Community News
Fame Holiday sells out Mississauga Celebration Square; introducing the launch of Fame Festival
BY SIMONE J. SMITH
“I was speaking to Jamin Lewis Hines, more popularly known as Fame Holiday. I had been watching this young man for months. There was something about his style, his energy. I had taken the time to listen to some of his music. From the high energy on his song, “Bring it Back,” to the Afro-Caribbean vibes on “Tonight,” the baby making vibes of the song “Intoxicated,” and his songs that were written to represent the struggle, Fame continues to show the world that not only is he the hottest artist on the rise…” (Simone Jennifer Smith, March 10th, 2021)
As I read these words back to myself, I couldn’t help but smile. Every time that I write about this young man, it is because he has done something so impressive, it would be a shame if it was not documented for future generations to see.
I went back and reviewed all the times that I had featured the young man we know as Fame Holiday and was not surprised that we had been creatively documenting this young man’s rise (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zipe8hlnOBA).
I remember on December 8th, 2021, Fame had invited me to “The Parkdale Drink,” located at 1292 Queen Street West. It was the perfect setting for his private release party. He had all the elements: local artists, theme designed invitations, FAME merchandise, a passionate promotional team, local media (Toronto Caribbean Newspaper of course), and fantastic food and drinks.
It is no wonder that this young man has amassed over a million streams with his projects. His work has got the eye of the media, and he has received rave reviews and critical acclaim from the likes of: Complex, CBC Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and Toronto’s biggest hip-hop station FLOW 93.5.
We thought we had seen Fame Holiday at his pinnacle when he released the “Showtime” album, but my last experience with Fame reminded me of what I had seen in this young man over three years ago.
I want to interject here with a thought; talent must never be confused with skills. When identifying talent, you are looking for a person’s untapped potential. Any other skill that is needed can be taught. It is why I take every opportunity to encourage, build up, challenge, and speak positivity into the young people I encounter. It is probably one of the reasons why Fame is so willing to share the products of his hard work with me.
This time, Fame Holiday did something that has not been done in Mississauga. He teamed up with the city to curate his own music festival, and his hometown showed up in a huge way. In his discussion with the city, he expressed that there was a lack of opportunities for hip-hop and R&B artists.
“It all started for me at the beginning of the year,” Fame shares. “I went to a concert at Rose Theater, and I saw that Brampton was making it happen. I was like, ‘why are we not doing anything like this in Mississauga?’ I know for a fact that Mississauga artists do not have outlets to showcase their music.
I won an award for my video last year from the City of Mississauga, so I knew whom to reach out to with this idea that I had in mind. My initial goal was to be the person who arranges hip-hop, and R&B events in the city. Let me cater to that audience. It worked out perfectly, because they had been devising ways to reach out to that audience, but they were unsure of how to do that.
They gave me a date, and told me this was my chance. I knew I had to go big or go home, so I thought to myself, let me market this as my festival,” and that he did.
On Friday, July 22nd, Holiday performed to a sold-out crowd at the Celebration Square alongside: Romeyo Wilson, Bugatti Bons, Ameerah, N.R.M.N, Sea Sick, and other impressive young talents.
It was supposed to be called “Rock the Coliseum,” but we instead decided to call it Fame Fest. What is amazing is now we are in talks for the bigger stage next year.”
I know that how things usually go with local talent is they have to leave where they are from, become a success abroad, and then they are given notoriety in their home cities. I choose not to overlook our young, home grown talent. Fame continues to show our city that he must never be counted out; there is still so much to do.