Ras Kimono

Nigeria’s reggae icon, Ras Kimono is dead.

Kimono passed on earlier today at the Lagoon Hospital, Bourdillon, Ikoyi, Lagos barely three weeks after he celebrated his 60th birthday.

Born Ekeleke Elumelu, Kimono who hailed from Delta State dropped his debut album Under Pressure, led by the single “Rum-Bar Stylée”, which was a big hit in 1989.

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Raymond "Whopper Benz" Symonds

This Father’s Day will probably feel a little different for Raymond “Whopper Benz” Symonds. The gospel reggae artist lost his father, Raymond Symonds Sr, in April.

Although their relationship was not perfect, his dad was one of his biggest cheerleaders — especially when it came to his music.

“My dad isn’t here to celebrate Father’s Day with me for the first time, so I will think of him this Sunday and take a moment to appreciate the good times I had with him and all he did for me,” said Mr Symonds, whose album Lyrical and Spiritual was released this month.

“Still, Father’s Day will mean a lot to me because I will get to spend it with my own son [Raymond III] hopefully creating new memories with him.”
His dad was actually the inspiration behind Lyrical and Spiritual. According to Mr Symonds, he kept asking him to release more music and passed away just days before the album was completed.

“My father was very supportive of me and he just liked to show me off as his son and talk to other people about my songs,” the artist said. “Losing my dad taught me an important lesson: you can’t take life for granted. I never dreamt he was going to die before the album came out. In fact, I kept pushing the release date back.

“This has reminded me to keep in contact with family members when they are there because they may not be around the next moment.”

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Veteran Jamaican singer Frankie Paul has passed away.

This was confirmed by Paul’s sister, Tisha Clarke, who spoke to artist Wayne Lonesome about her brother’s passing.

The conversation was streamed by Lonesome on Facebook live, where she shared the news.

According to previous reports, the family of the artiste was facing difficulty satisfying the medical bills of Paul.

Clarke recently revealed to The Gleaner that they were issued a $1.4 million dollar medical bill which was outstanding payments for Paul’s treatment.

“I don’t have no more money because I have to buy prescriptions for him that they don’t have at the pharmacy,” she said.

According to Clarke, Paul had been a patient at the UHWI since April 2017, and was ill for an extended period of time.

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