The International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) returned to Jamaica for the fourth time in recognition of Reggae 50 which was celebrated in 2018 but the celebrations carried through to 2019.
The event held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel was the talk of the town and saw guests from Australia, Paris, and Africa in attendance as they expressed their excitement to witness the grandeur event which is IRAWMA. There were over 40 categories that were all voted by peers within and outside the Industry that gave each nominee a fair chance of winning.
The event was hosted by young Reggae artiste Koffee who is already making major strides in the Music Industry and Reggae Pioneer, Tony Rebel.
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This was our first time at an Award Show of this magnitude and it was rather interesting! There were a couple of things that stood out to us. The first one was definitely D’Angel’s performance and how she subtly set the record straight in a one drop lyrical freestyle. The Artiste came on stage in a bold pink/purple bodysuit by Kadian Nicely and her signature fiery red hair. Up next was a performance by Beenieman who did a short (very short) performance of “I’m Drinking” where everyone was intrigued to see the “Dr” in action in his signature full white outfit as they rushed to the stage to capture the moment through photos and videos.
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Beenie’s exit off stage was followed by Bounty Killer who received the Icon for Dancehall Award.
The most anticipated artiste of the night was definitely Spice as she won her Award for Best Female Artiste and the audience looked to see if she was in the country and when she appeared on stage in a sexy yet subtle “Spice Blue” gown the audience could not control their applause.
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I too ran to the stage to catch the now International Artiste up close and in action and let me tell you, her make-up and hair was laid!
We were then treated to a unique performance by Orisha Sound and Dj Matar who infused a classical performance (violin included) mixed with Reggae — the pair was a highlight of the night as they brought high energy and something different to the stage Orisa is Russian and Dj Matar is from Paris and the way they merged their culture and unique sound with Reggae was quite clever. Chozen was another standout performer as he brought his gospel version of “Bawl Out” which was well received by the audience as they were highly engaged in his performance and joined in singing word for word.
The IRAWMA 2019 was a night of Stars and Pioneers of Reggae and Dancehall Music in attendance as well as supporters of the Jamaican Music Industry. It was a well-executed event that is in its 37th years of staging. On this night, over 43 recipients received awards
Visit the link below to see the full list of winners
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