Look out for artistes whose names begin with the letter ‘S’ on Sumfest
Published:Thursday | March 17, 2022 | 12:09 AM
Now that both Sizzla and Shenseea – whose names just happen to begin the letter ‘S’ – have been confirmed to perform for Reggae Sumfest, which takes place in Montego Bay, St James, from July 20-23, executive producer of the music festival, Josef Bogdanovich, seems ready to play the alphabet guessing game.
“I can tell you that there are a few Esses in there,” Bogdanovich told The Gleaner on Tuesday evening at Shenseea’s Alpha album launch.
“And there are few Ds in there. We’ve got a nice alphabet worth of artistes,” he added with his eyes doing all the smiling.
This is reminiscent of the 2019 staging of the premier dancehall and reggae festival in the world when he played around with the letter ‘B’ prior to revealing the line-up, which featured Buju Banton, Beres Hammond, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer. This time around, he is hooked on ‘S’.
Other possible big names starting with the letter ‘S’ include Grammy-nominated dancehall artiste Spice; Grammy winner Sean Paul; and the original Grammy Kid, Shabba Ranks. When asked about them individually, Bogdanovich reiterated, “Like I said, it’s a lot of Esses.”
Both Spice and Shabba Ranks should have been crowned queen and emperor, respectively, at the 2020 staging Reggae Sumfest, and the crowns had even been bought. “I have two crowns but no heads,” Bogdanovich lamented when things did not get under way as planned. Instead of a live event, the festival that year was scaled down and repackaged as a live-streamed event owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reggae Sumfest had crowned Beenie Man King of the Dancehall in 2012, and Lady Saw was crowned Queen of the Dancehall. However, in 2014, she ditched her secular crown and robe for spiritual reasons, thus leaving the throne empty. Sumfest was all set to rectify that in July 2020 by officially crowning Spice as the new queen, who would “claim her place among Jamaica’s music greats when she is crowned Queen of Dancehall at the 28th staging of the iconic Reggae Sumfest”.
LEADING IN THE INDUSTRY
“Jamaican female artistes have taken a leading role in the music industry, both locally and internationally, and Spice has been at the forefront of that. Many younger artistes have her to thank for laying the foundation that has led to their success. Spice has performed at Reggae Sumfest more than 10 times, so it is only fitting that she receives the title on our stage. She is an amazing artiste, and we look forward to honouring her,” Bogdanovich said at the time.
Spice has since released her debut album 10, which is nominated for a Grammy award.
However, this year, Shenseea is flexing her muscles, and Bogdanovich is acknowledging her prowess in the global music arena. Shenseea is the only female rapper on Kanye West’s Grammy-nominated album DONDA, and she appears on two tracks, Pure Souls and Ok Ok Pt 2. Her debut album Alpha has been hailed as a significant milestone, especially for women in the reggae/dancehall genre.
With Shenseea and Sizzla as two of the headliners, Bogdanovich is promising fans of Jamaican music “an incredible festival” and told The Gleaner that, “It’s really about the celebration after getting out of a pandemic.”