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Rototom Sunsplash 2023 - Lineup Announcement
02/23/2023 by Press Release
Rototom Sunsplash 2023! 40 names shape the first artist announcement of the International Reggae Festival, which opens with the likes of Barrington Levy, Capleton and the most recent Grammy award winner Kabaka Pyramid; along with Junior Marvin & The Legendary Wailers and Don Carlos.
The musical tapestry that is the 28th edition of the International Reggae Festival Rototom Sunsplash, to be held in Benicàssim (Castelló, Spain) from August 16th to 22nd, 2023, begins to come to life. More than 40 names inaugurate a line-up that reflects the idiosyncratic journey on which the macro cultural event embarks each year through the global reggae scene, steeped, as always, in a rich range of melodic and rhythmic sound. Established figures blend with emerging artists and projects, dealing doses of long-awaited returns together with expectant debuts. This is how Rototom begins to mould its versatile programme to fill the summer with music and culture.
The journey begins in Jamaica, with nine shows for the Main Stage, led by Barrington Levy, Capleton, Kabaka Pyramid, Junior Marvin & The Legendary Wailers, Don Carlos, Anthony B, Lila Iké, Mutabaruka, and the Inna de Yard collective. It continues through Africa with Yemi Alade from Nigeria and the Ivorian Tiken Jah Fakoly and then on to Europe, with the legendary British band Steel Pulse, as well as L'Entourloop and Biga Ranx from France, and the Spanish band Zoo.
Representing as always, Lion Stage innovates with fifteen debuts, featuring the likes of Dub FX from Australia; the Brit Vandal; the benchmark reggae band on the Tunisian scene Gultrah Sound System and Geo with The Upright Ones (following in the footsteps of his father, Don Carlos), from Jamaica. The singer Lady Lykez and Freddie Krueger lead the first immersion in Dancehall, while the Dub Academy adds to the mix, with Scientist Sound & Friends and Channel One from the UK.
Without doubt, the musical programme for Rototom Sunsplash 2023 has begun, and it does so by exploring the diversity of genres that orbit around reggae and raking up the kilometres of the global journey that the festival brings us on each year.
Thus, the first trail for this musical adventure is blazed by Barrington Levy, one of the most renowned Jamaican vocalists of all time, creator of both reggae and dancehall hits. Indeed it is with the most contemporary dancehall, in perfect symbiosis with roots reggae that the Jamaican Capleton bursts into this edition. Without leaving the Caribbean island, the festival welcomes Kabaka Pyramid, winner of the Grammy Award 2023 for Best Reggae Album with 'The Kalling', produced by Damian Marley.
Bob Marley’s mythical guitarist, the Jamaican Junior Marvin, will play at Rototom with The Legendary Wailers. He will share the stage with another of the historic figures of Jamaican reggae, singer and songwriter Don Carlos, former vocalist of the legendary Black Uhuru; and with the temperamental Rasta vocalist Anthony B.
Considered one of the most relevant artists in the African music industry, the queen of Afrobeats Yemi Alade from Nigeria joins the line-up for the festival’s 28th edition in Benicàssim, offering perhaps one of the most palpable examples of the rich musical inclusivity and variety that characterises the event. This is further compounded by the presence of Ivorian, Tiken Jah Fakoly another stalwart if you want to enjoy the reggae sounds that vibrate on the Continent of Africa.
Taking the leap to Europe, the festival confirms the presence of the legendary British band Steel Pulse. Led by David Hinds, they will deploy, in Benicàssim, their repertoire of anthems against racial injustice and in defence of human rights, present since their beginnings in the 70s.
The coming of L'Entourloop is eagerly awaited. The close relationship between reggae and hip hop is the sound compass of the French duo, who will be accompanied on stage by N'Zeng, Troy Berkley and BlabberMouf.
Also hailing from France is the singer, composer and producer Biga Ranx, a prodigy of the reggae scene (where he started when he was only 13 years old) and who projects, unquestionably influenced by Jamaican culture, his own style that mixes reggae and hip hop.
The geographic and musical, inclusion and variety, is also ratified by the announcement of the Spanish band Zoo, currently a musical phenomenon, performing for the first time at Rototom Sunsplash with its fusion of rap and electronic music interlacing Latin and Mediterranean rhythms.
A Jamaican trident completes the first 'round' of this inaugural artistic announcement: the young singer Lila Iké, who joins the festival with that symbiosis of contemporary reggae with soul, hip hop and dancehall that channels and transmits through the gravitational pull of her voice; the dub poet Mutabaruka with the Brits Mad Professor & The Robotiks; and the legendary collective Inna de Yard. Idiosyncratic for the union of timeless legends with the young generation it promulgates, Inna de Yard's show at Rototom will bring the voices of Cedric 'Congo' Myton, Winston McAnuff, Kiddus I and Keith & Tex.
Pure innovation is the Lion Stage’s call sign, full of firsts, such as the Rototom premiere of the Australian Dub FX embodying a legendary independent status like few others, earned in his street shows, with which he has revolutionized the concept of 'one-man band' and traditional live production.
The international scene also welcomes Gultrah Sound System, the Tunisian reggae band par excellence; Vandal, co-founder of the British sound system KAOTIK and a reggatek icon; and Geo with The Upright Ones, representing the new generation of reggae in Jamaica.
In the national Spanish sphere, there is one of the most sought-after voices of the moment, the emerging pop trap artist Lia Kali, and the band Boom Boom Fighters & Cookah P, with their mix of reggae and dancehall.
Spain also offers up other top-notch artists such as the historic ska band Juantxo Skalary & La Rude Band and La Fúmiga, with a rising career that is backed by their optimistic and energetic lyrics.
Doing its thing, the Dancehall drops this first announcement with the Brit Lady Lykez, Freddie Krueger from Jamaica; the South Sudanese Dynamq; Tasha Rozez (Gunz'n Rozez) from Canada; Pretty Gang Collective (Germany); as well as Heavy Hammer and Huntin Sound from Italy.
The Dub Academy adds to date, the UK's Scientist Sound & Friends ft Joseph Lalibela, Reuben Gondar, Messenger Douglas, Prince Jamo, Ras Nicholas; Channel One; Classic Wonder Veterans ft Solo Banton; Jah Version; and Raggattack celebrating 20 years with Supa Bassie.
Tickets are available @ ROTOTOMSUNSPLASH.com
