for you. From realigning your chakras on a yoga getaway to unwinding in a thermal hydro pool at a top-notch wellness spa, or catching up on some much-needed sleep, we’ve rounded up just a few of the loveliest and most surprising retreat options the Caribbean has to offer.
WELLNESS & BEAUTY
“Give us your body for a week and we’ll give you back your mind,” is the irresistible promise made by the folks at the all-inclusive BodyHoliday Retreats, Saint Lucia, ranked one of the world’s top spa resorts by Conde Nast Traveler. With some of the regions best facilities and an indulgent array of state-of-the-art therapies and treatments, they can help you decompress and feel whole again. Try their infrared detox therapy and the deep tissue Ayurvedic back massages with ancient herbs. thebodyholiday.com
SLEEP RETREAT
Grenada’s True Blue Bay is about to launch what they say is the Caribbean’s first sleep retreat. This exclusive 5 – 7 day sleepover was designed in conjunction with neuro scientists and world renowned sleep experts. Aimed at a growing number of sleep deprived adults, this revolutionary holistic approach to a lack of sleep incorporates exercise, personalized diet regimes and mindful meditations, and is designed to detoxify our overstimulated brains and improve our sleep habits. It’s so new, you’ll have to call for details. Contact: 473-443-8783 or truebluebay.com
WRITERS’ RETREAT
This 6 day writers’ retreat held in Negril, Jamaica promises aspiring authors (that’s 81% of all Americans by the way) daily free-writing exercises. You’ll delve into the poems of the late Sir Derek Walcott, knighted lord of the British realm, and one of the Caribbean’s most eminent writers. On the grounds of the hacienda-style villa, you can discover the inspiration you need to reignite your literary dreams, receive feedback on your work, and practice your craft with fellow writers. kahini.org/Caribbean
COOKING CLASSES
With a 4 star rating on Tripadvisor, Graycliff Hotel, Nassau, Bahamas is a must-visit spot for food lovers everywhere. The Graycliff Culinary Academy offers interactive cooking classes under the expert guidance of the hotel’s Executive Chef. Using local ingredients, you will learn how to prepare a variety of exotic, Caribbean infused dishes, and the best wines to pair them with. Class sizes are small and all utensils are provided. graycliff.com/culinary
YOGA DETOX
Located along the stunning coastline of Rincon Bay in the Dominican Republic, Hotel Villa Serena is a sanctuary where the mind, body and spirit can heal. The resort consists of 21 spacious rooms with calming ocean views that have the power to trigger your pleasure neurons. As well as daily yoga instruction, tai chi classes and customized vegan meals, your retreat includes ‘Art of Raw’ workshops that teach you about the amazing health benefits of clean eating. Contact: bookyogaretreats.com
For aspiring musicians with little or no production budget, access to a roster of A-list producers, recording studio and video production facilities is the stuff of dreams. Enter, Recordgram.
It’s an IOS (apple based) app that allows vocalists to license beats from chart-topping producers like Timbaland, Will I Am, Supa Dups and StreetRunner for as little as $1.00 per track.
Using the app, you can then record original songs with multiple vocal tracks, and even create music videos, all from the comfort of wherever you, and your iPhone or iPad, are. From within the app, you post the masterpiece you’ve created to a social media platform of your choice, et voila! You’re on your way to super stardom… theoretically anyway. Currently, the app is a $2.99 per month subscription, and music is licensed at a maximum of $5.00 per track.
RecordGram Inc, the development team behind the app, recently raised $1 million in capital from funders including Lightspeed Venture Partners, one of the major investors behind SnapChat. They’ve won a number of pitch competitions, including Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017, and they’ve been featured on the pages of Forbes and Billboard magazines, and leading industry websites Medium.com and Crunchbase.com.
The man responsible for developing the powerful technology behind the app is Grammy-winning music producer and DJ Winston “Blackout” Thomas, who in 2007 topped the worldwide music charts with the record This Is Why I’m Hot in collaboration with hip hop artist, Mims. The pair teamed up again to make the RecordGram app a reality.
According to Thomas, “Mims came to me with the idea of putting my beats into a mobile recording studio that would help us discover new artists. I loved the idea but wanted to make it bigger by bringing in other great producers, taking it worldwide, and getting artists excited about working with original producers, as opposed to recording on karaoke beats.
“I had a background in website design, so I immediately started putting together ideas of what the user interface (UI) would look like, and had the first draft of the front end done within a week. I went and Googled ‘how to develop an app’, then got to work. We had to bootstrap, meaning work with a very limited budget. I was up at all hours of the night with our guys in India for months to get the original version done.”
A growing number of monthly subscribers, as well as producers who also pay a subscription fee to list their beats, are currently using the app.
Beyond developing the app, the duo of Thomas and Mims, along with business partner Erik Mendelsohn, have begun to act in an A&R capacity. They’ve already discovered multiple acts who are gaining popularity through the app, and facilitated recording deals with major record labels.
Thomas got his start in music following in the footsteps of his Jamaican father, who was also a DJ. He recalls selling out of mixtapes in high school, touring nationally with artists like Jadakiss in the early 2000s, and working in radio, before a chance meeting with Mims in 2004 catapulted them both to global success.
With their most recent round of funding, they’re developing a more robust version of the RecordGram app that also works on the larger android platform.
It’s been more than ten years since the worldwide success of their hit song. Now, they are once again poised to share their collaborative efforts with a global audience, this time with an app, and they and their million dollar investors are very hopeful that the team can hit the top of the international charts, one more time.
BARRY JENKINS
