From  the  Editor

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he Digicel Rising Stars competition ended on Sun-day night with Tash emerging the winner. Many persons had picked both Tash and Latty J to make it to the finals, so it didn’t come as much of a sur-

prise when they did. Unfortunately, there could only be one true winner.

Throughout the competition, Tash had gained a reputation as the Jamaican Lady Gaga, delivering ‘brow raising performanc-es in very unique attire. The people loved it. And then there was Latty J, who quickly emerged as a serious contender for the title. Clearly, not one to let down her supporters, she de-livered top notch performances each week.

In the two-hour finale on Sunday, the competition delivered a fun-filled final episode and closed the door on another season.Five lessons we can learn from Rising Stars:

Tash, who ignited the most energy and entertainment into the competition for the first couple of shows, was eventually told by the judges that she had become complacent. Latty J emerged as a clear favourite for the title and Tash was forced to fight to the very end.

In the same way, if you don’t put in the work and do what’s necessary to become success-ful, you might just miss out on your dreams. There is no sub-stitute for hard work. You know what needs to be done to achieve your goals, so just do it.

After the winner was announced, some persons on Twitter had tweeted that Tash was “too black”. Huh? She was what?! Many, including me, took serious o!ense to that statement. If Tash is too black then I’m too black, my family is too black, my friends are too black, most Jamaicans are too black, right? The tweets ignited a emotionally charged debate on Twitter, and once again showed that racism, prejudice, shadism, what-ever you want to call it, is alive in Jamaica. How can you tell your beautiful Black sister the same things the slave owner told your ancestors? Something is seriously wrong with that kind of thinking. Shame on you.

. Many have been saying that Rising Stars has done its time and needs to call it quits. Actually, people have been say-ing that for years. Despite that, the show is still very popular and continues to highlight the talent of many Jamaicans. It re-ally isn’t over until the fat lady sings.

The show, in recent times, has been go-ing through a series of changes, with the most recent being a complete overhaul of the judging panel and host. Not ev-eryone was pleased with these changes, but the truth is that nothing stays the same forever. As soon as we accept that fact, then we will be better prepared to handle the “lemons” life throws at us. Prepare for the unexpected in life.

Have a Truthful Tuesday, Keresa

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5  Lessons  from  Rising  Stars

Photo courtesy of Digiecel

Entertainment

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he Help earns itself full five stars, and is based on a book of the same name by Kathryn Stockett. To be honest, I

didn’t read the book and I assumed based on the fact that the cast is virtually all female and the plot was based around them, that this was a chick flick, but I am very happy to say that I was wrong.

This movie’s portrayal of racial imbalances in 1963 America are well illustrated and also deliv-ers some very funny moments that help to make

this an incredible film. According to those who have actually read the book, it did not pay justice to the bestseller but the movie’s phenomenal cast gave an exceptional performance worthy of Oscar nominations, especially veteran actress, Cicely Tyson. While Tyson’s character is central to the storyline, she delivers, in my opinion, one of the most powerful and moving scene in the film and she doesn’t even utter a single line, making this movie a must see.

Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a number one New York Times best-selling phenomenon, “The Help” stars Skeeter (Emma Stone), Aibileen (Academy Award nominated Viola Davis) and Minny (Octa-via L. Spencer), three very di!erent, extraordinary women in Mississippi dur-ing the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their improbable alli-ance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times.

The Help is a comedic-drama film from director, Tate Taylor and Dream-Works Studios also starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Ahna O’Reilly, Allison Janney and Sissy Spacek.

TPG-­13The  Help

Movie  Review by Alana Gardner

Dillon  Olivierre:

Wordsmith

Ayala  Bennet:

From  The  Soul

My  Art,  My  Culture

TEEN SPIRIT eZINEwww.ezineslimited.com

illon Ollivierre is from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and he’s been a big fan of Teen Spirit, so much so that he

wanted to be in our eZine. Writing poems for six years, he sent this poem to showcase his talent. Ladies, this one is for you.

