Christmas is a very special time of year for Jamaicans, and as with other countries that celebrate at this time of year, there are some things that Jamaicans hold near and dear at Christmas time. Below is our list of the top 10 Jamaican Christmas traditions (of the present).

1. Christmas Dinner – a massive Christmas dinner on the afternoon/evening of Christmas day is a must. Everything from gungo peas & rice to ham and potato salad will be on the menu.
2. Partying and other events – Christmas time is a favorite time of year for Jamaicans to go to a variety of events including office parties, themed parties and massive stage shows (e.g. Sting).
3. Shopping and gifts – no matter how much they complain that they are broke and have no money, Jamaicans still find money to shop for decorations,  gifts, food and more.
4. Drinking sorrel – our favorite ruby red coloured Christmas drink.
5. Eating Christmas cake – everybody digs up their family’s secret Christmas cake recipe, and bake several to last the season.
6. Listening to Jamaican Christmas carols – yes there are Jamaican / reggae versions for all the popular International Christmas carols and more.
7. Midnight Mass on Christmas eve – a long-held tradition here in Jamaica is for the family to go to Church on Christmas eve.
8. Decorating houses and yards – with Christmas lights, ornaments and other accessories.
9. Grand Market – community fairs and informal markets in the weekends leading up to Christmas are still quite popular.
10. Jonkanoo (John Canoe) – a a traditional Christmas celebration (from the days of slavery), with revelers paraing through the streets dressed in colorful masquerade costumes. This activity is not as popular as it once was.

If you’ve got suggestions, thoughts or feedback regarding our list of the top 10 Jamaican Christmas traditions, please feel free to post them below.

Dancehall deejay Mark Anthony Myrie (more popularly known as Buju Banton) was arrested recently in the U.S., and charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilos of cocaine. He is currently in jail awaiting trial, and if he happens to have an iPod in his cell, here are the Top 10 songs that he can listen to as he awaits his freedom.

1. Driver A – his almost prophetic hit single from 2006, which seemingly predicts the current predicament that he faces.
2. Kid Ralph – Little Twitch’s song from the 1980s which talks about someone named ‘Kid Ralph’, a ‘legendary’ homosexual figure in Jamaica’s prison system. It is not know if he is also resident in Buju’s U.S. prison, but given his numerous run-ins with gay activists over the years, Buju should definitely be on the look out for Kid Ralph.
3. Mamaa – the late Baby Wayne’s song about life in prison.
4. Not An Easy Road – another Buju hit single; it has never been an easy road for him in North America.
5. Psalm 23 – Buju’s collaboration with Gramps Morgan which can help to sooth any troubled soul.
6. How Massa Got Worl’ A Run – who would ever have thought that Buju Banton would be caught up in something like this.
7. Babylon Bwoy – he could use this Baby Cham hit single to seek answers from ‘Babylon’.
8. Life – as G-Whizz said, “don’t worry, life soon sort out.“
9. Locked Up – r&b hit single from Akon
10. Tink Mi Did Done – like Admiral Bailey, hopefully he’ll be laughing at the end of this trial.

If you’ve got suggestions, thoughts or feedback regarding our list of the top 10 songs that Buju Banton can Listen to as he awaits his freedom, please feel free to post them below.

Style ah style and style cyaan spoil, but some people’s singing /deejay style is just too annoying. Here’s our list of the top 10 most annoying voices in dancehall.

1. Blak Ryno – his Portmore Empire mentor Vybz Kartel told him to be unique and creative, but everything after “Real Stingers” has been like an annoying mosquito in your ear.
2. Bramma – why does every song sound as though he’s constipated or in pain?
3. Serani – why does every song have the same tone and sound exactly the same?
4. Beenie Man – since he stopped deejaying and started singing.
5. Kris Kelli – no range whatsoever.
6. Ghost – he cannot sing; he whines and whimpers.
7. Mr. Vegas – never play more than three Mr. Vegas songs back-to-back … please.
8. Flexx & Alex of T.O.K. – sometimes can’t tell if you’re listening to a male or female.
9. Donovan “Don Corleon” Bennett – stick to producing.
10. Trevor Off Key – stick to your Bambino persona, and even that one we can only take in short doses

If you’ve got suggestions, thoughts or feedback regarding our list of the Top 10 most annoying voices in dancehall, please feel free to post them below.

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Going to parties and dances is a way of life here in Jamaica. Here’s our list of the top 10 venues that were the life of the town, back in the day, but which no longer exist or are now being utilized in other ways.

1. House of Leo – in the 1980s and 1990s, House of Leo was THE place to go to dances on various nights, but in particularly for Stone Love’s weekly Thursday night dance.
2. Tropics Night Club – located on Dumfries Road in New Kingston, like House of Leo, it was a mainstay for dancehall events in the 1980s.
3. Cactus – the infamous Portmore night club which helped to revolutionize clubbing here in Jamaica.
4. Cinema 2 – it was a drive-in cinema, but on occasion it was used to host massive stage shows featuring the top artistes of the day. It is now being used as a parking lot.
5. Disco Inferno – a visit to the second city, Montego Bay, was not complete, without a trip to the Disco Inferno night club.
6. Mirage night club – the uptown club, located in Liguane, which was a hub of activity and events throughout the 1990s. Who could forget the TVs in the floor!
7. 24Kt night club – memories of the narrow, steep staircase, leading to the dark, smoky club located in Manor Park, Kingston.
8. Paradise Cove – located in Bull Bay near the border with St. Thomas, it was once a popular venue for ‘uptown’ and ‘downtown’ parties, particularly during the 1990s.
9. TurnTable Night Club – for almost three decades (from 1973 to 2001), the Turntable club was a key component of Jamaica’s nightlife, music and entertainment scene – until its final closure on January 1, 2001 due to escalated and prolonged political violence in the Red Hills Road area.
10. Portmore Skating Rink – used to be a popular venue back in the day, not just for rollerskating!

