Dancehall star Aidonia will be the headliner of the Rapid Rave Caribbean Music Festival, which will be held at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on August 24.
“This is a highly anticipated event with Aidonia, one of the true greats in dancehall, as this will be his first time in the Florida Panhandle. The fans can’t wait to see the 4th Genna don,” promoter Derrol Kelly aka Rapid, said.
The rave will feature music from Platinum Kids, DJ Rich, DJ Lecz, and Activ Jugglaz. The event will be hosted by Krush.
Rapid said that booking Aidonia for his popular rave series was a no-brainer as the 4th Genna head honcho is a music icon with an impressive and extensive arsenal of hits.
“The females in the diaspora who live in Florida have been looking forward to hear ‘No Boring Gal’, ‘Pon Di..’ and ‘IG Girls’ and the party fanatics are going to lose their minds to ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’ and Bottles, so this is going to be wicked party, and dat a code,” Rapid added.
With his authoritative vocals, sharp wit, and lyrical prowess, Aidonia is known for a series of his hits, including Banga, Hot Tool, Bad People, Ukku Bit and 100 Stab. Two of his biggest hits are the 2017 summer banger Yeah Yeah and one of his biggest hits, Pon Di C–y, which has racked up over 23 million views since its release in 2012.
Rapid added that he’s in the business of “supply and demand” and whatever patrons want is what his production crew will deliver: an unforgettable experience.
“We’re just giving patrons what they want, this is going to be a signature event for RAPID/Outaroad Promotions,” he said.
Outaroad Promotions, established under the direction of his father Derrol Kelly Sr., has successfully staged 1990s events such as Follow Di Arrow and Crystal Springs Family Fun Day show. The latter event was jointly produced by Outaroad Promotions and Annex Records.
Rapid’s said he learned the finer points of the business just being around his father, Derrol Sr., while he organised these events, and this experience sparked his own love for live events.
Rapid’s business partners for the Aidonia event include Ackeem Smith, promoter of ‘Red Cups Miami’, Jemol ‘Top Striker’ Ambruseley, Cavan ‘DJ Mylo’ Eccleston and Andre Bennett, popularly known as Collegeboii, the studio engineer/producer for R.A.P.I.D Production.
Rapid is also making forays in the music business. He has been steadily building the music production side of his business with ‘Collegeboi’ Bennett, his studio engineer. Bennett has forged a close working relationship with Billboard and Grammy nominated producer STAXX from Miami.
“We have several projects in the pipeline with projects from Tommy Lee Sparta and Rygin King just to name a few,” Kelly said.