Exclusive: Shabba Ranks to return

One of the most popular dancehall artists of his time — Shabba Ranks — is to make his return to the Bermuda stage and will be accompanied by the ‘Queen of Soca’ Alison Hinds.

Two-time Grammy-Award winning Shabba is known for hits such as Mr Loverman, Respect and Ting A Ling.

Formerly with the band Square One, Alison Hinds is one of the most popular soca singers in the world. She is known for songs such as Roll It Gal which was a huge hit throughout the Caribbean and was released in the UK in 2007, and Faluma.

The all-star line-up is part of the Cup Match Salute Spectrum Global -Entertainment and will take place at Tiger Bay on July 31.

Organizers ‘ecstatic’ at landing Shabba Ranks

Concert organizers say they are “ecstatic” to have landed the “Emperor of Dancehall” Shabba Ranks and the “Queen of Soca” Alison Hinds to perform at a pre-Cup Match concert in Tiger Bay. 

Vivian Millings and her partners at Spectrum Global Entertainment used their overseas contacts to secure the musical icons who will perform at the Cup Match Salute on July 31st.

Speaking exclusively to the Bermuda Sun, executive event co-ordinator Ms Millings, said: “There is a huge reggae, dancehall and soca following in Bermuda and we are talking about the ‘wining’ King and the ‘wining’ Queen — the Emperor of Dancehall and the Queen of Soca. What better combination is there than that? It will be a great show — they are both excellent performers so we are bound to be entertained. 

“This is the party show, if you want to enjoy yourself and have a good party get ready for your pre-Cup Match celebration. I am ecstatic — I can’t wait.”

The show unfortunately clashes with the Beres Hammond concert at Par-La-Ville car park — part of the four-day Cup Match Summer Splash festival organized by 441 Productions and Veterans In Action. 

Two-time Grammy-Award winning Shabba is known for hits such as Mr Loverman, Respect and Ting A Ling. He will be backed by live band Ruff Kut of Beenie Man fame. The Jamaican-born artist is known as one of the most popular dancehall artists of all time. His biggest hit was Mr Loverman but many claim that tracks such as Respect, Pirates Anthem, Ting A Ling and Wicked In Bed are among his best works. 

Alison Hinds, born in Barbados, began her career with the band Square One for which she became lead vocalist after winning a string of carnival road marches. She is one of the most popular soca singers in the world known for songs such as Roll It Gal — a huge hit throughout the Caribbean that was released in the UK in 2007 — and Faluma. Her album Full Bloom album topped the Guatemalan charts for 49 weeks. Square One split in 2004 but Ms Hinds continues to perform and will perform this concert as part of her current set up — the Alison Hinds Show.  

She previously collaborated with Shabba for her 2010 album Caribbean Queen in the song Can’t Let My Love Go along with Richie Spice and Jah Cure. She also recorded a collaboration with soca legend Machel
Montano.

Millings said she and her team are hoping to inject life back into Bermuda’s music scene. “Bermuda needs to be revitalised and we are trying to do our part to restore our entertainment scene here,” she said. “In reality we are an island and we need to party.” she laughed. “We need to show the world that we are capable of letting our hair down and having a good time. 

“We are known for Cup Match and we wanted to find some artist that could actually draw people internationally to come to the island and have a full experience of Bermuda. We knew that Shabba headlined at Reggae SumFest (in Jamaica) last year — and he blew SumFest out of the water!”

Millings said that it was unfortunate that the concert fell on the same night as Beres Hammond. She said and that both parties had met to try to rearrange the dates but by the time they met, the contracts were already locked down. She did say that Shabba was looking forward to making his return to Bermuda. “Shabba doesn’t really perform very often but he agreed and is very excited to perform with Alison Hinds.”

This event marks the first ever Cup Match Salute and Millings said there would “definitely” be a Cup Match Salute in 2014. 

“Hopefully that will be even better — we want to keep the standard. We are branding this as a standalone event in the same terms as the Reggae Sumfest so when you hear Cup Match Salute in Bermuda you know this is the time you want to come.” 

The show is at Tiger Bay on July 31 with an 8pm start. Tickets will be released on May 15. See the Bermuda Sun and follow
@sarahlaganlife on Twitter for more details.