If you’ve got suggestions, thoughts or feedback regarding our list of the Top 10 venues that no longer exist, please feel free to post them below.

Over the past few weeks, the on-going feud / rivalry between dancehall artistes Mavado and Vybz Kartel has seemingly reached critical levels, with individuals and groups at all levels of Jamaica’s society getting involved. Here’s our list of the Top 10 feuds in Jamaican music over the past few decades.

1. Mavado vs. Vybz Kartel – they’ve been at it since 2006, and even after at least a couple truces, they’re still at it to this day. In recent times their rivalry has taken an ominous shape, as their ‘Gully/Gaza’ feud has split Jamaica’s society in ways that are reminiscent of hardcore political rivalry.
2. Beenie Man vs. Bounty Killer – since both burst on the dancehall scene in 1992, they have been at each other’s throats lyrically.
3. Derrick Morgan vs. Prince Buster – long before the current dancehall firebrands, Derrick Morgan and Prince Buster ruled ska (circa 1961), and had a persistent musical feud.
4. Ninja Man vs. Shabba Ranks – these two deejays ruled Jamaica in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and their lyrical rivalry played itself out on wax (records) and on stage at several stage shows.
5. Bounty Killer vs. Vybz Kartel – it started out as Bounty Killer the mentor and Vybz Kartel writing songs for him. A couple years ago however, the father-son relationship came to a crashing end, and Vybz Kartel left Bounty Killer’s “Alliance” crew to set up the rival “Portmore Empire” crew.
6. Bounty Killer vs. Merciless – while Bounty Killer was busy confronting Beenie Man in the 1990s, he also had his hands full dealing with Merciless, a deejay who he claimed stole his deejay style and voice in the mid-1990s and into the next decade.
7. Spragga Benz vs. Vybz Kartel – in 2004, dancehall deejay Spragga Benz rushed to the defence of his friend, fellow deejay Assassin, who was caught in a lyrical exchange with Vybz Kartel. Spragga and Kartel went at each other in a few songs then it quietly petered out.
8. Lt. Stitchie vs. Papa San – in 1987 and 1988, these two deejays were more often ‘clashing’ on the big stage shows and dances throughout the year.
9. Deva Bratt vs. Munga – in 2007, these two up & coming deejays went at each other lyrically, but things turned physical at Stone Love’s 35th Anniversary celebration in December that year, when the two started fighting right there on stage.
10. Lady Saw vs. Tanya Stephens – these two female deejays used to be friends, but allegedly haven’t spoken to each other for years – for some unpublicized reason(s).

If you’ve got suggestions, thoughts or feedback regarding our list of the Top 10 feuds in Jamaican music above, please feel free to post them below.

On any given day of the week, there are usually several outdoor events (usually of the street dance / dancehall session variety) happening in Kingston and elsewhere across the island. Many of them are weekly or monthly calendar events. Here is our list of the top 10 weekly outdoor sessions in Jamaica.

1. Passa Passa – this long-time forerunner is still going strong, every Wednesday night on Spanish Town Road in the heart of the Tivoli Gardens community.
2. Wet Sundaze – this newcomer has taken the entertainment scene in Kingston by storm. Sunday nights used to be boring, but now there is Wet Sundaze at Autovision car wash on Hillview Avenue.
3. Weddy Weddy – held every Wednesday night at Stone Love sound system’s headquarters on Burlington Avenue in Kingston, Weddy Weddy is a must for hardcore dancehall fans.
4. Uptown Mondays – Savannah Plaza off Constant Spring Road is the venue for this dancehall favorite.
5. Gal-A-Tuesdays – head on over to Tip Top Plaza in Linstead, St. Catherine every Tuesday night, for country-style dancehall vibes.
6. Boasy Tuesday – get dressed up in your finest to go profile at the weekly Boasy Tuesdays session, at Grove Road in Kingston.
7. Couple Up Saturdays – @ Weekenz on Constant Spring Road in Kingston, and usually featuring special guest selectors.
8. Fresh Fridays – every Friday night at Mistic Plaza on Hagley Park Road in Kingston.
9. Prendys On The Beach – easy beachfront vibe at Prendy’s eatery, Hellshire, St. Catherine.
10. Bembe Thursdays – although not buzzing as much as it did before, it’s still a calendar fixture; Weekenz on Constant Spring Road every Thursday night.

Note, these events come and go, and are sometimes discontinued without notice. We won’t be updating this particular list, but maybe in a year or so we’ll do a new list. If you’ve got suggestions, thoughts or feedback regarding our list above of the Top 10 weekly outdoor sessions in Jamaica, please feel free to post them below.