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Check Out Navino’s New Banger: “Gonna Be”


 

Navino’s “Gonna Be” arrives through SchemeYute Ent and A’Legends Productions as a 2: 42 reggae single, with Ricardo Fraser credited as composer. The digital release is dated September 4, 2026. That framing matters: this is a collaboration tied to A’Legends’ youth-centred work, rather than an attempt to repackage the song as an all-purpose Navino release.



The record has been presented as a motivational song for younger listeners, centred on encouragement, self-belief and the freedom to imagine who they might become. A’Legends CEO Jenelle Alexia’s developing children’s-app vision is part of its stated context, giving the song an unusually specific purpose in Navino’s recent output. The project metadata lists A’Legends alongside Navino as a main artist, while the track itself is billed simply to Navino.




There is history behind the pairing. Navino previously appeared on A’Legends Productions’ Bankx Riddim with “Exclusive, ” released in 2024; “Gonna Be” moves that association into a standalone format and a different address. Issued as a one-track release rather than folded into a multi-artist package, it gives the message its own space. Its September timing also places it at the opening of the back-to-school period, matching the song’s intended audience without turning the record into campaign copy.





Original Koffee Is "OVA SO"




Original Koffee comes back sounding sharp and unhurried on “OVA SO, ” a single that uses a simple patois phrase to point somewhere definite while leaving plenty of room for attitude. The title reads like a direction and a warning at once, and the track rides that feeling with clipped phrasing, a rolling dancehall pulse, and the kind of vocal control that lets her stretch a melody without losing the bite in her delivery.



Koffee, born Mikayla Simpson in Spanish Town, broke through as one of Jamaica’s most distinct young voices with “Toast, ” then pushed her range further with Rapture and Gifted, the album that took her to the top tier of reggae’s global crossover conversation. She has always sounded like an artist who can move between roots consciousness, singjay flow, and pop-facing hooks without flattening any of them, and “OVA SO” fits that space neatly. The record lands under Promised Land Records, the imprint that has handled her recent work as Original Koffee, keeping the rollout in step with her reintroduction under that name.




What gives the song its pull is the tension between ease and command. It has the swagger of a forward-moving dancehall cut, but there is restraint in the arrangement, too, with enough space around her voice for the line to land clean. After the quiet stretch around her name change, “OVA SO” feels like a direct statement of presence rather than a loud reset. It sounds like an artist choosing her next lane carefully and stepping into it with purpose.





Rome Records Releases Sixth Album ‘Only Now,’ With ‘Stop the War’ Bringing Reggae, Roots & Politics to the Forefront



Rome Records, the anonymous artist and record label built around putting music before identity, has released its sixth album, Only Now. Released on August 26, 2026, the 12-track project marks Rome Records’ first full venture into reggae and combines roots-influenced rhythms with themes of love, reflection, community, and social awareness. At the center of the release is “Stop the War,” a reggae track created to encourage listeners to consider the human consequences of conflict and the role music can play in opening conversations.



“Stop the War” Uses Reggae to Address Conflict


Running 4 minutes and 38 seconds, “Stop the War” approaches war from the perspective of ordinary people who live with the consequences of decisions made by those in positions of power. A heavy reggae beat provides the musical foundation for a direct grassroots message.




For Rome Records, the track reflects a belief that music has historically served a wider cultural purpose. Songs have challenged assumptions, drawn attention to overlooked realities, and encouraged people to engage with issues affecting their communities and the wider world. “Stop the War” serves as a central expression of that idea, using reggae’s established connection with community, freedom, and resistance to deliver its message.




About Rome Records


Rome Records is an anonymous artist and record label centered on a music-first approach. Its six-album 2026 catalog includes Celestial, Backroad Bruiser, From The Moon, Seeing Stars, Always Been, and Only Now. The project explores different musical styles while keeping the identity behind the recordings private, allowing listeners to encounter each song on its own terms. 

To learn more about Rome Records, explore its latest releases, and follow the music behind the project, visit https://romerecordsmusic.com/.


Rome Records

Romerecordsmusic.com

romerecords.mia@gmail.com





NEW FROM EASY STAR: Pre-Order ‘For All’ - Marcus Gad × Tamal Vinyl & CD


 

Ghana-rooted Dancehall Juggling From Nawtyboi Tattoo


 

OLU Riddim lands as a Ghana-rooted dancehall juggling from Nawtyboi Tattoo, whose 2026 catalogue has been leaning hard into instrumental projects and artist link-ups across Afro-dancehall and related street sounds. The release arrived as an August 17, 2026 single on his artist page, while the surrounding uploads show he was actively pairing his productions with names already moving in the Ghanaian dancehall lane.



The riddim itself feels lean and militant, with a bounce that leaves room for patter, flexing, and fast-switching cadences rather than heavy melodic gloss. It sits closer to street-level dancehall than polished crossover, which suits the lineup. RenMich brings the sharpest sense of urgency, while 28 Frikky’s “STD (Smile Time Done)” pushes the kind of raw talk and chantable hook that travels well on a juggling. Paq’s “Fear No Man” and Omar Burner’s “Everything Set” point in the same direction, carrying the brash confidence the riddim asks for.


Nawtyboi Tattoo

What makes the project work is the range of voices around a shared frame. Kwaku Geezy, already tied to the Greater Accra underground, adds local weight, while Shiney Bwoy, Sly Force, Boy Dappa, and the rest keep the energy moving without blurring into the same performance. It is a dancehall set that values attitude over ornament, and Nawtyboi Tattoo uses the rhythm like a platform for road-ready statements rather than a polished radio package.





BOOK CLUB PICK: Reggae en Español: Diasporic Cultural Production in Panama (Reframing Media, Technology, and Culture in Latin/o America)


 

Tracing the origins and cultural impact of an Afro-Panamanian musical genre


In Reggae en Español, Sonja Stephenson Watson chronicles the emergence and influence of a complex and rich musical genre that has become emblematic of Afro-Panamanian identity. Born in Panama in the late 1970s when artists of West Indian ancestry infused Jamaican reggae rhythms with Spanish lyrics and Panamanian folk music, reggae en español is shown in this book to be a powerful narrative of migration, hybridity, and resistance that compels recognition of Blackness as central to Panamanian history and culture.


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This is the first book to document the origin story of this genre and its diasporic linkages. Watson explores how reggae en español emerged from transnational circuits, drawing influences from Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, and the United States. She illustrates how artists such as El General, Renato, Nando Boom, El Maleante, Rude Girl, and Chicho Man have used music to address issues of race, place, and identity, while inserting Black voices into national narratives that have historically excluded them. This book offers a groundbreaking perspective on how music can shape identity and connect communities across borders.


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