Issue 07/08
EDITOR'S NOTE

Jamaica, Jamaica.... 'the land of wood and water', the small island Far West nestling in the Caribbean sea where Olympic dreams flourished but, came true in the ocean of the Far East... is still the flavour globally, months after the tremendous feat of the Olympic Heroes who had displayed ultimate sprinting excellence in Beijing's Bird's Nest. The black, green and yellow flags had flown high as Usain Bolt was crowned 'king of the sprints'; Asafa Powell ran the fastest relay leg ever recorded; Veronica Campbell-Brown defended her crown whilst Shelly-Ann Fraser, Melaine Walker, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter become household names... Wow, 'oh what a few gold medals can do for an individual, for a team, for a nation and for the world'... is the opening line of our cover story so check it out on pages 34-37.

But... although the focus of this edition is centred on Jamaica's Olympic Heroes, our attention also captures the exploits of the ladies...from all music genres, arts and sports, we bring you stories of some of the women who have been making crazy moves in the 'Black Entertainment, Music & Lifestyle' world. Repping the R&B/Hip-hop store is the UK's MOBO Award-winning Estelle who's all grown and has stepped to the USA big time. Reggae's portion is dished out by the Roots Empress Etana whose conscious lyrics are truly effective. Yolanda Brown is no longer our surprise package as she's also a recent MOBO winner, a fine saxophonist who's young and truly gifted. There's more 'Sporting Around' as we salute the tennis pioneer Althea Gibson who broke down barriers back in the '50s/'60s and inspired the likes of Serena and Venus Williams.

Elsewhere, the women represent handsomely on the Lifestyle wing with a 'Ghana At 50' fashion spread; their presence is felt in the 'African Gold' column as well as in our re-installed 'Visual Arts' segment. Of course, the men are here in numbers… R&B sensations J. Holiday and One Oak are all up in da grill posing with Neo Soul king Rahsaan Patterson. The UK's Roots commander Aaron Kedar locks down the Reggae spot profiling alongside USA veterans Hopeton Lindo, Sea B. Marrah and Benaiah. There's also regular stuff like the 'Poets' Corner', the series on Marcus Garvey, 'Industry Info', book reviews, charts and competitions galore. And, don't forget you can catch us occasionally on the 'Lifestyle On BEN' TV show on Friday mornings as we continue to crane the mag all up in your building! Yuh dun know!

Melissa C Sinclair (DJ Cameo)
Editor, Publisher