Shenseea and Skillibeng joins the star-studded Rolling Loud New York lineup following their linkup backstage and performance at Summer Jam.
There’s no doubt that the Rolling Loud music festival is one of the fan favorites in the US. This year, some of Jamaica’s uniquely talented artists, namely Shenseea and Skillibeng, will get the chance to showcase the island.
The festival carded for July 22-24 will be held in New York between September 23 through 25 at Citi Field in Queens. It comes at a time when Jamaican artists are facing some harsh criticisms from those in authority in Jamaica.
Just recently, PM Andrew Holness, also known by his nickname Brogad, expressed his disappointment and shame with the dancehall genre at present.
“Whap Whap and Chop Chop and Ensure and all a dem…all of those things have their place but they can’t define us, we should not allow that to define us,” Holness said. “When another country says I don’t want your artistes in my country, it’s an embarrassment.”
Prime Minister Andrew Holness made the comments following the decision by the Guyanese government to ban Skeng from performing there after a recent concert he held broke out into chaos, and gunshots could be heard. The Jamaican PM’s concern is that the genre has become too well known for its violent lyrics, which he said seemed to be influencing violence in schools as well as in young people in general.
However, many fans have argued that dancehall has always had some form of violent lyrics and that it has to be a larger societal issue that is influencing the youths as opposed to simply dancehall.
It also doesn’t help the genre’s appearance with so many of the more popular stars behind bars, either. Some of them include Vybz Kartel and Sean Storm for murder, Tommy Lee Sparta for illegal gun possession, Ninjaman for murder, and producer Shab Don who is also facing murder charges.
Despite the negativity being cast on the genre at the moment, artists have been striking out, especially in the US and the UK, as they try to ply their trade.
Skillibeng is one of those artists who has been making inroads into the US market. After completing a very successful and sold-out UK tour in April, the dancehall deejay recently had a brief appearance on Hot 97’s Summer Jam. He also recently met with super producer DJ Khaled which can only auger well for his career.
Skillibeng also met up with Shenseea backstage at Summer Jam, signaling that there is no feud between the two Jamaican stars.
Skillibeng’s hottest track to date so far, “Whap Whap,” already has close to 15 million views on YouTube and quite a few remixes, including the recently released video with Fivio Foreign and French Montana.
Meanwhile, Shenseea has been enjoying some success in the US and continues to tirelessly grind away as she looks to keep building her career. They will be joining some mega-stars of American music like Nicki Minaj, Future, and A$AP Rocky, who have all been chosen to headline the show.
Skillibeng will take to the stage to perform on Friday, September 23, and Nicki Minaj will be the main act for that night. Moneybagg Yo, DaBaby, Fivio Foreign, Lil Uzi Vert, and G Herbo are also expected to perform on that date.
This will be Shenseea’s fourth Rolling Loud appearance as she first appeared on stage in 2021. She will get on stage the following day, Saturday, September 24. A$AP Rocky is the featured artist of that night, and she will share the stage with other well-known artists like Lil Baby, Busta Rhymes, Kevin Gates, and Soulja Boy.
