In a major development, the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honorable Olivia Grange, has announced plans to take the top ten entries in the 2020 Jamaica Festival Song Competition to the world. The songs will be available for download and streaming on all music platforms as of Friday, July 3rd, 2020, courtesy of VPal Music.

The finalists in the 2020 Jamaica Festival Song Competition include Reggae icons Freddie McGregor, Toots & The Maytals and Buju Banton; popular artistes Papa Michigan, Nazzle Man, L.U.S.T. (Lukie D, Thriller U, Singing Melody & Tony Curtis); Rising Stars winner Shuga; upcoming dancehall artistes Xtra Bigg and Radix OD, as well as the actress and television presenter, Sakina.

The move to make the Jamaica Festival Song entries available on music downloading and streaming services is a part of Minister Grange’s initiative to revitalize Jamaica Festival. In keeping with restrictions on public gatherings because of the covid-19 pandemic, the usual island-wide road shows and public performances by the Festival Song finalists will not be held this year. Instead, the Ministry has engaged national radio and television stations and has been using social media to bring the finalists and their entries to the public.

The winning Jamaica Festival Song for 2020 will be decided on July 26 by popular vote.

A few days ago Breaking Expectations and J-Rod Records released a powerful dancehall single titled “Mother Nature.” The song, which is a collaborative effort, is performed by both Julian Marley and Junior Reid.

“Mother Nature” is a social commentary record that highlights the way in which human beings are out of balance with nature, choosing to focus on money and power as oppose to life and health. Click here to stream and download the track from your preferred platform.