CARIBBEAN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS ROUNDUP

By The NAN Editorial Team

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Friday, April 26, 2019: Here are the top headlines making news on the Caribbean entertainment scene for this week:

James Bond Launches In Jamaica

The 25th James Bond movie and Daniel Craig’s fifth and final installment as 007 launched in Jamaica Thursday.

Craig, Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, and director Cary Fukunaga launched the film from the Caribbean island nation where Ian Fleming wrote all of his Bond novels. The still untitled film will be partly set in Jamaica, which was also a setting in “Dr. No” and “Live and Let Die.” Bond 25 is due out April 8, 2020.

Sean Kingston Under Fire

The State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta has cancelled Jamaican American Sean Kingston’s scheduled performance at their OH-Fest, joining a growing list of universities calling for the removal of Kingston as a performer after the University of Connecticut’s decision to cancel his show.

The protests are due to historic sexual assault allegations made against the singer. In 2010, a 19-year-old woman accused the ‘Beautiful Girls’ hitmaker, 29, and his bodyguard of raping her at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Seattle, Washington. He settled a civil case out of court in 2013.

XXXTentacion’s Collabo From the Grave?

While XXXTentacion may be no more, his music is living on. His mother is teasing a new collaboration between X, Stefflon Don, Vybz Kartel and Ky-Mani Marley. This song teaser from the Jamaican roots late rapper comes after XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, racked up 10 nominations for the 2019 Billboard Music Awards including for Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist and Top Streaming Songs Artist. Jahseh also received nominations in the Top R&B Male Artist field and Top R&B Album category for his album 17.

Buju Banton Launches New Line

Months out of prison, Jamaican singer Buju Banton is on a role. The reggae star has now launched a clothing line, the Everything BB LWTFT collection

“The Everything BB LWTFT Collection is more than just a t-shirt, but a message from BujuBanton to the world! When you wear it, we want you to wear it knowing that we are one! ONE VOICE, ONE PEOPLE, ONE SOUND,” a spokesperson for Everything BB stated. Fans around the world can pick up a piece at all of his official Long Walk To Freedom tour locations and now via the web at Everything BB .

African American Singer Takes Top Spot On Billboard Reggae Chart

An African-American, Philadelphia-born singer has claimed the number one spot this week on the Billboard Reggae Chart.

Santi White, known professionally as Santigold, entered the chart at number 1 with her mixtape released last year titled, ‘I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions.’ Santigold is an alumnus of Wesleyan University, where she double-majored in music and African-American studies. She obtained her pseudonym in the 1990s after a friend gave it to her as a nickname. Her debut studio album, ‘Santogold,’ was released in 2008 to critical acclaim. Her second album, ‘Master of My Make-Believe,’ was released in 2012 and her third album, ‘99¢,’ in 2016. White has a mezzo-soprano vocal range,[66] and her style has been compared often to that of M.I.A.

Caribbean Nationals Up For Billboard Latin Awards

Puerto Rican-Dominican reggaeton Latin trap artist Ozuna dominates the list of nominees with a record 23 nominations across 15 categories at the Billboard Latin Music awards.

Fellow chart-topping artists J Balvin and Nicky Jam follow with 13 nominations each, Bad Bunny with 12 and Daddy Yankee with eight.