Beenie Man wants “Burn It” to torch “the hate, the division and the barriers between us.” He announced the new project as he prepared to take the stage at Kadoba Festival in Zimbabwe.
The dancehall veteran announced both on Instagram with a caption that reads more like a manifesto than a gig reminder. “From Jamaica to Zimbabwe,” he wrote, followed by “One humanity” and a direct callout: “Kadoba Festival see you tomorrow!”
The “Burn It” tease came with very little detail. Beyond the “Coming Soon” tag and a fire emoji, Beenie Man didn’t share a release date, a tracklist, or any collaborators. He framed it entirely around its purpose, adding that “music knows no borders, and neither should love.”
The post leaned on another reference, too. Beenie Man said the trip was “inspired by the spirit of Africa Unite.” Reggae fans will recognize that as the title of Bob Marley’s 1979 track from *Survival*, a song closely tied to pan-African solidarity.
That nod carries extra weight in Zimbabwe. Marley famously performed at the country’s independence celebrations in 1980, one of the defining moments linking Jamaican music to the African continent. Whether Beenie Man meant to invoke that history directly or not, the connection is hard to miss.
He also said he’s “bringing the EMINENCE energy to the motherland,” with #Eminence among his hashtags.
He didn’t explain what Eminence refers to, and the capitalization suggests it’s tied to a wider rollout. For now, fans are left to connect the dots between that tag and “Burn It.”
There are two ways to read the post, and they aren’t mutually exclusive. On one level, it’s a unity message: “All cultures. All colours. One connection.” On another, it’s a smart piece of promotion that pairs a live appearance with a new release while the attention is already there.
The anti-hate framing also invites a look back at Beenie Man’s own catalog. Some of his older lyrics drew heavy criticism from rights groups during the 2000s and led to cancelled shows overseas.
A track pitched around burning away “the hate, the division and the barriers” will inevitably be weighed against that history by some listeners, even as others take the message at face value.
His standing in the genre isn’t in question. The self-styled “King of the Dancehall” won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album for *Art and Life*.
He has spent decades taking Jamaican sound to audiences far beyond the island, so a festival stop in southern Africa fits a long pattern.
For Kadoba, landing a name with that history gives the festival a clear draw. For Beenie Man, it’s a chance to test the “One Love” message in front of an audience on the continent he’s referencing. The hashtags #AfricaUnite and #Zimbabwe make clear where he wants the focus to sit.
What’s still missing is the music itself. “Burn It” is officially on the way, Eminence is still a question mark, and the Kadoba crowd may be among the first to find out whether any of it surfaces on stage.
