DJ AG has built a huge audience by inviting performers such as Skepta to join him in London and elsewhere DJ AG knew he was on to something after Daddy Freddy’s performance. The DJ, real name Ashley Gordon, has garnered more than 385,000 followers by doing something incredibly simple: playing music outside and allowing people to perform alongside him while he livestreams the results. Continue reading...

The use of fake AI vocals – including those of Donald Trump – is sending shockwaves through this historic scene. At a Montego Bay clash, performers debate their culture’s future Four days after the attempt on his life, the voice of Donald Trump booms from the speakers in Montego Bay, Jamaica: “If they needed an assassin, they should have sent for Bodyguard … about to commit a quadruple murder at Sumfest in Montego Bay.” The audience are taken by surprise, having been primed for a reggae riddim to drop, and laugh. The Bodyguard crew have just taken to the stage at Sumfest Global Sound Clash, a musical gladiatorial contest where sound systems battle against one another with creative mixing, hyped-up MCs and exclusive – often incendiary – recordings featuring star guests and in-jokes. AI vocalists such as this fake Trump, however, are sending shockwaves through a decades-old musical tradition in which authenticity and originality are paramount, and sound systems pay premium rates to artists to get vocals for clashes. Continue reading...