• As more and more reggae artists plan to join Kenyans in their 50th anniversary of independence throughout this year, reggae promoters are also working hard to tighten their ropes as far as good event quality is concerned.

The name Burning Spear is synonymous with reggae music, but it has more meaning as far as Kenya is concerned. Born Winston Rodeny in Jamaica, reggae music legend Burning Spear took that name, dedicating it to Kenya’s freedom fighter and first president Jomo Kenyatta.

As Kenya celebrates 50 years since independence, with Jomo’s son Uhuru as Kenya’s fourth president, a host of reggae icons are set to perform in Kenya starting this June. Among them is reggae legend Alpha Blondy, popular for songs like ‘Jerusalem’, among others, will be performing live for the very first time in Kenya at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre on June 15.

Joining him will be another reggae legend Tarrus Riley and reggae saxophonist Dean Fraser, who had an electric performance last August in Nairobi. They return to join Alpha Blondy, together with their Black Soil band. Also not confirmed is Dwayne Stephenson and female reggae star Alaine, who could be joining the group.

Ragga star Demarco will also be performing at the Carnivore on June 8.

Others set to perform in Kenya this year include other reggae legends Beres Hamond and Queen Ifrica.

Well, reggae music in Kenya has had its fair share of controversy in the past, especially by being associated with hooliganism during the concerts. Thousands of reggae fans have been mugged in broad day light while others at night while attending the reggae concerts, making it a no go zone for many up market reggae lovers.

However, after last year’s Tarrus Riley and Etana reggae concert held at the Carnivore grounds and the Jah Cure concert at the Kasarani gymnasium, lots of people are changing their minds as far as reggae music is concerned.

As more and more reggae artists plan to join Kenyans in their 50th anniversary of independence throughout this year, reggae promoters are also working hard to tighten their ropes as far as good event quality is concerned.

Big Tunes Live, the event promoters that brought Tarrus Riley and Jah Cure to Nairobi last year, believe that without proper planning and management, the reggae events will not save face.

“We are bringing Alpha Blondy next month and are determined to make sure that safety will be key at the concert, the same way we did with Tarrus and Jah Cure. There were no incidences reported and we can do even better,” says events director Otieno MakoOchieng, a Big Tunes Live director.

Other event management companies planning to bring reggae artists to perform in Kenya this year are working hard to ensure that the events don’t go back to the negative publicity it has had in the past.

Kenya has had a great chance of hosting such big reggae and raga names like Burning Spear, Lucky Dube, Gregory Isaacs, Konshens, Beenie Man, Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder, TOK, Alaine, Chris Martin, Cecile, just to mention but a few.

This means that Kenya is a popular performance venue for Jamaica-born reggae artists and we cannot afford to ruin that by organizing poor shows.