Queen Ifrica makes pledge to black youth

To be “young, gifted, and black”, Queen Africa says, is an affirmation of self and to the next generation that beauty and power emanate from beneath the surface. The veteran reggae singer, who was the recipient of the 2023 Reggae and Dancehall Music Entertainment Icon Award by the Young, Gifted & Black (YGB) Entrepreneurial Awards, is basking in the spotlight and hopes that she can use the attention to make a more positive impact.

Queen Ifrica and Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Road March winner Bunji Garlin were named Hall of Fame Inductees at the awards in New York last month. She was only able to accept the honour virtually during the Black Tie Gala and Fundraiser event, but last Friday, Queen Ifrica was officially presented with the award at the ROK Hotel in Kingston. She also received a US Congressional Proclamation from Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, a US Senate Resolution from Senator Kevin Parker, and a Mayoral Citation from New York City Mayor Eric L Adams. She told The Gleaner that it was “a humbling moment of [her] career”.

“This is my legacy. More than anything else, I think it’s about legacy and the fact that I’m being recognised by people who are impacted by my music and by what I do as a public figure. I’m humbled, moreso because it was done of their own accord. I’m just humbled these people saw my name and thought I was deserving of such honours,” Queen Ifrica said.

For the past year, Queen Ifrica has been “recording and working with intention and purpose”. This time last year, the Stephen Marley-produced album Celebrating Nina: A Reggae Tribute to Nina Simone was released. Queen Ifrica was one of seven women who recorded renditions of the revolutionary songstress, who sang Young, Gifted and Black in the 1970s. Her rendition of Nina Simone’s Four Women was the first single from the EP.

She has been actively promoting her latest single, Proud, which has been getting resounding reviews on streaming platforms and from the reggae and dancehall fraternity.

“I’m happy to have chosen now to put out a song like that and that it is doing well and people are tapping into it. Yeah, sure, people work on themselves and fight for themselves or what they believe in all the time, but there’s so much happening,” Queen Ifrica shared.

Known as a social activist, the singer-songwriter who has been celebrated for songs like Below The Waist, Lioness on the Rise, Daddy, and Tyad A Dah Sumn Yah, among others, which speak against crime and violence, domestic and sexual abuse and advocates for help for the less fortunate, is looking at doing more to help black youth.

“We have to be looking at how we can do, not just talk, and through music but really find, as we Rastas love to say, the “touchable” projects that will bring good effect to the lives of women and children. I’m part of discussions, which I’m hoping will show how more talk can be put into action. Something is coming in the future as I continue to commit myself to helping the youth,” Queen Ifrica said.

stephanie.lyew@gleanerjm.com