Music has significantly shaped the political, social and economic DNA of Jamaica. As 2012 marks the island’s 50th year of independence, VP Records offers arguably one of the most historical and genre-comprehensive box sets selected by Edward Seaga, the former Jamaican Prime Minister (1980-1989). Entitled Reggae Golden Jubilee – Origins of Jamaican Music, this 4-disc deluxe collection will be in stores November 6 on VP Records. As a former record company owner and producer, Mr. Seaga was a major pioneering force in the birth and development of the Jamaican music industry, especially the ska movement in the 1960s. This  led to the explosive interest in reggae during the ’70s.

Edward Seaga, who is the longest serving member of Jamaica’s Parliament and the only surviving member of the legislature that drafted Jamaica’s Constitution in 1962, has hand picked 100 of the most significant songs to emerge from the country to celebrate the island’s half-century turn of liberation. Reggae Golden Jubilee – Origins of Jamaican Music encapsulates every era over last 50 years with double the hits from artists including Bob Marley and The Wailers, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Marcia Griffiths, Yellowman, Beres Hammond, Lady Saw, Buju Banton, Shaggy, Sean Paul, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Mavado and many more.

To accompany the music, Seaga has written extensive liner notes and track-by-track notations in the box set’s 64-page booklet. The commemorative 6” x 12” songbook package also includes iconic photographs from Jamaica’s first fifty years, a preface from VP Records President Christopher Chin and a foreword from radio personality Dermot Hussey and reggae historian John Masouri.

VP Records will host Mr. Seaga on a U.S. promotional tour in late October in New York City. A press conference for Seaga will be held on Wednesday, October 24 at the Jamaican Consulate beginning at 6pm. The following day (Oct 25), he will be presented an award at the American Friends of Jamaica Gala. The event begins at 6pm and will feature artists including Peetah and Gramps Morgan, Johnny Osbourne, Richie Stephens and Gentleman. Then on Friday, October 26 at 3pm, he will give a special presentation at NYU to the students of Clive Davis School Of Music. On Saturday, October 27 he concludes his trip by greeting fans for an intimate in-store signing at VP Records retail store in Queens.