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ADRIAN FRATER and NATASHA WILLIAMS

STAR Writers

It will be a royal affair at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre in Montego Bay this Friday as Spice, the reigning Queen of the Dancehall, will officially crown Vybz Kartel as the King of the Dancehall at Reggae Sumfest.

"We will be flipping the script, this time around it will be the queen crowning the king," Joe Bogdanovich, Reggae Sumfest promoter told THE STAR yesterday, in an exclusive interview at the Reggae Sumfest Fun Day, in Montego Bay. "It will be a special moment for dancehall."

"Vybz Kartel is a new man, he is a different person, he has transcended into the hip-hop world, they love him wherever he goes, he is selling out big stadiums in the United States and Europe," Bogdanovich said of the deejay, who was released from prison on July 31, 2024, when the Court of Appeal decided not to retry him and three co-accused for murder. The UK Privy Council had overturned the murder convictions last March.

"We are very excited about bringing back the energy he is showing on the international circuit to Sumfest. He is getting ready to deliver a special performance for the Jamaican people and we are all excited," added Bogdanovich. In fact, Bogdanovich said Reggae Sumfest had no reservation about crowning Vybz Kartel as the new king of the dancehall, noting that "king comes, and king goes" and it is now Kartel's time.

"King Tut in Egypt, hundreds of years ago, was a king who made history, but his reign came to an end...Vybz Kartel is now the the new king, the best of Jamaica," said Bogdanovich. Dancehall icon Beenie Man was officially crowned the king on the dancehall on the dancehall night segment of Reggae Sumfest 2009.

The fact that Spice has been accorded the crowning duty is indeed a monumental moment in the annals of dancehall music as, in addition to being great friends with Vybz Kartel, the two have one of the biggest collaborations in dancehall, the provocative single Romping Shop.

Meanwhile veteran selector Boom Boom says that based on his observations, the dancehall space has regained almost 100 per cent dominance since Vybz Kartel was released from prison.

"It's a beautiful look right now. From Vybz Kartel get free up and deh back a road, dancehall tek a huge step and di dancehall vibes inna di street is a beauty to see. Mi have tourists from all ova di worl, inna di streets a night time - every day a di week. Suh mi affi lift off mi hat to Vybz Kartel because [him] come tun up back dancehall music," Boom Boom told THE STAR.

"From Kartel come a road, a lot a di senior artiste, promoter and producer dem draw up dem socks and start put in back some serious work," Boom Boom said, adding that, "reggae music a gwaan good and everything a gwaan good fi wi culture".

In recent months, the dancehall fraternity has also seen veteran acts such as Buju Banton, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer taking over international stadiums and waving the dancehall banner even higher.

"Di people dem come out fi him [Bounty Killer] di people dem love him - it was so beautiful. A nearly three hour di general work fa wid hits pon hits, enuh, man, it was a great, great show. Di people dem seh a di best show from di year start weh keep a Barclay Center [and] right now, dancehall deh 95 per cent in terms of dominating," he opined.

The selector, who was also the show's host, said there was an estimated number of 20,000 patrons at the event which was intentionally filtrated with "strictly dancehall and reggae music" during his musical selections and the entire set. Bounty Killer's concert took place at the Barclays Center Arena in New York and featured dancehall heavyweights such as, Elephant Man, Masicka, Dexta Daps, Junior Reid, I-Octane and Richie Stephens.

While the veteran artistes continue to make their mark, Boom Boom said it's a level playing field as Gen Z artistes have not "fallen off track", contrary to what some believe. However, he opined that the focus right now is on the more established acts.