Community News
The hottest Reggae Festival takes place this Saturday
BY SELINA McCALUM
The biggest names in Reggae music will be in town on Saturday, July 27th, at the Kitchener Reggae Festival, a vibrant cultural celebration of Reggae music.
The all-ages festival is bringing together Konshens, Gyptian, Kranium, Luciano and Stylo G. The event takes place at an outdoor venue called On The Grand in Kitchener, Ontario. Created by Beyond Oz Productions, the Reggae Fest will surely not disappoint with its exciting lineup and activity-filled grounds with live music, vendors and much more.
Gabriel Mattacchione is the President of Beyond Oz Productions, the company which organized Reggae Fest and created On The Grand in Kitchener. In 2015 he had the vision to bring a world-class EDM music festival experience to the Tri-Cities area. Now Ever After Music Festival attracts more than 30,000 people each day from all over the world. Gabriel’s vision has grown to make Beyond Oz what it is today, a top tier production company with assets such as concert venues, music festivals, and food/drink festivals.
Over 6,000 people from Toronto and the GTA area came out to see Sean Paul last year. This year the Beyond Oz team are expecting thousands of people to come out to the first-ever Reggae Festival.
“The venue is very unique. We call it the unicorn venue because of its many onsite amenities. We’ve done events at On The Grand for the past five years now and the location is very accessible,” said Mattacchione.
Mattacchione is very excited for this year’s line-up of artists.
“We did our first Reggae show last year with Sean Paul and Elephant Man, and that has now turned into Kitchener Reggae Fest,” said Mattacchione.
Konshens’, a dancehall artist, the story originates in Kingston, Jamaica. Born Garfield Spence, he spent his early days between the Up Park Camp military base, where his father was stationed in the Jamaica Defense force, and Sherlock Crescent, a garrison community on the city’s outer fringes.
Together with his older brother, Delus, he formed the group Sons of Jah (also known as SoJah) and began releasing music in 2005. The duo’s very first single, “Medz Pon Di Corner,” which dealt with the tensions simmering in their Sherlock Crescent community at the time, became a hit in Japan, leading to a tour of that country and the release of a Japan-only album, also entitled Sons of Jah.
Gyptian has layers and multiple facets to his artistry. There’s the conscious reggae singer who listeners first came to know on his breakthrough 2005 hit “Serious Times”. Then there’s the champion lover who captivated females worldwide with his crooning on “Hold You,” the sultry island pop smash that topped charts globally in 2010. The song even caught the attention of rap star Nicki Minaj, who jumped on the remix.
Kemar Donaldson, more commonly known as Kranium, is known for his melodic flow, clever wordplay, and ability to break all barriers when it comes to his music. Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica and raised in Jamaica, Queens, NY, Kranium offers the perfect blend of authentic Dancehall with a unique vibe of his own. Kranium’s distinct sound can be heard on major collaborations with artists such as Ty Dolla $ign, Wiz Kid, Major Lazer, Torey Lanez, Kojo Funds, Idris Elba, Rotimi, Bebe Rexha and Ed Sheeran.
In the early part of 1993, Luciano The Messenjah collaborated with reggae ambassador Freddie McGregor on his “Big Ship Music” label resulting in a UK chart-topping cover of Cheryl Lynn’s R&B hit “Shake it Up Tonight”.
As this song climbed to the top of the charts, his name spread like wildfire amongst reggae’s top producers. It was not long after that Chris Blackwell (founder of Island Records known for signing artists like Bob Marley and U2) took note and signed Luciano to Island/Mango Records.
Stylo G has been involved in the UK underground scene since the age of 15 when he moved to the UK from Spanish Town, Jamaica. Son of the legendary dancehall artist Poison Chang, Stylo decided to follow in his father’s footsteps, making his mark in the UK when Grime music was at its highest.
In 2004 he released ‘My Yout’ featuring Ice Kid and Sickman and in 2008 he won the Crystal Blue awards ‘song of the year’ for ‘Jamaicans in Britain’. He has since developed the bridge between UK hip-hop and dancehall producing tracks; ‘Leader’, ‘Blackberry’ and ‘Swagga Dem’, and gaining key radio and live support.
The doors open at 5:00 p.m. on July 27th. Tickets can be purchased now at onthegrand.net.
VIP tickets include a private VIP area, access to the pit area, dedicated bar lounge areas, shaded areas, and snack food package.
“Tickets are selling. We will likely sell out so if anyone wants a ticket it’s definitely best to act quick,” said Mattacchione.