Rolling Stone - USA (2020-02)

February 2020 Rolling Stone 65

Even though he

grew up in Kings-

ton, Shaggy had

never been to Port

Antonio, the town on

the northeast coast

of Jamaica, until

1999, when his wife

suggested a trip to

the remote town. “I

had to chop through

bushes to get to this

beach, and I didn’t

even know how to

swim,” the reggae

star says. “I was

like, ‘I don’t wanna

go to no damn

beach!’ But it was so

pristine — I ended

up spending the

whole day there.”

Shaggy is one of

many musicians who

have discovered the

lush, enticing, and

secluded charms of

Port Antonio, not far

from the birthplace

of jerk cooking.

Diplo, Santigold,

and Shaggy (who

bought 10 acres of

beachfront land)

have property in

the area. Geejam,

a hilltop boutique

hotel run by former

record executive

Jon Baker, features

a very private studio

where Drake, Harry

Styles, Florence and

the Machine, and re-

cently rising British

singer-songwriter

Jorja Smith have

worked, some block-

ing it out for months

at a time. (Drake

took over Geejam’s

upscale Bushbar

for a 24-hour bash,

inviting local artists.)

At songwriting

camps on the

property, producers

and writers have

converged to write

material for Dua Lipa

and Alicia Keys. “Any

hotel with a studio

can put the most

high-tech room to-

gether,” says Baker.

“But the reality is

that you can’t put in

the Caribbean and

the Blue Mountains

as your decor.”

Port Antonio is a

two-hour drive from

the capital of Kings-

ton, with none of the

usual tourist resorts

and golf clubs. Fly

into Kingston, stay

at the Terra Nova or

Spanish Court, stop

by the new Kaya

Herb House, where

you can get a license

on the spot for the

highest-quality local

ganja, and catch

live reggae at the

Kingston Dub Club

in the hills outside

of town.

In Port Antonio,

musicians and

vacationers pop into

rum bars to hear

ska singles. Check

out the weekly Road-

block street party

at the Cristal Night-

club, and grab an

authentic Jamaican

dinner at the funky

backyard spot Sol-

dier Camp. Shaggy

himself has partaken

of river tours on

bamboo rafts before

getting to work.

“You get the creative

juices flowing in that

relaxed mode,” he

says. DAVID BROWNE

HOT DESTINATION

PORT ANTONIO,

JAMAICA

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WILD SIDE

Clockwise from

top: Mystery Lights

bassist Alex Amini

performing at

the Market Hotel;

Sunflower Bean’s

Julia Cumming

performing at

Elsewhere; tacos

at El Cortez

W

HEN SELENA GOMEZ was spotted

last year in the crowd at Alphaville

— a dive bar and live music venue

deep in Bushwick, Brooklyn — the neighbor-

hood went from being an open hipster secret

to a must-see New York destination. Bush-

wick’s graffitied streets and formerly empty

warehouses are home to tons of venues, thrift

stores, and coffee shops that have sprung up

in the past decade, rapidly gentrifying the

area. You can find exceptional restaurants,

like Faro, a Michelin-starred Italian spot, and

El Cortez, a Tex-Mex nightclub that serves

tacos and tiki drinks

with 1970s glam. And

there’s no shortage

of killer music, with

bands of all kinds

regularly filling sweaty

hot spots like Market

Hotel, a cozy all-ages

club that’s located

directly next to an

elevated subway track

on Myrtle Avenue

— so fans can enjoy

watching national acts

like Car Seat Headrest

and Swearin’ do their

best to drown out the

noise of the J, M, and

Z lines rumbling by a

few feet away. Market

Hotel is right at home

in Bushwick, which is

the latest in a long line

The East Village, Williamsburg, and Harlem have left their mark on music.

These days, most great dives, record shops, and indie bands are all in Bushwick

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

to Charli XCX to proto-punk legends Televi-

sion. Located in an old warehouse near the

Jefferson Street L-train station since 2017,

it has areas that function as a nightclub, art

gallery, bar, and cafe, among others. “The

experience of Elsewhere is one that is funda-

mentally social,” says co-owner Jake Rosen-

thal. “It’s more than just a box for music.”

CRATE-DIGGING HEAVEN

Appropriately decorated with dangling

mannequin heads, a rooster clock, and an

assortment of other campy knickknacks,

Human Head Records specializes in Latin

music, soul, and jazz — but it’s got a little of

everything for you to browse through in its

racks. Owners Travis Klein and Steve Smith

opened the shop in a former police-uniform

store in 2013. If you’re looking for a deep

selection of reasonably priced vintage and

new vinyl, friendly staff, and a goofy poster of

Seventies-era John Travolta, Human Head is

the place. ANGIE MARTOCCIO

of New York locales to welcome musicians

(and their fans) — and which continues to

welcome more, even as some beloved venues

of a few years earlier have disappeared due

to rising rents. “You’re much more likely to

find talented people who are your peers in

music if you move here versus moving to

Des Moines,” says one longtime local show

promoter. “Maybe it’s not the heyday. It’s not

1977, it’s not 1965 — and it’s not even 2009.

But it’s still got more shit going on here than

anywhere else, so the appeal remains.”

IN THE CLUB

Another of Bushwick’s most popular live-

music venues is Elsewhere, a multiroom

complex that’s hosted everyone from Mitski

Geejam