Trinidadian Asha Mandela has claimed the Guinness Book Of Records title for the longest dreadlocks. A few weeks ago, Mandela, the mother of a seven year old son, submitted her claim to the Guinness World Records committee to have her almost nine foot long dreadlocks recognized as the longest in the world.

Reggae veteran Ripton Hylton, otherwise called Eek-A-Mouse was allegedly arrested on charges of kidnapping, rape and possession of cocaine and marijuana in North Carolina, USA. The artiste was arrested on Sunday August 17 at 4 a.m. in Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina.

Word on the street is that reggae heavyweights Buju Banton and Junior "One Blood" Reid, had a war of words backstage at Best Of The Best 2008, held recently in Miami, Florida. Eyewitnesses claim Junior Reid called Buju Banton a "battyman".

Bounty Killer will definitely not be appearing at Best Of The Best 2008 due to not securing a US work permit. Although there are also doubts about Mavado's appearance, Bounty Killer's management has confirmed that The Warlord will not appear at the much anticipated show this weekend in downtown Miami, Florida.

Machel Montano, the Trinidad and Tobago soca superstar, has copped top honours at the International Reggae and World Music Awards held recently at the Apollo Theatre in New York City. The awards included Best Calypso/Soca Entertainer, Most Outstanding Stage Personality of the Year and the much-coveted, Bob Marley Entertainer of the Year Award.

Scotiabank has announced a multiyear sponsorship deal with Caribana, one of the most popular and largest Caribbean Carnivals in North America. This comes as excellent news for the Caribana management since the last couple years have been hit and miss when it comes to funding of the annual event.

Akon has been formally charged in connection with an incident in upstate New York. Akon physically lifted one fan and threw him into the audience injuring another fan in the process. This all occurred after the crowd alleged that the guy threw a projectile at Akon while he was on stage performing. Akon will be in court on Monday in Fishkill, NY for an arraignment hearing into the matter.

Kool Haus under intense pressure from gay rights groups have canceled two major concerts in Toronto. Elephant Man's concert on September 28 is gone, however more importantly Sizzla's concert on October 5, has also been canceled. Ticketmaster is still selling tickets to the Give Thanks & Praise concert featuring Sizzla, Munga Honarable and Marlon Asher.

Reggae dancehall fans in Atlanta and Trinidad were in for disappointment as dancehall star Mavado was forced to cancel concerts in both places after he was robbed while in Toronto over the weekend for another concert. Reports are he was robbed while checking into his hotel.

There are heightened calls to ban Elephant Man and Sizzla from performing at multiple concerts in Canada from gay rights groups. This opposition is becoming quite frequent for reggae dancehall artists when on tour. The groups claim that the Sizzla and Elephant Man "perform music it says incites violence against gays and lesbians."