I  Wish  For  You

I wish for you nothing but joy and happinessRather than loneliness, emptiness and sadness

I wish for you successA life with little or no stress

Hold your head high, stay focus, aim for greatnessFight to stay positive, ignore the darkness

The feeling of betrayal, the feeling of emptinessStay focus, you’re a star destined for greatness

I wish for you the best that life and love has to o!erI wish for you a handsome son and a beautiful daughter

I wish for you a man who will love, cherish, respect, romance and motivate you

Someone who’ll love you unconditionally, someone who’ll truly love you

Someone who’ll give love new meaningSomeone who’ll make you feel like you’re dreaming

Someone who’ll make fairytales a reality

I wish for you a bright and successful futureI wish for you a blessed future

I wish for you a life that’s pleasing to GodA life where you’ll continue serving Almighty God

I wish for you to look at the woman in the mirror and see what I see

An independent lady who has great potential to be who she wants to be

A beautiful young lady with class and style of a diva

I wish for you loyal friends and a strong bond with your familyI wish for you nothing but the best pretty lady!

I wish for you to look beyond today and tomorrowLook beyond the tears in your eyes, or the days filled with

sorrowI wish for you to look beyond the obstacles, trials and strug-

gles of lifeI wish for you to remain focus, determined, ambitious and

confident while enjoying life Smile and be happy, no pretending, nor faking, no more hiding

your feelings, I wish for you genuine happiness pretty lady.

yala Bennett a student at Ardenne High School, sent us a poem that definitely deserved to be published.

The  Sea

My sea does not end past the horizon.My ocean does not swell by the moon.

My waves sway against your tides,Beyond the miles

That you expected.

Come without your armour.Leave them far from the coastline

Lest my flow steals them away.Dip yourself

Down Slowly-

Ease your rage,Turn the torn up page aside

Let wisps of my reason Leave anything with you:

That I cannot conform to your boundaries;For you are not my moon, nor my wind

Nor the northern soldier to which my horizon line abides,So as I asked,

Kindly,Lay the weapons aside.

Please rest yourself in the waterAs I wash away all you think you know

Of yourself, of me, of the sea,Til sunrise when you see what remains-

Sand grain.

D A

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e all know that Jamaica is a nation known for mu-sical genres like ska, reggae and dancehall. But is there any room on our musical palates for any-

thing else? The men of Acmatic have proven to be a fresh ap-proach to Jamaican live music since their inception in 2007. After listening to their debut album, Sundial, it was di"cult to put their unique sound into any category. The band members themselves found it hard to describe their music, due to the extremely wide variety of music that they draw their influences from. Russell “Plateface” Meghoo (aptly named on account of the Styrofoam plate he wears on his face during performances) tried to put a finger on his band’s sound by calling it a “new wave, electronica, hip-hop, rock, metal, fusion. Well, we still don’t know what to call what we make.”

Taking their name from an archaic word meaning the summit or the peak, Acmatic is “heavily influenced by 90s hip hop as well as electronic music; artistes such as Nas, Daft Punk, [and] MGMT… A lot of crazy sounding stu!.” Acmatic’s eclectic sound is due to an amalgamation of all of the band members’ personalities. What started out as a trio in 2007 consisting of Alexander “Beatnik Bill” Delapenha, Russell “Plateface” Meg-hoo and Phillip “King Lopo” Lopez, has grown to include an ad-ditional five members, Daniel Hew on the bass, Phillip Myers on lead guitar, Joel Ashbourne on the keyboard, Craig “Flea” Lee on the drums and The Collar Stays on the mic.

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Cover  Story

by Francine Derby Photos by Randall Richards

Acmatic:  Diversifying  the  Jamaican  Music  Scene

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Cover  Story

The band admits that it is di"cult to gain traction in Jamaica with their type of music, so they tend to focus on overseas audi-ences. They have gained quite a bit of international recognition, being featured on Diplo’s website, MTV Iggy (MTV’s outlet for independent artistes) as well as various music blogs. “Being able to sound like di!erent things allows for creative freedom. Ac-matic is not limited or stagnated or put into any box. It’s good to be di!erent, it’s good to branch out,” Beatnik Bill said when asked about the advantages and disadvantages of doing alterna-tive music in Jamaica.

