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Voice Mail (band)
Encyclopedia
Voice Mail is a dancehall
reggae fusion
duo, hailing from Kingston, Jamaica
.
hit
in Jamaica with "Weh Di Time". They made a succession of videos
for songs such as "Gal Hunt", "Weh Di Time", "She Want It Harder", "Ready To Party" and "Wacky Dip", in addition to features on the Strip Tease riddim
and Klymaxx riddim medley videos. They have performed at Spring Fest 2004, Sumfest 2004 and 2005, Fully Loaded plus undertaken worldwide touring.
The trio met at a local talent show. Originally the band included two additional members: Robert Manning and Leonardo Grant, all committing themselves to a recording career in 1999. However those two moved on, and by 2003, the trio began to actively record with record producer
s. Their first recording was with radio personality and producer Arif Cooper, on "Never Really Want To Let You Go".
The group's debut album
, Hey (2007) with VP Records included dance party anthems "Wacky Dip", "Weddy Time" and "Ready To Party" which were forged by working with Danny Champagne of Champagne Records. The album sold over 100,000 copies in Japan
. In 2008, the group continued their success in Japan with their follow up album, Let's Go. Voice Mail were featured by the Japanese reggae singer Lecca
, on her fourth album, City Caravan.
The group scored their first number one in over two years on the Jamaican dancehall charts with "Dance the Night Away" featuring Busy Signal
, which reached its peak in February 2010.
On 10 May 2010, group member O'Neil Edwards, was robbed and shot several times by gunmen, at his home in Duhaney Park. He underwent surgery hours later. The main suspect in his shooting was found dead on 12 May, and another captured in Manchester. Many artistes and friends came out to the hospital to support Edwards, including Mr. Vegas
and Macka Diamond. The group released a song titled "One Life to Live" which was recorded six months earlier, as a tribute to the critically ill group member. On 26 May 2010, Edwards died after battling for life in hospital for two weeks. He was buried on 5 June.
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
reggae fusion
Reggae fusion
Reggae fusion is a fusion genre of reggae that mixes reggae or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, house, jazz & drum and bass....
duo, hailing from Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
.
History
Recognized for their intro trademarks, "You've got mail - VoiceMail" and "Heyeee"; Voice Mail were founded in 2003, and had a chartRecord chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
in Jamaica with "Weh Di Time". They made a succession of videos
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for songs such as "Gal Hunt", "Weh Di Time", "She Want It Harder", "Ready To Party" and "Wacky Dip", in addition to features on the Strip Tease riddim
Riddim
Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm," but in dancehall/reggae parlance it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song. Thus, a dancehall song consists of the riddim plus the "voicing" sung by the deejay. The resulting song structure may be taken for...
and Klymaxx riddim medley videos. They have performed at Spring Fest 2004, Sumfest 2004 and 2005, Fully Loaded plus undertaken worldwide touring.
The trio met at a local talent show. Originally the band included two additional members: Robert Manning and Leonardo Grant, all committing themselves to a recording career in 1999. However those two moved on, and by 2003, the trio began to actively record with record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
s. Their first recording was with radio personality and producer Arif Cooper, on "Never Really Want To Let You Go".
The group's debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Hey (2007) with VP Records included dance party anthems "Wacky Dip", "Weddy Time" and "Ready To Party" which were forged by working with Danny Champagne of Champagne Records. The album sold over 100,000 copies in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. In 2008, the group continued their success in Japan with their follow up album, Let's Go. Voice Mail were featured by the Japanese reggae singer Lecca
Lecca
is a Japanese reggae singer-songwriter.Her major debut was in 2006 with the mini-album Dreamer, with Avex' sub-label Cutting Edge.- Singles :* For you * My measure * Tsubomi / Snow Crystals, feat...
, on her fourth album, City Caravan.
The group scored their first number one in over two years on the Jamaican dancehall charts with "Dance the Night Away" featuring Busy Signal
Busy signal
A busy signal in telephony is an audible or visual signal to the calling party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection of that particular telephone call....
, which reached its peak in February 2010.
On 10 May 2010, group member O'Neil Edwards, was robbed and shot several times by gunmen, at his home in Duhaney Park. He underwent surgery hours later. The main suspect in his shooting was found dead on 12 May, and another captured in Manchester. Many artistes and friends came out to the hospital to support Edwards, including Mr. Vegas
Mr. Vegas
Mr. Vegas is a Jamaican dancehall star.-Biography:Smith was born in Kingston in 1974. The moniker "Mr. Vegas" was given to Smith by his schoolyard football-mates, who thought that he kicked the ball like a Las Vegas dancer...
and Macka Diamond. The group released a song titled "One Life to Live" which was recorded six months earlier, as a tribute to the critically ill group member. On 26 May 2010, Edwards died after battling for life in hospital for two weeks. He was buried on 5 June.
Albums
| Date of Release | Title | Label | Reviews | Catalog Number | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albums | ||||||
| 18 July 2006 | Hey | VP Records VP Records VP Records is an independent reggae record label, located in Queens, New York. It is best known for producing Caribbean singers.-The foundation:... /Universal |
Allmusic [ link] | 1728 | ||
| 16 July 2008 | Jump Off | VP Records VP Records VP Records is an independent reggae record label, located in Queens, New York. It is best known for producing Caribbean singers.-The foundation:... |
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