Celebrated Jamaica-American reggae artiste Tarrus Riley (born Omar Riley) is on his way to Zimbabwe for a debut performance on the 27th of October.
Riley, the voice behind globally acclaimed reggae jams like “Gimme Likkle” “One Drop” “She’s Royal” “Don’t Come Back” and “Sorry is a Sorry Word” confirmed his attendance, through a video drop for the October 27 gig slated for Harare.
Show organizers are pulling out all the stops to ensure fans get an evening of breath-taking reggae.
“Tarrus is a musician par excellence with a breath-taking discography that has mature music that celebrates love and the appreciation of love and we promise that he will deliver a world class performance at what we are billing to be the world class event of the year,” said a spokesperson for the organisers.
“We want this to be a fiesta of love and a celebration of the art of music so we have put together a local line-up that has the who’s who that balance both a celebration of reggae and dancehall genres as well as other genres in what should be a musical fusion,” he added.
A cocktail of artists who will perform will be availed to the media soon.
“We have the best list of most sought after artistes of that weekend and assure without doubt that this shall be the must-attend event of the last weekend of the month of October.”
Born April 26, 1979 in Bronx, New York, Riley was raised in Jamaica. A member of the Rastafarian movement, he made his recording debut as a teenager.
In 2004 Riley released his debut album titled Challenges and the 38-year-old has never looked back, racking up awards consistently, including accolades for Best Singer, Male Vocalist, Cultural Artiste, Song of the Year, and Best Song from institutions such as the Youth View Awards, The Star People’s Choice Awards, EME Awards, and the Reggae Academy.
While many promoters gun for gold and concentrate on money spinning names, the new soon to be unveiled entertainment brand says it yearns to also grow upcoming and unheralded talent in what should be a product of talent scouting.
“We value that these big artistes who we are celebrating today were once considered small and it took a giant leap from promoters with the arts at heart to unearth them, fund their dreams and help them rise to stardom. As a result we will have a hatching slot where we will give a chance to fresh names in dancehall especially to showcase their talent.”
This should be good news to the National Arts Council and local artistes who have for long yearned for a spotlight at the top for new names in order to grow local talent and empower them through giving them a shot on the big stage.
A final fresh addition to spice up the event will be the Arts Supporters Appreciation Programme (Asap) which will see Entertainment republic inviting all notable individuals and corporates who have over the years supported the arts in Zimbabwe against all odds.
“Many promoters forget to invite those individuals and companies that have supported the arts but we want them to be there and thank them for their undying love for the industry in spite of trying economic times,” said the spokesperson
