JaRIA honours titans of reggae music

The Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) Honour Awards 2024 will be staged on March 27 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston. This year’s ceremony is a 15th-anniversary salute to influencers, pioneers, and luminaries of the reggae industry.

Last Thursday, JaRIA hosted a media breakfast launch at The Pegasus to announce the names of the 2024 honourees. Awards will be handed out in more than 20 categories, accentuating not only the music, but the work of outstanding individuals and groups.

Among the awardees for 2024 are Beres Hammond - Lifetime Achievement Award; Extraordinary Impact on the Reggae Industry: Mentorship – Haldane ‘Danny’ Browne; Robbie Shakespeare and Neville Garrick - posthumous awards; engineers Richard Browne and Earl Smith Jnr; producers Stephen Stewart and Tommy Cowan; and sound systems Fatman Sound System and Road International.

Other awardees are Uriah ‘Sticky’ Thompson, Daniel ‘Danny Axeman’ Thompson, Sister Nancy, Pluto Shervington, Black Uhuru, and Sagittarius Band. The media’s role in promulgating reggae’s message will be celebrated with awards for Clinton Lindsay and Caribbean Buzz, among others. Promotion, songwriting, and gospel music will also be in the spotlight, with accolades for industry mavens like Whitfield ‘Witty’ Henry, Bernard Collins, Joan Flemmings, and Judith Gayle.

JaRIA is this year introducing the The Ibo Cooper Icon Award, which will be given to the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts; the JaRIA Corporate Support Award to The CHASE Fund; and the Friend of JaRIA Award recognising Dr Nicholeen DeGrasse-Johnson and Charles Campbell for their invaluable contributions.

Winners in the popular vote categories, namely, Song of the Year, Breakthrough Artiste of the Year, Album of the Year (reggae, dancehall, and gospel) and the new category Producer of the Year, will also be announced during the proceedings.

There will be special performances by past and present honorees such as Kevin Downswell, Joan Flemmings, and Ras-I, as well as Kevoy Clarke (JaRIA Song Competition 2024 winner), Bella Blair, Richie Kanary, Kuzikk, and others.