California Roots 2015: Day two

Beebs and Her Money Makers Beebs and Her Money Makers Beebs and Her Money Makers California Roots 2015 KBong KBong KBong KBong KBong KBong KBong KBong with special guest Hirie California Roots 2015 Mike Love Mike Love Mike Love Mike Love Mike Love John Brown’s Body John Brown’s Body John Brown’s Body John Brown’s Body […]

Fortunate Youth & Arise Roots at the Belly Up

Two bands from Los Angeles, California came down to Solana Beach in San Diego to perform some beloved reggae music on Thursday, June 11th. Arise Roots and Fortunate Youth are known for their modern reggae music, which usually includes special messages. A great crowd showed up for both bands as Top Shelf Reggae indeed saw […]

Mike Pinto “Peace of Mind” single

When one addresses the concepts of peace and love, one may reminisce on the hippie revolution of the late 1960s and early 70s – when this country was torn apart by unjust warfare, civil violence and tyrannical leadership. One remembers John Lennon in the late 70’s promoting the “Hair Piece, Bed Peace” sit-in, the renouncement […]

Artist spotlight: 9 Mile Roots

Scheduled to perform at Philly’s premiere reggae festival which will include Damian and Stephen Marley, Morgan Heritage and Tarrus Riley, the eight-piece group 9 Mile Roots is making new waves for the east coast reggae scene. Hailing from Baltimore, MD the group consists of members Jay Randell (lead vocals/trumpet), Dave Muse (drums), Josh Behun (bass), […]

Inna Vision’s “When We Forward” summer tour

Widely promoted as Maui’s first original roots reggae band, the group that call themselves Inna Vision is set to embark on their summertime west coast tour titled “When We Forward,” covering twelve U.S. cities with The Big Island natives, The Steppas. The Aloha State crew will kick off the tour July 15th, 2015 in Southern […]

Suburban Legends ‘Forever in the Friendzone’ album review

What more can be said about the Southern California band Suburban Legends besides how fun, rocking, and entertaining these guys are? Well, since they just released their latest album, Forever in the Friendzone on June 2nd, there is plenty more to be said on their zany, youthful, and FUN music. To start, this album was […]

Oogee Wawa ‘More Sand Than Money’ album review

Oogee Wawa from New York has released their album, titled More Sand Than Money. The band claims to fuse reggae, punk, pop, and hip-hop together and that is exactly what they did in this latest-released album. Hip-hop and rock music is apparent throughout the entire album, and blend well together. A slight skank exists here […]

Stick Figure’s remix of “Smokin’ Love”

Like the Fantastic Five of reggae music, the great super powers come together to create something that’s truly out of this world. …the great super powers come together to create something that’s truly out of this world. The initial version of Smokin’ Love which featured Collie Buddz was released June 3rd, 2014 and mended two […]

California Roots 2015: Day one

Blue King Brown Blue King Brown Blue King Brown Blue King Brown Blue King Brown California Roots 2015 California Roots 2015 California Roots 2015 Sun Dried Vibes Sun Dried Vibes Sun Dried Vibes Sun Dried Vibes Sun Dried Vibes Stick Figure’s Scott with his brand new sticker Nahko and Medicine for the People Nahko and […]

Cali Vibes Clothing “Support Local Reggae”

Out of Los Angeles, California comes a man with a mission. Not only is Vince Pena’s clothing line, Cali Vibes Clothing, what he considers his very own band, with each design like that of a song, but he appears to be a humble business man with a main goal – to support the local reggae […]

Lovd Ones “Slow Down” featuring Gonzo

Formed in 2008, the Florida based reggae band Lovd Ones has been making the rounds recently sharing the stage with The Steppas and New Kingston. Their latest album titled Thicker Than Blood boasts an impressive list of featured artists including Sizzla, Luciano, Gonzo, E.N Young and Leilani Wolfgramm. An official video was just dropped for […]

E.N Young and Imperial Sound show review

On Wednesday May 20, E.N Young of Tribal Seeds and his new band, Imperial Sound, played at Over the Border in Chula Vista, California. A local band, Revival, opened the night for the infamous melodica player and singer. Revival is an eight piece band from Chula Vista, although some members may have been missing that […]

California Roots: six years of success

Five years ago, in 2010, a small festival took place in Monterey, California over Memorial Day Weekend where bands played to an audience of friends, family, other musicians and local fans. Today, after tens of thousands of festival-goers all over the country flocked to Monterey's fairgrounds and enjoyed yet another three-day musical extravaganza, it's hard […]

Musical Memorial Day Weekend

This past Memorial Day weekend in California was quite musically filled for this So. Cali’ reviewer. While most reggae-rock supporters were busy camping and enjoying the fruits of the California Roots Festival in Monterey, this reviewer stayed down south and enjoyed the sounds of North Cali’ in the form of Arden Park Roots, while also […]

The Expanders ‘Hustling Culture’ album review

The city of Los Angeles is linked to progression and style, even in the instance of placing a modern twist on vintage culture. With this in mind, it is no wonder that The Expanders, an LA-based roots reggae band, has made such an impact reviving and – for lack of a better word – expanding […]