Talent for this year’s event includes Freddie McGregor, Mykal Rose, Cocoa Tea, Don Carlos, Etana, Jah9, Hempress Sativa, The Late Ones and many more.
For 2019, the Austin Reggae Festival again helps the Central Texas Food Bank feed thousands and thousands of hungry families.
The 2019 Austin Reggae Festival includes three days of outstanding music, a generous selection of international food options, plus an exciting array of arts & crafts vendors. We still have a few of these spaces open for this April in Austin. If you are interested in applying for one of these arts & craft vendor spots, then please email pwccostigan at yahoo dot com.
Best New Dancehall Releases
After devoting last week’s post to classic reggae music for Valentine’s Day, we return this week with a roundup of the best new dancehall releases that we’ve been spinning on the ATX Sound System. You can check out all of the tracks mentioned below on the Austin Reggae Festival Playlist.
Bugle – “Day By Day”
Hot on the heels of his gorgeous co-bill with Etana (“Show Love”), the one-time Elephant Man protege delivers a feel-good conscious anthem with “Day By Day” (featuring Dre Island).
Shenseea – “Hype & Bruk”
In what’s been a busy 2019 for Shenseea, the dancehall princess has already jumped on the Time Machine Riddim, delivered some cracking singles (“Sinners Prayer”, “Replaceable”) and guested with Kes on his new one “Close To Me”. But “Hype & Bruk”, her turn on the Limited Edition Riddim, is definitely the heater of the bunch so far.
Christopher Martin – “Bloodline”
Much to our surprise, the sweet-voiced Jamaican pop singer has been dabbling in some slightly edgier riddims lately, and we’re not mad about it. In addition to the above-mentioned Limited Edition Riddim (for which he did a version called “Schwepps Up”), “Bloodline” is a version of the Dual Citizen Riddim that he recorded last year, now seeing release as his latest single.
Munga Honourable – “Gal Magnet”
His 2018 track “Nah Mad (Ova Nuh Gyal)” remains a popular one on the sound systems currently. But over the last couple of years Munga has more often been in the news for reasons not to do with music (only last month, for example, his girlfriend was killed in a multi-car accident, in which Munga may or may not have been one of the drivers; investigations are ongoing). Nevertheless, he’s had a prolific 2019 so far, with no less than three new tracks. This week, he drops the particularly amusing “Gal Magnet”.
Stylo G – “Whoop Whoop”
Stylo G continues to deftly straddle the worlds of grime and dancehall like few others. It makes sense, seeing as the Jamaican born MC lived on the island until age 12, at which point his family moved to London, affording him ground-zero exposure to both genres. This week he follows up recent single “Fimmi Gyal” with this positively infectious (“whoop whoop!”) dancehall roller.
This Week’s Austin Reggae Fest Spotify Playlist
Click here to hear all the dub sounds we have been listening to the last few days.
Your daily dose of international reggae news for Wednesday, February 20!
• Fresh from Grammy win, Shaggy inks new publishing deal
• Julian Marley’s “As I Am” album is topping the charts
• “Meet Us on Beat Street” event set for Feb 24 in Kingston
Mark your calendar for April 19-21, which are the dates for the 2019 Austin Reggae Festival.
The 2018 Austin Reggae Festival raised $129,543.14 to help feed hungry Central Texas families. Let’s do even better in April 2019!
Your daily dose of international reggae news for Tuesday, February 19!
• First new album in 5 years for UB40 set for March 22 release
• National Library of Jamaica to establish reggae film archive
• Teddy Riley impressed with Zimbabwean dancehall chanter Nutty O
Mark your calendar for April 19-21, which are the dates for the 2019 Austin Reggae Festival.
The 2018 Austin Reggae Festival raised $129,543.14 to help feed hungry Central Texas families. Let’s do even better in April 2019!
Your daily dose of international reggae news for Monday, February 18!
• Iakopo mixes reggae sounds with smile-inducing waves
• Naomi Cowan brings strong family ties to her singing career
• Tourists from Israel are flocking to Jamaica
Mark your calendar for April 19-21, which are the dates for the 2019 Austin Reggae Festival.
The 2018 Austin Reggae Festival raised $129,543.14 to help feed hungry Central Texas families. Let’s do even better in April 2019!
