The 2024 staging of Wickie Wackie Music Festival on February 17 will serve as a homecoming for Grammy-nominated reggae band Raging Fyah, who will reunite on stage in Jamaica for the first time in six years. Be sure to grab your tickets before they are sold out!
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The last time the band performed together in Jamaica was at the 2017 staging of Wickie Wackie Music Festival, the same year that the band was nominated for a Grammy award for their third album Everlasting.
In 2018, lead singer Kumar Bent left the band to concentrate on a solo career. He said the “brief separation” was as a result of “stress on the brain.
“We were a unit that was broken by business, I think. We were under a lot of pressure after that Grammy nomination … we weren’t seeing eye-to-eye on a lot of things. So I left. I needed that time for myself,” Bent told Caribbean National Weekly.
But when Courtland “Gizmo” White, the band’s guitarist, died in January last year, it motivated the original members of the band to come together as a unit once again, as per their fans’ many requests.
“Love is what brought us back together. … We all have our differences and people can complain all they want, but can you love your brother? If you can’t love your brother then it doesn’t make sense,” he said.
The original members: Bent, Anthony “ToniDrumz” Watson on drums, Demar Gayle on keyboards, and backing vocalist/engineer Mahlon “Debo Ras” Moving, alongside Damion “Star D” Benjamin on the bass united under the name Kumar & The Original Fyah for a series of performances in the United States following Gizmo’s death. The group has also recorded new music, Bent said, which they plan to put out this year.
Missing in action is the original bass player Delroy “Pele” Hamilton, who now has his own band. Bent said the reason for Hamilton’s absence is unknown. “The door has always been open,” Bent said of a previous attempt to reunite all original members.
Preserving roots reggae in these times
Since its inception, the Wickie Wackie Music Festival has been a celebration of authentic roots reggae culture and has served as a platform for reggae revival musicians, particularly those up-and-coming.
Raging Fyah got its start at Wickie Wackie, Bull Bay, in the backyard of legendary Jamaican sound system builder Ronald ‘Uncle Ronnie’ Jarrett.
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Other reggae stars such as Chronixx, Koffee, Jah9, and more had their first major performance at the music festival. It’s a rewarding feeling, Bent said, to watch many of the festival’s past acts go on to dominate on the world stage.
Another aim of the festival is to preserve roots reggae and to also ensure that Rastafarian culture remains at the center of the genre.
“At my event, I have drummers from Bobo Hill coming to do a chant, and we’ll have a bonfire on the beach. Those things are important to create the energy that we need to be pushing. You can’t serve two masters so if you’re rushing positive energy and roots reggae, you can’t dilute the music just because you want more people to come,” Bent said.
Bent considers it his purpose to preserve roots reggae and finds joy in doing so. “Most people say how reggae is dead and this and that. It’s not for everybody. I’m happy when even one person says that appreciate what we’re doing,” Bent said.
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Wickie Wackie Music Fest: A place for healing
Togetherness and family are the key characteristics of the Wickie Wackie Music Festival. Unlike other events, many of which Bent thinks are “all about the money,” Wickie Wackie promotes unity and oneness.
“If you want healing, if you want that positive vibe, this is where you need to be … A lot of these events with VIP and all these things, I can’t stand it. Why separate the people?”
With a vinyl session, a double bonfire on the beach, and a compact show, Bent wants to spread spirituality and positivity through the music and atmosphere.
“We won’t have this long, drawn-out event. We won’t have 10 band changes and all these other things that patrons complain about. We’re not trying to push on what’s hot, we’re trying to put people on that a spirit, people that have a soul,” Bent said.
Third World’s Cat Coore, Jah Mason, and Jah Izhrel are billed to perform, along with sound systems 8 Mile Sound, Kingston Dub Club, and Sound Quake. Surprise reggae acts are also expected to hit the stage during Raging Fyah’s set.