Acmatic has also “branched out” into the world of house music, with their recently launched EP, Squid Shark. “We don’t think house music is taken very seriously in Jamaica and we wanted it to be taken seriously, so we decided to make some ourselves,” explained Beatnik Bill.

Make no mistake, Acmatic also has a following in Jamaica. The band has been known to give live performances at Altered Fri-days at Fred’s Bar, Chillito’s and Red Bones Blues Café. The performances are always high energy and electrifying and leave their audiences satisfied.

It was clear that Acmatic is a group of young men doing what they love and having fun doing it. Their playful and jovial person-alities, a trademark of rock stars, allow them to write positive, uplifting lyrics paired with positive, uplifting beats for a com-pletely fresh, never-before-heard sound that is bound to please. If you think you’re ready for a musical revolution, follow Acmat-ic on Twitter and Tumblr , like their Facebook page and check out their videos on YouTube. You can download their debut album, Sundial here and their brand new EP, Squid Shark here.

TEEN SPIRIT eZINEwww.ezineslimited.com

t a glance, K. Dominic McKenzie is likely to strike you as being a pretty down-to-earth, run-of-the-mill guy one

would expect to run into on just about any university campus in Jamaica. However, a conversation with the Northern Carib-bean University (NCU) student reveals that nothing could be further from the truth. He displays a unique mixture of experi-ences, tastes and outlook that set him apart from many of his counterparts. One of his childhood dreams was to become an entrepreneur, and at 16 taught himself to use Adobe Photoshop - a decision that he has never regretted. It was this perseverance that would later give rise to the creation of his company, Precise Innovations; of which he is very proud.

McKenzie grew up in an environment in which education was always a presumed necessity for professional and personal suc-cess. This fundamental principle laid the foundation for a suc-cessful high school career at Belair School where he was a na-tional scholar for French. His love of the subject continued into his tertiary studies at NCU where he is currently completing a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Teacher Education with a major in Information Science and a minor in French.

McKenzie is also emerging as a promising artistic talent through his work as Director of Northern Caribbean University’s (NCU) 62-member mixed chorus, Kingdom Praise – a choral ensemble that specialises in contemporary gospel. In May of 2011, he also sang with the Jamaica Choral Scholars, where he participated in a two-week intensive course on Caribbean Hymnology, and performed pieces arranged by celebrated Jamaican composer and conductor, Andrew St. C. Marshall.

He is also one of Jamaica’s newest and youngest radio personal-ities thanks to his role as host of the popular Projec-Teen show which airs on NCU 91.1 FM, focusing on various issues a!ect-ing adolescents, particularly the di"cult transition to adulthood. The challenges of adolescence, particularly those of parental loss and grief are not unfamiliar to him as he lost his mother to colon cancer when he was only 11; an experience that he recalls with much pain and sorrow. “When she was sick, I would always ask why the doctors couldn’t help her. That was really rough. But, I also remember how kind she was to people at our church. She always made time to help others,” he shared.

Through his resilience, McKenzie has translated his vision of service to youth into the creation of The Delcena McKenzie Foundation. Fittingly named in homage to his late mother – a woman who led a life of service to her family and community – this foundation will provide financial, psychological and material assistance to children and teenagers who have lost a parent to cancer. He is young, but not without accomplishments. Indeed, he is the recipient of the 2009 Most Outstanding Freshman award at NCU and also had the honour of representing Jamaica and the Caribbean at the International Student Week celebra-tions in Ilmenau, Germany where he met with representatives of other countries to discuss human rights and the role youth can play in protecting them.

What’s in store for McKenzie? Upon completing his undergrad-uate studies, he intends to do a Master’s degree in International Relations abroad to later work in some diplomatic capacity with the United Nations or another international body that works di-rectly in development and human rights protection. In addition, he has often been encouraged to do commercial modelling and has just begun taking the steps to explore that avenue as well.

