Capleton, Luciano, Etana, Sean Paul stand out

Rebel Salute 30 came to a premature end at Plantation Cove in Richmond, St Ann on Sunday morning after the police went onstage and ordered an end to the event, shortly after seven. It came at the end of I Wayne’s performance, and as Fanton Mojah and Turbulence appeared onstage ready to perform.

Despite this, the promoters can celebrate another successful staging if the performances of artistes are anything to go by. After Friday night’s event where artistes brought their ‘A’ game, Saturday proved a continuation, with Tony Rebel’s children, the Rebel Clan opening the night’s proceeding. Thirty years of preserving reggae music is definitely bearing fruit, and Tanzie, Abatau, Davianah, and especially Imeru Tafari showed that reggae is in good hands.

Here’s a quick look of some of the other performances:

Little John

On Saturday night Little John wore his ‘gentleman shoes to Rebel Salute, not his Clarks, but that couldn’t stop him singing Clarks Booty, one of his hits from the ‘80s glorifying the British-made shoes. A prolific artiste during the height of his popularity, Little John’s approximately 25 minutes onstage was full of dancehall favourites from the ‘80s, but he nevertheless found time to pay tribute to the late Sugar Minott, his mentor from his early days at Youthman Promotion.

Yellowman

With a deteriorating voice, once ‘King of the Dancehall’, Yellowman, is just a shadow of his former self when he was the hottest thing in Jamaican entertainment. The crowd still warmed to his performance, but as he struggled to deliver from his vast repertoire of hits, his once melodious voice struggled to emerge. At 68 years old, Yellowman, who shares January 15 birthday with Tony Rebel, showed tremendous physical fitness during his performances. Zungguzungguguzungguzeng, Nobody Move, Gunman, Blueberry Hill, I ’m Getting Married were among the songs Yellowman delivered.

Josey Wales

Josey Wales spent 20 minutes onstage, telling the story of his gun attack in Kingston in 1997 through the song, Bushwhacked, before dropping one of the biggest dancehall tracks of the ‘80s in Leggo mi Hand. The Colonel treated the audience to It Haffi Bun, Sweet Sweet Jamaica and the hilarious Love Triangle that pokes fun at fellow dancehall artistes, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, and D’Angel.

Etana

The Strong One returned to Rebel Salute with an impressive performance. In a set that lasted approximately 40 minutes, she reeled off the songs that have endeared her to audiences across the world, ever since she burst on the scene in 2006 with Wrong Address. Her set included Warrior Love, My Man, Ganja Fi Free, Roots and Better Tomorrow, among others.

Sean Paul

Sean Paul performed on the Rebel Salute stage for the first on Saturday night. He opened with Get Busy, his platinum-certified song before moving to Gimme the Light.

Paul, who is set to leave the island shortly for a two-week tour of Australia and New Zealand also reeled off Ever Blazing, Baby Boy, Hot Gal Today and Give It Up To Me, among several other hits.

Queen Ifrica

Ifrica might have seemed less fiery on Saturday night than in previous years, but she brought the rain and fans who stood in the rain to watch her perform showed her support base remains solid. In this her 23rd time on Rebel Salute, Queen Ifrica opened with Children of Africa. Declaring herself the Phoenix, she sent a musical message to dancehall producer Rvssian, saying she is capable of handling his new ‘riddim’ no doubt referring to Dutty Money. She called up her daughter Tanzie to do a number and closed her set minutes before 5:30 a.m. with Lioness on the Rise.

Luciano

The Messenger, Luciano, brought the message of salvation and peace, urging people to turn to the Almighty to end wars and crimes. His set was packed with his many hits, such as the opener, Sweep Over My Soul, Messenger, Give Praise, For the Leaders and several others. He called Brandon Roots onstage for a collab, paid tribute to late reggae icon Dennis Brown, declaring “Ah mi daddy” and closed with One Way Ticket.

Louie Culture

Louie Culture’s humility must be a reason why he has endeared himself to his fans in such a huge way. That, in addition, of course, to his treasured catalogue of songs. And he reeled them off one after the other during his 30-minute set. Favourites such as Bogus Badge, Foundation From Birth, Gangalee, and Tune In delighted the crowd, despite the rain. The set ended in the best way possible, with Luciano joining him for the 1995 reggae classic, In This Together.

Capleton

The fireman Capleton did what he was expected to do at Rebel Salute 2024 on Sunday morning at Plantation Cove in Priory, St Ann – burn the place down, lyrically. In an energy-filled, fire-laced performance, the dancehall royalty delighted thousands of Rebel Salute fans. “Ah bun we a bun out Babylon, early inna di mawning!” Capleton declared. as he turned a venue, chilled because of the rain, into a park that burnt with conscious lyrics. Capleton dashed a fire on several ills of the society and urged the crowd to join him, leading a simulation that mimicked throwing something. He urged people to have a clean heart, declaring that “bad mind ah guh kill dem” whose hearts were corrupt.