Sean Paul And Koffee To Perform For BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend
Score another triumph for dancehall on the international market as both Koffee and Sean Paul have been selected to perform on the popular BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
They will be joining a host of international artistes like Alicia Keys, Afro B and Jay-Z.
Koffee has been steadily making her way into the international market while Sean Paul already has a pretty good following. The huge concert which sold out last year will be held virtually this time around. It will take place over the May Bank Holiday, between May 22 and May 24, weekend as was previously planned but everything will be done online instead of in Dundee because of the impact of the COVID-19 virus.
The concerts will feature over 100 artists.
Koffee will play on the 1Xtra stage on May 23 at 14:00 hours. She took to Twitter to announce that she would be featured in the lineup. “I’ll be playing on the @1Xtra stage at @bbcr1’s virtual #BigWeekend UK 2020! Listen to 1Xtra on @BBCSounds on the 23rd of May to hear me! Head here for full set times.
I’ll be playing on the @1Xtra stage at @bbcr1’s virtual #BigWeekend UK 2020! Listen to 1Xtra on @BBCSounds on the 23rd of May to hear me! Head here for full set times: https://t.co/mPjsjYLRn9
— Koffee (@originalkoffee) May 18, 2020
Sean Paul also made the announcement that he joined the lineup through Instagram, where he posted: “Bring sum virtual heat 2@BBCRADIO1 #BIGWEEKEND MAY 22-24″. Paul will perform on the Radio 1 stage on May 23 at 16:30 hours.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAN9jaIDy4K/
Koffee and Sean Paul were previously billed to headline this year’s Strawberries & Creem festival in Cambridge in June, but organisers of that event announced in March that it would be cancelled and will instead take place next summer.
According to the BBC website: “The event aims to have over 50 brand new live sets recorded by artists from their own homes, as well as bringing back around 50 of the most memorable performances from previous Big Weekends.”
BBC 1’s English radio DJ, television presenter and author, Greg James said: “I’m so pleased we can bring the listeners a brand new version of our Big Weekend this year. It’s our absolute favourite event of the year and we love saying thanks to our listeners for being such a big part of the radio station.
“It’ll be a great opportunity to re-live some of our favourite performances from over the years and although it’ll be a technical nightmare, having some new performances from artists’ houses will be great for everyone to have something fun to watch and listen to over the Bank Holiday Weekend. And if it all goes wrong, we can just blame the pandemic and say that at least we tried.”
BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend is held once a year, in a different location within the United Kingdom and was once touted as the biggest free ticketed music event in Europe. It’s now a paid concert.
BBC hasn’t released the details as yet about how the show will be accessed virtually but as soon as they do dancehall fans will surely be logging on to catch two of their favourite artistes sharing the world stage.