July 5th
Mad Cobra Mad Cobra honed his talents on several local sound systems before recording his first single, 1989’s “Respect Woman”, was produced by his uncle, Tuff Gong engineer Delroy “Spiderman” Thompson. His next single, “Na Go Work”, brought him to the attention of producers Captain Sinbad and Carl Nelson. Together they released a string of hit dancehall singles: “Shoot to Kill”, “Merciless Bad Boy”, and “Ze Taurus”. In the early 90s, Cobra’s hits included “Yush”, “Gundelero”, “Bad Boy Talk”, and “Feeling Lonely” (with Beres Hammond). He released his first full-length album in 1991, entitled Bad Boy Talk and had five number one hits on British charts. He later signed with Columbia Records and his LP, Hard to Wet, Easy to Dry featured “Flex”, a single which interpolated elements of The Temptations’ “Just My Imagination”. Rihanna later sampled the song with her single “Say It”. In 1996 he signed with Capitol Records for his second major-label album, Milkman. The album featured a clash cut with Ninjaman, “Sting Night” and in 1998, Cobra scored with “Guns High,” a duet with Mr. Vegas. Several compilations of his recordings appeared over the next few years, including Cobra(2001) and Words of Warning(2004). Cobra was heard on “Cobrastyle”, from Teddybears’ 2004 album, Fresh and reissued in 2006 on their album Soft Machine.
Love Boy Lova Boy, the self-proclaimed “Prince Ah Belize”, grew up on the impoverished streets of Dangriga, Belize. He developed a love and appreciation for music and spent countless hours rocking out on street corners using a broomstick and cans of powdered milk to form the foundation of their trapset band. By the late 90s, Lova Boy had all but given up his love of music when he came to America at age 14. Unfortunately he was already indoctrinated into life as a gang member and it wasn’t long before he was introduced to America’s juvenile justice system. Lova Boy began writing poetry and decided to focus on his music and performed at reggae shows upon his release. A chance meeting with Jay Z followed and Jay Z encouraged Lova Boy to return home to Belize, develop a fan base, then come back and see him. Lova Boy immediately went to work on re-branding his career, image, and music style—starting with transitioning from the popular reggae style of music to Punta Rock or Belizean Punta. In 2011, after releasing his first album Grand Opening, his song “Tornado” broke the record for longest running video and earned him the “Song of the Year” award and a nomination for “Artist of the Year” at this year’s Belizean Music Awards. Lova Boy can go effortlessly from Punta Rock, to reggae, all mixed in with a little bit of hip-hop. More recently, Lova Boy just completed his fifth music 02 video for his song “You Da Wife.” 29
