Grammy-winning Dancehall queen Lady Saw ends her silence with the long awaited release of “Strip Tease” (VP Records) this month. She takes it back to the roots for dancehall fans that know and love her harder side on tracks like “Back Shot”, “Stab Out The Meat”, “Good Wuk”, “Hice It Up” and “No Long Talking”. In a landscape that increasingly sees chart success for the ladies of Dancehall, Lady is coming to remind us of her undisputed reign.

Kevin Lyttle’s “Turn Me On” feat. Spragga Benz (Atlantic Records) continues to climb the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The summer 2004 hit song is doing for Soca what Sean Paul’s “Get Busy” did for Dancehall in 2003. The song is showing no signs of slowing down as it reached #8 this week.

Wyclef Jean was recently in St. Lucia promoting his first album in Creole, Haiti's language. His new album, "Welcome to Haiti: Kweyole 101," tells the story of a Haitian boy who immigrates to America and grows up in New York. Wyclef said the album is based on his own experiences of immigrating to the U.S. as a child, and those of other Haitian refugees in America. Jean is hosting a benefit concert in Haiti on December 5th to promote peace in his native land. He hopes to draw a crowd of 2 million people for the event, of which proceeds will go toward efforts to stabilize the Caribbean country.

Beenie Man’s new release “Back to Basics” blasts onto the Billboard Top 200 Pop chart debuting at number 51. Selling just under 22,000 copies in its first week of release, Back to Basics shoots straight to the top of Billboard’s Reggae Album chart.

“Duttyology” (VP/Atlantic) is a new Sean Paul DVD hitting store shelves August 3rd. This DVD gives fans an exclusive look at the artist who recording of “Get Busy” was “the highest charting single ever recorded by a Jamaican artist in Jamaica”. The DVD includes all four of his hit videos, a complete live concert from Toronto, extensive behind the scenes footage, and much more. All in all, it’s nearly two hours of Sean Paul at his best.

In Barbados Calypsonians didn’t release any new music at Crop-Over this year on the grounds that Government wasn’t doing enough to control piracy. I don’t buy any of that. In the first place, if your CDs are being copied and sold, not recording new music would be a logical protest. Not singing your new tunes in the tents or on the radio is not. Could it be rather that the Calypsonians don’t have anything worthwhile to bring? Like the sugar industry and West Indies cricket, calypso has been expiring for some years now. Gone, apart from a few exceptions, is the blend of serious content with wit and double entendre, the hallmark of the art form. They have flogged wuk-up and wave to death. And they know it.- Statement courtesy of The Daily Nation’s Richard Hoad.