/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC: U.S. Fans Will Not Let Go of Roots Reggae

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Howard Campbell

KINGSTON, Jun 17 2003 (IPS) - Just because hip-hop is big among dancehall fans in Jamaica, does not mean that the same applies to Jamaicans living in the United States, as Johnny Gourzong, promoter of the inaugural Reggae Sumfest in Florida, found that out the hard way recently.

Gourzong says the unstable weather was the main reason fewer than 10,000 fans turned up at Bicentennial Park in Fort Lauderdale, which can reportedly hold 35,000 people. But he admits that mixing hip-hop – with its DJs and emcees or rappers – and dancehall – where singers and DJs perform over pre-recorded music – at a Jamaican show in the United States, may have been a wrong move.

"(Jamaican) people are more into reggae over there than at home, so if we are to do it again we would have to look at doing a straight reggae show," he said.

Hot Jamaican dancehall acts Sean Paul and Wayne Wonder were on the Bicentennial Park show, so too hip-hop artists Wyclef Jean, Big Pun and Lil’ Kim. To some traditionalists, Gourzong reasoned after, it may have seemed like just another hip-hop show.

Though reggae has had a strong presence on North American charts in the past three years, thanks to deejays Shaggy and Sean Paul and Wonder, that success is not reflected in the major reggae shows, which still lack contemporary acts.

The U.S. west coast still leads the country in reggae shows. Established live events such as the annual Reggae On The River in northern California is still going strong after 20 years. It continues to attract the cream of roots-reggae, but rarely features younger performers, like Shaggy or Sean Paul, even though they have made inroads into U.S. pop charts.

Not since the Reggae Sunsplash International tours that ended in the late 1990s, have fans across North America enjoyed a steady diet of new and old reggae. The RSI shows ended following the death of founder Tony Johnson in Los Angeles in 1997, and attempts by heavyweight reggae events like Sting to fill the void have failed.

Copeland Forbes, a veteran tour promoter who has managed several big reggae acts, including Peter Tosh and current roots sensation Luciano, says the high rates charged by reggae’s new wave performers, is one reason why the dancehall sound has failed to graduate from the clubs. "They are just too expensive and promoters can’t afford them; they aren’t prepared to pay that sort of money," Forbes explained.

Not that the Shaggys and the Sean Pauls are missing out. They are paid a pretty penny to make appearances on leading urban cable channels like MTV and Black Entertainment Television (BET), as well as to endorse urban clothing lines.

Interestingly, Sumfest is likely to benefit from the appearance of the regrouped American pop trio Destiny’s Child for its Jul. 20-26 show in Montego Bay. The sensational group will appear on the festival’s International Night, and Sumfest promoters are hoping it can do what other big U.S. acts have done in the past — pull in hordes of young fans weaned on BET.

Dancehall’s elite again dominates the marquee for the show’s eleventh staging. Sean Paul tops the Jamaican acts, with perennial artists Beenie Man and Bounty Killer heading a strong supporting cast.

Since 1995 when Summerfest Productions invited American Rhythm And Blues act Brownstone to perform at Sumfest, Gourzong says organisers have gone all out to "integrate the music". The sibling duo K-Ci and JoJo, harmony group Boyz II Men, singers Joe and Alicia Keys and rappers Snoop Dogg and Ja Rule have also graced the Sumfest stage, drawing thousands of hip-hop fans.

Reggae Sumfest Fort Lauderdale was not a Summerfest Productions event, but Gourzong and Walter Elmore, partners in the company, decided to test the waters after watching Sean Paul and Wayne Wonder race up U.S. pop charts.

They added the Haiti-born Jean and Puerto Rico-born rapper Big Pun to the mix, hoping they would be a drawing card for the large Haitian and Hispanic populations in nearby Miami; risque rapper Lil’ Kim was supposed to bring in hardcore hip-hop fans.

That did not happen. While he says there were outstanding performances from Beenie Man and Jean, Gourzong described the response to The Bronx-reared Big Pun as "disappointing".

Despite the debacle in Fort Lauderdale, the promoter says he is eyeing another crack at promoting Reggae Sumfest in the United States, perhaps in New York City, an area he says is hungry for reggae in all forms.