Wayne Marshall at Rebel Salute 2019

The 2019 staging of the annual Rebel Salute Festival took place over the weekend and it was, in my opinion, “the preservation of Jamaican culture, music and lifestyle.”
The two-night event, which started out many years ago as a roots, reggae, Rasta stage show, has grown into an international celebration of all the sites, sounds and tastes
of Jamaica.

As is done every year, Rebel Salute features a wide variety of both emerging and established reggae and dancehall talents and this year was no exception. Some of the standout performances from night one were Jah Bouks, who took the audience back to Africa with a captivating set; Koffee, the young protege of veteran reggae artist Cocoa Tea and Wayne Marshall, who gave us a burst of energy with his performance.

On night two, Chalice Band, Half Pint and Louie Culture took patrons on a musical journey as they all dropped back to back hits and had the crowd singing along with every song. Jesse Royal gave an epic performance! Agent Sasco and Dre Island delivered! All and all, I would say that most, if not all the artists that took to the Rebel Salute stage did their thing.

There were some key moments that must be highlighted however. First is Andrew Tosh being cut off after singing only one song, as well as Bushman not being allowed to finish his set. It seems both incidents occurred due to time constraints, which resulted in Tosh and Bushman being noticeably upset and openly speaking about it on the
mic. Another key moment that I’m sure everyone will be talking about for a while is Queen Ifrica‘s set. Once she stepped on the stage Queen made it known that she was
feeling emotional and proceeded to voice her concerns about a number of things: the negative influence some are having on our youths, the push to normalize homosexuality
and lesbianism in Jamaica, the upcoming political changes slated to take place on the island this year etc.

For us in the audience the show came off as entertaining, educational and just an overall good experience. That being said, it was clear that there were a lot of issues
regarding stage and time management taking place backstage. Regardless what was going on, credit must be given to Tony Rebel and his team for the obvious growth of the
event, which is now a real tourist pull here in Jamaica.

International reggae artist Exco Levi is warning his fellow musicians about a fraudulent show promoter operating out of Finland and Costa Rica. See below the message he shared on his Facebook page only a few days ago (we have not edited the message in any way).

“I am appealing to fellow musicians be weary of dealing with Finland /Costa Rican artist / promoter Prenton Bless. He has a signed contract for 3 shows and still not paid the 50% deposit for Exco Levi. We agreed to send him promotional material on receipt of deposit as contracted. Payments were sent in 4 parts over 6 weeks and deposit in full has still not been received.

He would not or could not discuss the name and address of the venues he claims he has booked 3 shows. Hotel confirmation has still not been received. He asked us to enter Costa Rica as tourists we told him we would not do that. We do not enter countries without appropriate documentation. We called one venue he listed on a flyer and the venue was unaware of the show 4 weeks before the event. He continued to behave in an unprofessional manner and because we have a contract signed by him we did not seek other other shows, resulting in loss of revenue and brand opportunities. We want to remind him that payment in full is required if contract is cancelled less than 120 days prior to event. Full balance is required and we urge him to ceast and desist from maligning my Exco Levi or my management team in any way shape or form. We also direct Prenton Bless Do not under any circumstances release the video Warning which is in your position. He has no authority so to do.

We appreciate the support of Costa Rican Fans and I look forward to performing for my fans and supporters in the near future. One love.”

On Monday, December 31st, Harar Music Group in association with Iba Mahr & Friends present the annual Sound Di Alarm Music Festival. This year’s staging will be held at the Dinthill Sports Complex in Linstead, St. Catherine, Jamaica.

Some of the artists that are confirmed for 2018 are: Popcaan, Beenie Man, Sizzla, Capleton, Louie Culture, I Wayne, Kabaka Pyramid, Jesse Royal, Bugle, Fantan Mojah, Duane Stephenson, Dre Island, and that is just to name a few.

Tickets can be purchased online via First Line JA