Reggae singer Ky-Mani Marley performing at Jamaica House in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday night.
COMBINING his songs with a few of his father’s classics, Ky-Mani Marley brought the curtains down with a crowd-pleasing performance at Jamaica House in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Marley, son of reggae king Bob Marley, was accompanied by his live band and supporting vocals. He had the full house singing and dancing along to his singlesGet High, Love Over All and Rasta Love as well as his father’s
One Love and Turn Your Lights Down Low.
“This will definitely be one of my most memorable shows in Brazil,” said Marley.
“After seeing the Jamaica teams go out there and represent the country and then to come here and see how the people just love our music and our vibes, it makes me feel really good. It’s almost overwhelming to see how this little island of ours break so many boundaries with our athletes and our music—my father and Usain Bolt are just an example of that and it’s something that I feel wonderful about being a part of.”
There were close to a 1,000 people inside the venue, who refused to budge after the concert ended.
Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, gave the event thumbs up.
“Jamaica House is promoting Brand Jamaica, at the centre of which is sport and our music. So Jamaica House is a package of what we are and what we give to the world. We have wall-to-wall people inside Jamaica House singing along to Ky-Mani, in spite of the rain. That’s just a wonderful experience,” she said.
Jamaica House, which opened on August 10, saw performances from I-Octane, Nature and Luciano.
Jason Hall, deputy director of tourism at Jamaica Tourist Board, said: “Epic has been the new norm in Rio, both on the track and at Jamaica House. We’ve exceeded expectations and achieved a tremendous amount of awareness about Destination Jamaica. All of this would not have been achieved without the support of our valuable partners, Digicel Jamaica, Downsound Entertainment, Sandals Resorts International, Appleton and Red Stripe, all solid, gold medal, Jamaican companies.”
