Spice To Headline Pride Toronto 2022 LGBTQ Festival
A day after Foota Hype rebuked some Jamaican female entertainers whom he said were using their platform to promote same-sex activities, Canadian LGBTQ group Pride Toronto has announced that Dancehall diva Spice will be the headline act for their Pride 2022 Festival celebrations in June next year.
According to the LGBTQ group, “the long-awaited return” of the event, will include all “signature favourites” including the annual Trans March, Dyke March, Bi+ Pride Programming, Blockorama by Blackness Yes, Pride Parade, StreetFair, and “multiple stages featuring over 300 2SLGBTQ+ artists”.
“It just got a lot more spicier in here! 🔥 The Queen of Dancehall and recent @moboawards nominee, @spiceofficial will be headlining #Pride2022! Visit PrideToronto.com/2022 for more info! What will you be wearing?” the organization posted on its Instagram page on Wednesday, alongside a photo of the Cool It artist.
On the organization’s website, Spice was hailed as the artist who would get the celebration’s ball a-rolling with her performance.
This will be the first in-person staging of the event in two years.
“Pride Toronto will kick off Festival Weekend with Jamaican-born dancehall recording artist, singer and songwriter Grace Hamilton, AKA Spice. Known as the “Queen of Dancehall”, Spice is recognized to be one of the biggest dancehall artists in the world….,” Pride Toronto noted in its description of the St. Catherine High School old girl.
According to the group, the festivities would “be organized in alignment with the City of Toronto’s Public Health recommendations”.
“The full month of programming will begin on June 1, concluding with the annual Festival Weekend on June 24-25-26, 2022,” they noted.
The organization said it was continuing a legacy which “is deeply intertwined with the rich, progressive history of Toronto’s queer community”.
It noted that the annual Pride parade began more than 50 years ago as a means of protest and “continues today to create community, celebrate achievements, and honour the history of the movement”.
Apart from Spice’s performance, the group said that it would have a City of Toronto Flag Raising on June 1, 2022, Cabana Pool Party on June 15, and an Island Party on June 19.
Foota Says “Everybaddy shakey”
Yesterday, outspoken Dancehall selector/producer Foota Hype had taken to Instagram, in the aftermath of Lila Iké’s confession that she’s “into women,” to issue a stern reprimand to Dancehall and Reggae artists, whom he said had ‘taken sides with Satan, and pushed God and righteousness aside’.
The monologue which he also posted on YouTube was titled “All Females In Jamaica Music On The Devil Side”.
“I am going to say something now that is going to garner me more enemies in di music,” Foota declared midway the post.
“Oonu nuh si seh where female artistes are concerned, in a Dancehall and Reggae, is like wi don’t have any more straight females representing music. Oonu don’t realise dat? Everybaddy shakey. Everybaddy involve inna some form of homosexuality someweh cross di line?”
“If some a dem don’t even a sleep wid gyal, everyday dem post video wid two gyal or dem post a video wid a transvestite weh dem know she a transvestite. Dem post dem pon dem page; have straight people a like dem weh nuh know… or dem put up video wid two gyal a do dem ting… Dem haffi do suppm weh contribute to homosexuality. Everyone a dem woman yah, have a key memba a dem entourage, weh gone,” he added.
The Dark Knight producer said it was not right for female artists to keep deceiving their fans into thinking they were straight, nor should they be singing Reggae or Dancehall as these genres were designated to, according to him, carry out the “works of the Almighty”.
He also said he had unfollowed Macka Diamond, Lisa Hyper, Spice, and Shenseea as they had, among other things, posted videos of men in female clothes, dancing to their songs.
“Mi unfollow Spice. Spice a mi G, mi fren. Mi love Spice and everything, but mi naw guh meck har page infect mi brain. Nuff time mi want deh roun Spice and mi want link har, but shi have people roun har weh shakey and mi nuh waan deh roun dem, caw nobaddy naw ketch no video wid me an dem,” Foota said.
“Mi an dem naw siddung, laugh and talk. Min uh want dem laugh when mi gin uh joke, nuttn. Suh mi cut offa Spice page. When mi si har by herself mi bless har up. When mi si har and dem, mi stay far.
He said Cham had fallen victim to the men parading in the feminine getup, which had also resulted in him having to unfollow the Ghetto Story artist.
“Baby Cham, mi bredda, mistakenly put up a video weh him neva know she is a man neither and me, because a Baby Cham post it, I liked it, and mi she yuh know wha – unfalla. Caw a nuh me like di video ffa my own yuh know. A oonu mi a support… mi can follow artiste weh a post anything, caw yuh a infect mi space.