Junior Gong, I-Octane exclusive to Cream of the Crop this holiday season

Ocho Rios, JAMAICA:- With the abundance of parties, concerts and music events that the

I-OCTANE

traditional ‘silly season’ always brings, it is inevitable that many major acts will be billed for at least two shows locally during this period. However, not so for mega dancehall artistes Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley and I-Octane; the only show they will be doing in Jamaica over the Christmas season is Cream of the Crop, the exciting December 27 concert to be staged at Pearly Beach in Ocho Rios, St. Ann

Produced by Purple Skunkz Entertainment, Cream of the Crop is all about delivering quality acts whose entertainment value is unquestioned. Grammy award winning deejay, Junior Gong, will make one of his few annual performances in Jamaica at this event and fans of the "Welcome To Jamrock" artiste are again eager to embrace him, just as they did at Rebel Salute in January.

Junior Gong

The self-proclaimed “youngest veteran”, who is full of style and flava, has been keeping his fans aware of his movements via Facebook. “Ocho Rios get ready the Cream of the Crop is coming!” he posted last week, along with a flyer from the event. He has enjoyed a tremendous year working on projects with his Ghetto Youths International crew, a successful Welcome to Jamrock cruise,  and the upcoming release of the highly anticipated various artiste CD, “Set Up Shop Vol. 2”. It was in February of this year that Junior Gong and dancehall artiste, Cham set the music world ablaze when they performed their hit single, 'Fighter', for UK's top-rated entertainment show, 'BBC 1Xtra', at the Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston.

Digicel and Busta ambassador, I-Octane, aka The Closer, continues his total dominance of the dancehall, both locally and internationally, with a steady stream of hit songs and awesome performances. His appearance on Cream of the Crop closes out a tremendous year which saw him accept and deliver on the challenge to close Reggae Sumfest Dancehall Night for the second straight year, after which he headed for the festival circuit in Europe where he stamped his unique class and continued to tour on his critically acclaimed CD, "My Journey".

Now in its second year, Cream of the Crop also features Jah Cure, Tarrus Riley, Busy Signal, I-Octane, Teflon, Romaine Virgo, Jesse Royal, Loyal Flames, Berri, Ishawna, Hezron, Nature, Hero and Pzed. Set for Saturday December 27 at Pearly Beach in Ocho Rios, the event is sponsored by Guinness, Liquid Nitro, Ghetto Youths International, Global Vision Concepts, Conquer The Globe Productions, Zip FM, Irie FM and Mad Media House. 

Junior Gong, Jah Cure, I-Octane, Busy Signal among top acts for Cream of the Crop

Ocho Rios, Jamaica: - Boasting a stellar cast of A-list entertainers who are proven crowd-pullers and seasoned crowd-pleasers, Cream of the Crop, the December 27 thriller at Pearly Beach in Ocho Rios, St. Ann, is definitely one of the “must-attend” events for the bustling Yuletide season.

As the name implies, this highly anticipated concert will feature the best of the best in reggae/dancehall, and, according to the promoters, Purple Skunkz, there will be an abundance of top quality entertainment on offer. They noted that with artistes of this caliber, some of whom have not graced the local stage in a long time, the idea is to ensure that the acts will be able to give full-length performances.

“Just as we did at our hugely successful inaugural staging last year, we have kept the line-up at a very comfortable number, rather than the usual 600 artistes on a show,” a member of the organizing committee reported. “This is not the hol’ a mic and run off the stage  kind of event, it is a band show and we are working with an exceptional production team to ensure that sound, stage and lighting are at the optimum.” he continued.

It takes just a quick look at the poster for all the artistes to immediately jump out at you – Junior Gong, Jah Cure, Tarrus Riley, Busy Signal, I-Octane, Teflon, Romaine Virgo, Jesse Royal, Loyal Flames, Berri, Ishawna, Hezron,  Nature, Hero and Pzed –  a solid mix of in-demand deejays and singers, with worthy opening acts.   

Now in its second year, Cream of the Crop made its debut at the Ocho Rios Cruise Pier in 2013, but has been forced to move into a new venue, Pearly Beach, in order to facilitate the multitudes expected to turn out to the event.

