Anthony B urges global reach for reggae, worries about Jamaican representation
Published:Saturday | January 27, 2024 | 12:06 AMShanel Lemmie/Staff Reporter
Fresh off his show-stopping performance from night one of the 30th staging of Rebel Salute last weekend, Anthony B is encouraging the upcoming generation of reggae artistes to make their names in the international market.
“I want the young people to know that outside of Jamaica, this part of the culture is the driving force. This is like the face of the culture. If you travel the world, anywhere you go, people are like ‘oh Jamaica conscious’. We’re not trying to tell the young people sing this or sing that, but we’re trying to tell them [that] we don’t want the music to reach a point where you hear ‘is only this kind of people listen to Jamaican music’. That will become dangerous because [if] you go into a country like Africa where three or four tribes don’t listen to each other’s music because they have their tribal differences. But with a reggae festival, everyone comes.”
Restating the unifying quality of the genre, the reggae star explained, “I am coming from India, Sikhs the festival, Muslims in the festival and Hindu in the festival. But if you check them on a normal day, they don’t agree [on everything]. This opens our eyes [to maintain this unity] and we don’t want to lose that because it’s the driving force.”
While he left an international stage to make an appearance at Rebel Salute, the veteran said he is worried about the dwindling number of Jamaicans that grace these high- profile stages abroad.
“So imagine now you start to go to these reggae festivals and there [are] no Jamaicans. So you start to get used to it. When the younger ones come up, there [may] not be a champion who’s [willing] to take this road that we’re taking. There’s a little youth named Mortimer, me like him and like his music. But, with sounds like that, if there are not [people] like us representing, after a while they might not think that they need us.”
He continued, “Look at Japan. Japan used to be a market where 50 per cent of the artistes were Jamaican, every festival is 50 per cent Jamaican. But, now, even if one of us get a chance to go, [at least once] every five years. So these are the things that concern me.”
While pushing the culture forward, Anthony B said he is always happy to make history at home and with a fellow veteran.
“I’m feeling wonderful, I’m feeling honoured. It’s amazing. I give thanks and salute to Rebel. I’m happy to be a part of it for its 30th, celebrating reggae music in a conscious form. You know we don’t have a lot of these so we have hold to this. This is like...” he paused mimicking a grabbing motion.
“Me a tell all the young people, please, help us. Help us hold on to this because [while] we have a lot of parties, we only have one of this.”