Take party outfits and mix and match them with simple shirts while keeping your accessories.

Youth  In  Service

The  Journey  of  K  .  Dominic  McKenzie

APhoto by Kaneo Biggs Photography

ighteen-year-old Kevaughn Bryan, more commonly known as Kevy B, defines success as ‘the benefits you

are rewarded with after all your blood, sweat, tears, hard work and dedication have been invested into your craft, leaving the supporters satisfied’.Undoubtedly, he has been singing for suc-cess with his unique, jaw-dropping vocals.

The young, forthcoming musician began singing at the age of four but started to take it more seriously when his voice ma-tured at about age 14. His inspiration comes in the form of re-nowned producers and musicians, namely, Stephen Mcgregor, Ryan Leslie, Timbaland, Scott Storch, Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Omarion and Bob Marley.

Bryan, who plays the piano, drums and writes his own lyrics, does not see singing as his main priority as he wishes to become a Music Producer and Video Director. He is currently study-ing Communication and Arts Technology at the University of Technology.

“I respect all genres of music and I listen to everything but for me R&B and Island Pop is where I feel most of my natural abili-ties are exercised…I would have to say I respect the work that Konshens does as he is a person who speaks about real life situ-ations that people in general can relate to,” he said. What would Kevy B be doing if he was not singing and producing? Well, the music-lover told Teen Spirit that he would be venturing into the-atre since he enjoys telling jokes and just expressing himself to people.

Kevy B, who recently landed the title as Young Moguls’ Am-bassador having replaced Eva Hype commented saying, “well it definitely feels good to be a part of a young upcoming successful business that is within my age bracket. The key to a successful business is team work and once that is present, the hard work and dedication is definitely gonna pay o!.”

“Performing on stage overall is an overwhelming feeling as it gives you a chance to connect with your supporters and just have a good time, after all, music is all about self expression and passion,” he stated. He has been performing on stage for quite a while, formerly with Calabar’s choir as well as performances at weddings, talent shows and hotels. His most recent perfor-

mance was at Campion’s Got Talent where he performed with Eva Hype and Mario Dunwell. The young lad receives much sup-port from his mother who bought him his first keyboard and has been on his team ever since.

In three years’ time, Kevy B hopes to see himself as a significant figure in the music industry, owning his own studio and record label- KevStar Records.

“I definitely want to say to the teens that with whatever you’re doing always put God first as he can open doors than no man can close and never stop going after your dreams. It’s not over until God says it’s over,” he advised. Clearly. the sky’s the limit for Kevy B!

Jus  Buss

Kevaughn  Bryan:  Creating  Musical  Waves

TEEN SPIRIT eZINEwww.ezineslimited.com

Eby Justine Powell Photos by Dacx Photography

TEEN SPIRIT eZINEwww.ezineslimited.com

Environment

nternational Beach Clean Up kicked o! last weekend around the world and schools, clubs, societies and di!erent groups in Ja-maica participated. We would like to give a big shout out to everyone who took the time to give back and thank you for sharing

your photos with Teen Spirit. Check out these photos of our readers getting dirty for a cause!

Ardenne High School also participated in the International Beach Clean up which was hosted by Jamaica Environmental

Trust. Location: Palisadoes Strip

Key Club District of Jamaica, Division II headed by Lieutenant Governor Chadwick

Anderson. Location: Palisadoes.

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Teens  Participate  in  International  Beach  Clean  Up

Photos by Dacx Photography,Alexander Young and Ay Photography

TEEN SPIRIT eZINEwww.ezineslimited.com

Environment

Young Moguls also got involved and set about to clean the shores of Fort Clarence beach in Hellshire.

Chevion Morgan of the Wol-mer’s Boys Key Club. Loca-tion: Port Rockie.

