More ‘Reggae Acts’ for Reggae Sumfest 2014 please

By: Sheneka Bryan



When Sumfest production boss Jhonny Gourzong said he was going back to the drawing board for 2014 and was keeping to the longstanding tradition of bringing the ‘who’s who’ in international R&B and hip hop over the last 21 years he certainly was not lying. This year saw an impressive line up of artiste including; Wiz Kalifa, Future, Jason Derulo and even an impromptu performance with ‘tag along’ girlfriend Jordin Sparks.

The 22nd staging of Reggae Sumfest kicked off at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre, Montego Bay with Dancehall night on Thursday July 17th followed by International night I and II on Friday and Saturday respectively. Though Dancehall night boasts an impressive line-up of local acts, the major year to year gripe never fails to highlight how Americanise the International nights have become. Many believing it should be a festival overall best serve to showcase Talented Jamaican Reggae acts that had made it ‘Big’ Internationally.
 
Going by patrons’ response, Dancehall night saw the biggest turnout at the festival for over two decades now. Over 25,000 patrons, locally and overseas converged on the lawns to see the likes of Busy Signal, Bounty Killer, I-Octane and a host of other impressive Dancehall artiste. Going by that crowd alone on dancehall night in comparison to the international nights, the festival would be best served to showcase more reggae, less hip hop as expressed by non-going seemingly patriotic Jamaicans. Some believe the festival should be segmented into instead two Dancehall nights and Reggae with the likes of Beenie Man and Sean Paul and a Chronixx bringing an end to the festival. An Aside, Chronixx will be featured on Jimmy Kimmel live in the coming week, how much more international could you get.
 
Going by the turnout of Dancehall night alone I am inclined to agree that the organisers can very well do without the foreign acts. The crowd was in frenzy when the biggest act of the night took the stage. As I struggle from my limited vision of the stage (yes, yours truly was not in VIP) and resort to watching the big screen instead, the atmosphere noticeably changed when sounds of ‘Happy Time, Happy Time’ could be heard echoing around the venue. In the wee hours of the morning was when current Dancehall super star I-Octane delivered a stellar performance and renew faith in anyone who ever thought the genre was on the decline. The crowd not only loved his performance but also when the Dj blasted other popular dancehall artiste Mr Vegas for, his rival and biggest critic.
 
There were several surprises at Sumfest this year none of which was the performances of American Acts, Jason Derulo and Future. In the past the festival hosts international superstars such as; R Kelly, Lil Wayne, Akon just to name a few. Many, including myself would love to see a festival dedicated solely to reggae and dancehall but I can honestly say I didn’t mind Jason Derulo’s performance at all. Firstly, Before Derulo ever stepped on stage he was up and about expressing his love for Jamaica and how delighted he was to be here (Derulo parents spent about 10 years living in here). Of course by the time he even made his way to the stage he already wooed all of us at a press conference where he gushed about how beautiful the island is and how much he is enjoying being here;

‘I’m here in Jamaica. I didn’t want to miss it for the world cause I broke my ribs, and still had to come’ he said.

His set was filled with hits such as; ‘The other side’, ‘riding solo’ and ‘Marry Me’. The latter he was in the middle of performing when he was joined on stage by long-time girlfriend and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. His performance was the only one of the international stars that was worth seeing as Wiz Khalifa and Future had to work extra hard to keep the crowd going. It was just about this time, I can imagine, that the naysayers of the festivals hopped over to social media to air their disgust. The criticism of ‘The greatest Reggae show on Earth’ was mainly how far out these international acts were from our culture and how the show would be better with performers who are internationally acclaimed Jamaican by birth.
 
‘Future! Come On Sizzla Would Have Been A Better Artist To Have This Year At Reggae Sumfest To Many American Artiste This Year And This Kills Reggae Sumfest Every Year. Tonight's Line Up Should Have Been Sizzla, Beres Hammond, Sanchez, Freddie McGregor, Raging Fyah, Tessanne Chin, Sean Paul, Richie Spice & 3 The Hard Way John Holt, Ken, Boothe & Big Youth With Lloyd Parks Backing Then Up. But You Know This Will Never Happen.’
 
This dude really? Where's Iba MaHr, Raging Fyah, Dre Island? Dude sounds like he's got a mouthful of marbles. #wherestheroots’ (On Future’s performance)

The comments ran from mild to the use of very colourful languages cursing the producer and promoters of the show for their lack of insight. Even as there was an outpouring of suggestions the event organisers still came out as a winner because who will forget that this was the year of Chronixx and that his performance at Sumfest was very epic.

No contest, the biggest performer of the overall festival was roots reggae performing artiste Chronixx. Starting his performance by walking on the stage singing his big hit ‘start a fire’ the newly popular star commanded the attention of everyone in the venue. Moving into ‘never give up’ the Rastafarian crowd pleaser up the tempo as he continues with songs including; ‘smile for me Jamaica’, ‘here comes trouble’ and a special performance of ‘who knows’ with Protege. As far as international goes Chronixx is well on the way to become the next ‘Rasta sensation’ coming out of Jamaica. Dare I say, Bob Marley anyone?

Speaking of International reggae stars, Tessanne Chin took the stage thanking fans for their ‘love and support’ during her successful participation and winning of season 4 of NBC’s The Voice. Chin who took a break from her current tour of the United States on promotion for delivered a stellar performance with her powerful vocals performing her new hit from her new Album, and the some older numbers such as the very popular ‘hideaway’. Grammy award winning artiste Sean Paul also made an appearance rounding out the Reggae international stars that performed at the festival.

In all honesty, three or four imported international acts are not hurting the show’s turnout yearly. Though many patrons, many are visiting tourists in the second city, would much prefer a total Reggae experience that is authentically Jamaican, some really do not mind since over ninety percent of the show features Reggae and dancehall anyways. One thing is for certain; this has worked for many years now so amidst talks and criticism patrons and critics will be seeing another sprinkling of popular international acts for the 2015 line-up debates or no
.