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Music Icon Lee “Scratch” Perry Preps New Album With Andrew W.K.

It’s no secret that Jamaica’s influence on other genres of music goes beyond hip-hop. In the ’80s, punk rock bands like the Clash, the Police, and Bad Brains were all rooted in the drum and bass-driven sound of dub reggae. At the forefront of this fusion was one of dub’s originators Lee “Scratch” Perry, who produced “Complete Control” for the Clash in the ’70s.

Throughout Perry’s career, he’s released a whopping 53 albums, with his latest due August 19th co-produced by party-rocker Andrew W.K. Other genre-spanning collaborators on Repentence are Chris Stein from Blondie, Moby, and porn goddess Sasha Grey—an eclectic mix to say the least. Listen to the first single, “Pum Pum” after the jump.

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K-Salaam & Beatnick Create Reggae/Rap Fusion

Ever since Run-DMC’s “Roots, Rap, Reggae” established the genre in 1985, the fusion of hip-hop and reggae has produced some truly classic records. So it’s only right that dancehall powerhouse VP Records is giving light to the winning combination with the upcoming release of Whose World Is This?, a collaborative album helmed by producers K-Salaam and Beatnick.

To help illustrate their vision, the producers recruited some of the biggest names from both sides of the musical spectrum. On the lead single “Street Life,” dancehall legend Buju Banton and singer Trey Songz get together and harmonize about the hard knock life. The album, which drops on July 29, will also feature appearances from folks like Kardinal Offishall, Young Buck, Sizzla, Dead Prez, Capleton, Papoose, Luciano and Talib Kweli. After the jump, watch a hilarious clip of K-Salaam in the studio with Buju Banton and listen to the album’s lead single.

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Vote For The Sexiest Reggae Gold Cover Girl

One thing reggae fans can look forward to every summer is VP Records‘ annual release of their Reggae Gold series. The compilation, which has gathered the past year’s top hits since 1992, never disappoints (it helps that virtually every major reggae artist is already affiliated with the label).

And aside from the music, it’s always exciting to see the fly female that they choose to grace the cover. As we near the release of Reggae Gold 2008 on June 17th, we decided to compile all the covers from the last 10 years and let you decide which model looks the best. See them all after the jump and vote for the one you think is the baddest.

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Santogold Drops An Unreleased Track

After celebrating over a year’s worth of run-away success on the internet, Santogold finally released her self-titled album last week. But recently the Brooklyn native, Santi White threw herself back into the blogosphere releasing “Your Voice” her second dub-reggae-fused track, which follows the sound of the album’s Spankrock collab, “Shove It”. Listen to the full song, then watch the video for Santogold’s current single, “LES Artists” after the jump.

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Mavado’s New Video

With a new song featuring Jay-Z burning up radio, the dancehall superstar doubles up this week releasing “Last Night,” the latest video from “Gangsta For Life: Mavado The Symphony of David Brooks.”

Go behind the scenes of the video shoot here.

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Mavado’s “Last Night” Video Shoot

Dancehall’s gangsta for life gets gully in the Little X directed video for “Last Night.” Blink and you’ll miss Bounty Killer’s cameo appearance in this behind-the-scenes-look from his self-titled debut, set in his dreary hometown of Cassava Piece Gully Side, Jamaica. Rumor has it, the Alliance (Bounty Killer, Mavado, Elephant Man, Aidonia) are prepping their super-group album due this year. Lick a shot.

[Hype TV > Dancehallreggae.com]

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