Is  Diving  and  Play  Acting  

Ruining  Football? by Najique Gayle

iving in football, also termed as simulation, is an ef-fort made by a player to gain an advantage by diving

to the ground after little or no contact is made against them in order to win a free kick or penalty kick. Play acting is where the player decides to fake an injury after a tackle has been made against them or make a situation appear to be worse than it ac-tually is by pretending to be in agony. If you are an avid spectator of football, you should be familiar with these acts.

Many players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Fabregas, Wayne Rooney, Drogba, Steven Gerrard, and countless others have all dived or play acted at some point in their career. Everyone does it.# Diving has become an element with the game of football; so much so that the action of diving is available in the Pro Evolution Soccer video game.

FIFA has tried to put sanctions and fines in place for simulation in the game but it seems that diving and play acting will always be a part of football. The real question to be asked is, is simu-lation ruining the game of football? Diving and play acting are deliberate acts of cheating and even though it may be argued at times, most times it is a deliberate attempt to fool the ref. It is dishonest and it may even determine whether or not a team wins or loses.

In my view, however, simulation is not ruining the game. I believe that o"cials in charge of managing the game should be more aware and prepared to determine whether or not a player is play acting or has dived. Personally, I think play acting is even worse than diving. If a player was accidentally touched by his opponent in his chest and then falls to the pitch holding his face and screaming as if he had just been shot, but then five seconds later it was as if nothing has happened it is very disgraceful. One of the most famous acts of theatrics which comes to mind is in the 2002 World Cup game Brazil vs Turkey, Rivaldo collapsed to the pitch holding his face and screaming after a Turkish player kicked the ball unto his leg. The Turkish player received a red card and was dismissed instantly.

Both diving and play acting are dishonest acts but I cannot whole heartedly say that they are ruining the beautiful game of football. Simulation has been a part of football for a long time and has

been carried on by di!erent generations of football players and its impact has lessened more and more over the years as o"cials become more familiar with the act. I would love to see players begin to make an e!ort to stay on their feet and stop trying to con the referees, but in the end, it is just another aspect of football.

D

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Sports

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Relationships

How  To  Make  New  Friends  &  Keep  Old  Friends

t’s a new school year and it’s the perfect time to network and get social. Whether you are attending a new school, have mi-grated or attending the same school, here are some tips that can help you to make new friends and keep your old friends!

1.  Be  YourselfYou probably hear this all the time, but it’s very true. You should always be yourself – never change for anyone. If you are yourself, you should attract and keep relations with the right people, in particular, the people who you ‘mesh’ with and relate to. If you are not yourself, and assume characteristics that are not originally yours, chances are your real personality will emerge at some point in your friendships and conflicts will arise. Don’t waste your time being someone you’re not when you could have befriended per-sons you actually have things in common with.

2.  Time  ManagementTime management is crucial when you intend to make new friends and keep old ones. You need to allocate the time you’ll spend with each group wisely. Yes, you want to get to know your new friends some more, but don’t ever make a friend feel less than another, or else the bond you have with one will get smaller. From time to time, you’ll have to make an extra e!ort with old friends to remind them that your friendship with them is still very impor-tant to you.

3.  Mix  &  MatchThis is one of the best things you can do with old and new friends. The best way to maintain these friendships is if everyone becomes friends. Don’t separate your friends or bring friends around other friends without introducing them. Smash that pillar of awkward-ness and introduce them! Introduce your new classmate to your old ones or introduce your roommate to your best friend! Of course, it’ll be di"cult if conflicts already exist between your new and old friends. If that is case, you don’t have to take on the heavy duty of a mediator, just ensure that you stay neutral and never choose a side.

4.  Need  to  know  basis.Don’t brag to your friends about other friends, especially if they don’t know them. Some friends can get annoyed or even jealous when they hear you ramble on and on about your new encoun-ters. Keep your friends on a need to know basis of other friends and only mention them when they relate to a conversation.

5.  CommunicateContinuous and worthwhile communication is key if you hope to make new friends and keep old friends. It is going to be a task in itself to keep contact with everyone- old & new, but if your friendships are that important to you, you will. Using social media and technology to keep in contact with friends can make this task much easier for you, so go ahead and start communicating.

by Ava Gardner

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