REFLECTION & REASON

Thank you, Rebel Salute. My love, appreciation, passion, and respect for Jamaican music and culture has increased tenfold after my recent excursion to attend the roots reggae festival in Priory, Saint Ann, on Friday, January 18 and Saturday, January 19 at Grizzly's Plantation Cove. As a Jamaican-Canadian music lover and communicator, my presence on the island this year reinforced my dedication to supporting the culture and progress of Jamaica and its people. I've been to numerous live shows before, and I happily invest my money into the live experience of my favourite recording artists. Beginning with Michael Jackson in 1984, to Jay Z , Beyonce, Kanye, Janet Jackson, and Prince...if I enjoy their music at home, I definitely want to enjoy it in a performance venue as loud as possible, surrounded with thousands of other fans. It's the natural progression of appreciation for the art form and the creators of the experience. This includes soca artists like Kes, Machel Montan

Photo via Skkan Media Entertainment Needless to say, I'm biased. I think Jamaica Carnival is wonderful. I've never been to Trinidad, and in my 40 years in Toronto I've only missed a handful of Caribana parades. Carnival is an enjoyable passion of mine, and every part of my heart believes that Jamaica Carnival is the perfect storm of carnival excellence! Since attending for the first time in 2017 , I have kept an interested eye on the costumes, promotions, and the overall impact this exciting event is having on Caribbean culture, music, and international vibes overall. As someone who has played mas, built mas, written about mas, and helped to organize and promote mas, I have waved the proverbial flag high and mighty for our local Toronto event, for years. I have studied our carnival and invested time and passion into understanding how I can play my part, how we as Torontonians of Caribbean descent can work together to sustain this event, and I've even tried an e

It sucks. It's uncomfortable. It's embarrassing. It's unfortunate. It's a shame. It's hurtful. It stings, and it makes you question your priorities and morality in a way that you never thought you would have to. Drawing that firm line in the sand against one of "your own" can feel like betrayal, even when it's abundantly clear that something is wrong, and that something must be done. Like many, that R. Kelly docu-series "Surviving R. Kelly" was the last thing any of us will ever have to see to know and remember just how terrible this man's behaviour has been...from time. Those testimonials, the pain on the faces of those women was disturbing as hell. We've all heard the whispering, the shouting, and seen the evidence plain as day, but somehow it took years. Decades even, for a collective cultural "WTF" moment where we are forced to look at Robert Kelly without the lens of his fabulous R&B hits...and see him for the a