Vegas urges fellow artists and fans to sign petition to save Reggae Music

Global Reggae star Mr. Vegas is pleading to his fellow artists/musicians and music fans to sign the Save Foundation Reggae petition – an appeal to radio disc jockeys to include the music of classic or ‘foundation’ Reggae pioneers like Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Culture, and Alton Ellis into their playlists. The online petition also makes an appeal to Jamaica’s producers, who are focusing on Hip Hop inspired beats instead of the island’s signature bass-heavy rhythms.

“Reggae music is like the heartbeat of Jamaican people and culture, and now it is barely played on popular radio stations anymore,” says Clifford ‘Mr. Vegas’ Smith. “Young people today have no idea who Cynthia Schloss or Hortense Ellis or Delroy Wilson are. These are people, who pioneered Reggae, who created a space for people like Sean Paul, and even Sean Kingston and Iyaz to be pop stars. Radio barely plays foundation Reggae, and many of our producers have abandoned traditional Reggae and Dancehall rhythms for American sounding Hip Hop beats.

This petition is to let them know that foundation Reggae is still a crucial part of our culture and we must preserve our musical heritage and legacy.“

Furthering his Reggae mission, Vegas, known for Billboard charting smash singles like “I Am Blessed” “Heads High,” “Pull Up,” “Tek Weh Yuhself,” “Hot Wuk,” “ and “Gallis,” will be releasing Sweet Jamaica, his first full Reggae album. Scheduled to drop in 2012, Sweet Jamaica will showcase and foundation Reggae and Ska singles . The album’s lead single “Sweet Jamaica” has been getting good reviews.

Jamaica will celebrate its 50th anniversary as an independent nation next year. Reggae music was born around the same time that Jamaica became a free nation,” says Mr. Vegas. “I am working on the ‘Sweet Jamaica’ album which celebrates the past fifty years of Jamaican music. Everything on the album is going to be foundation – covers of foundation Reggae classics, and original material with foundation Reggae and Ska beats and melodies.

Our music has become very diverse over past half-century, but at the core it is still foundation Reggae. I really want to bring the foundation back into contemporary popular culture.“