“We had over 5000 patrons last year and our projections are that we could possibly get twice that number this year. So we took the decision to use Pearly Beach, which is a another great venue and will give us the right backdrop for Cream of the Crop,” Purple Skunkz team member explained.

Cream of the Crop, set for Saturday December 27, is sponsored by Guinness, Liquid Nitro, Ghetto Youths International, Global Vision Concepts, Conquer The Globe Productions, Zip FM, Irie FM and Mad Media House. 

Damian Marley, I-Octane shine at St Kitts Jazz Fest

The St Kitts Jazz and Blues Festival has come and gone but lingering in the minds of those who went are some of the scintillating performances that unfolded.
Friday, June 29 performers are no doubt some of the artistes enjoying rave reviews from patrons.
Scheduled to begin at 9:00 pm it was an hour late. Things kicked off with Ruff Kutt taking the stage to back Jamaica musical comedian Lovindeer. He was in his element having patrons cracking up with his facial expressions and witty lyrics.
Mr Festival Eric Donaldson brought back sweet memories as he injected the festival spirit into the venue singing songs such as Cherry Oh baby, but it was the on festival songs that had the fans singing away with him like Lonely Nights and Living On Free Food Ticket.
Following a band change it was time for British saxophonist Courtney Pine who showed why he is rated among the best.
Next up was Digicel’s brand ambassador I-Octane who just seems to get better with every performance.
It was heightened excitement when he took the stage at Warner Park backed by Ruff Kutt. He blasted on stage with No Love Inna Dem — that was certainly not an issue with his fans in St Kitts though as they gave that aplenty to him.
Nah Wash, Some Bwoy Too Licky Licky were some of the other numbers he performed before calling up a female fan to do Once More.
The singjay closed off his half-hour long set with Puff It and love di vibes — but the fans would have none of it as he had to take back the stage to sing Puff It again and he also did badmind fi the year and thank you father!
Following a strong set as the one he delivered it took a group like Morgan Heritage to keep the energy flowing - that they did and then some.
Pop Caan was next and his act turned out to be sole blur on the night as he failed to ignite the estimated 8,000 patrons. Performing on tracks did not help his cause any.
Closing act Damian Marley made up big time when he took center-stage. Energy revitalized he immediately set about getting the crowd involved in a sing-along to songs such as Affairs of the Heart, Welcome To Jamrock and In Too Deep.
The Marley heir brought the curtains down on the event in superb style. 

DAMIAN MARLEY, I-OCTANE LEAD LOCAL LINEUP FOR REGGAE SUMFEST 2012

This year's edition of Reggae Sumfest will feature several local superstar acts as they prepare to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary this summer.

Reggae Sumfest will take place from July 15-21 at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, St. James and features several past and present Dancehall/Reggae megastars that are part of what promises to be an extremely impressive bill. Amongst the performance roster for this year's Sumfest staging is Grammy-winning Reggae singer, Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley, who will be showcasing his catalogue of recent smash hits such as Affairs of the Heart and Set Up Shop.

Additionally, legendary Reggae band, Third World will hit the Reggae Sumfest stage to perform many of their classics while highly acclaimed Reggae singers, Chris Martin, Tarrus Riley and I-Octane, who delivered a fiery performance with hits such as “Puff It”, “Lose A Friend” & “Nah Wash” just to name a few at last year's staging of the event was lauded by many fans and observers across the industry.

Some of Dancehall's elite will also grace the Catherine Hall stage as Konshens, who's been heating up the industry with efforts such as Stop Sign, Gyal A Bubble and Bad Gal will take to the stage while top level superstars such as former Portmore Empire deejay, Popcaan and J.O.P leader, Aidonia have also reportedly been confirmed for the show.

Meanwhile, there'll be a new night added to the week-long festivities as a Vintage Night, which will proceed on July 18, three days after a planned beach party to kick off Reggae Sumfest. Furthermore, the event looks to celebrate Jamaica's 50th year of Independence in style as the show will delve into the evolution of local music through each decade of the island's existence as a free nation. Several works of art and cuisine will be amongst some of the things on display during the event.
Reggae Sumfest 2012 will be sponsored by the Jamaica Tourist Board, Pepsi and telecommunications powerhouse, Digicel, amongst several others.