Beenie Man had barely cleared arrivals at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport before he started talking about how much he loves Zimbabwe.
The Jamaican dancehall star told reporters his affection for the country comes down to one thing, the warmth and hospitality of its people.
He landed in Harare a day ahead of his headline slot at the fifth edition of the Kadoma Music Festival. The show takes place at The Odyssey in Kadoma, a city in Mashonaland West about two hours’ drive southwest of the capital.
The remarks were first reported by Daily News senior entertainment writer Anesu Mirisawu. Most of the full interview sits behind the paper’s paywall, but the headline message came through clearly. This is an artist who feels at home in Zimbabwe.
For anyone who needs the background, Beenie Man was born Anthony Moses Davis in Kingston in 1973. He has carried the “King of the Dancehall” title for decades.
His run of hits includes “Who Am I,” “Girls Dem Sugar” and “Dude,” and he won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2001 for “Art and Life.”
He found a new generation of fans in 2020, when his Verzuz battle with longtime rival Bounty Killer drew a huge online audience during lockdown.
That clash showed he could still command a crowd, even through a phone screen. A live festival stage in front of Zimbabwean fans is a very different setting, and probably a friendlier one.
There is a reason Jamaican dancehall names keep finding a warm welcome in Zimbabwe. The country built its own homegrown scene, Zimdancehall, which turned artists like Winky D into household names. It borrowed the riddims and the energy of Kingston and filtered them through local language and street life.
That shared DNA gives a booking like this extra weight for a festival still finding its footing. Kadoma Music Festival is only five editions in. Landing a Grammy winner from the genre’s birthplace is a clear statement of ambition from the organisers.
From the artist’s side, his comments carry the tone of someone who has felt the love before and expects to feel it again. Visiting stars often say nice things on arrival. The real test is what happens when the lights go up at The Odyssey.
Local fans will be watching to see how he builds his set. He could lean on the late nineties classics that made his name across Africa, or bring in newer material.
Either way, a crowd raised on Zimdancehall knows exactly what a proper dancehall performance should feel like.
The gates at The Odyssey open tonight, and Kadoma is about to find out whether the King of the Dancehall matches the warmth he says he came for.
