Aidonia to perform early hits for YUSH

With 20 years and more than 60 stagings in six cities and two countries featuring major dancehall acts with a ‘90s catalogue, noted selectors and sound systems, and even a mega staging featuring Ja Rule and Ashanti, retro party YUSH is again hoping to surprise fans.

While brainstorming for the December 23 staging, promoters Philip ‘PP’ Palmer, chief executive officer, Sun Nation and Scott Dunn, group managing director, Dream Entertainment, were on the lookout for a new and exciting concept.

They would end up returning to an old idea that turned out to be right on time: booking Aidonia – an artiste with an impressive and extensive arsenal of hits. The promoters have a long history with the artiste (Aidonia sings about “PP dem a Dream Weekend” in Yeah Yeah) and have been trying to convince him to do a special nostalgic YUSH performance with only hits from the early 2000s. With a newly released project — Occupied Mind — and his recent announcement that he’ll be taking a break for the first few months of 2024, Aidonia is set to gift his fans and YUSH with a first: a performance of exclusively his early hits, backed by Ruff Kutt Band.

Ruff Kutt was formed in 1989 and have backed for every dancehall great, including Shabba Ranks, Bounty Killer, and Beenie Man. Promoter Scott Dunn shares his excitement about the addition: “Ruff Kutt is my favourite backing band. They give an energy to an event that is unmatched. We last worked with them on Dream Wknd Malta and they killed it!”

Along with Aidonia and Ruff Kutt, partygoers can look forward to music from Stone Love, Jazzy T from Renaissance, Code Red, and DJ Mac & Baba.