Reggae And Dancehall Are On Fire

So I wanted to take a moment and kind of just talk to them, you know? So I think a really great example of that is Massica and his Barclays moment.

I mean, we've had a great run at Barclays in Brooklyn with Cartel.

We've had a run with Buju.

So I think we're seeing a really great moment with Masaka and his performance at Barclays.

And that's really coming off the backs of Vibes Cartel, Buju Bantan, really doing those big shows in those big arenas.

And what I think it is proving is that younger artists can also command the stage more.

Although I don't really consider Masaka a young artist.

He's just younger than, you know, the generation that came before him because he's been grinding for a while.

The last time I had seen Masaka was at Coney Island.

He was performing at On the Reggae Tip, which is hosted by Bobby Connors and Jabba from Hot 97.

And he wasn't the headliner there.

So to see him be the headliner at Barclays was kind of a full circle moment for his career.

And I think from a marketing standpoint, it came together pretty quickly and it perfectly aligned with the release of his latest album, which I think a lot of times that doesn't happen for our artists, but I am happy to kind of see that his new album, Forever Rain, dropped the day before and then he had the concert.

So I think having the success of singles like White's slip and slide, rich sex, hit time run.

You know, I think all of those things really were a nice culmination for him to release a project.

And I have listened to the project and I'm really glad we'll talk about it a little bit later, but I want to give that its own shine.

But in terms of just performance and festivals and concerts and really aligning the marketing and the promotion at the same time, I think that was a job well done.

I also think it's a great win because a lot of times there are conversations around younger artists being able to sell out big arenas.

And it appears that he has sold out that arena and that holds about 18,000 people.

And even if he didn't sell it out, it's still a big venue.

So I think there was some chatter, of course, mostly amongst different fans of different camps online, but it's a win for the culture.

And I think The narrative here is that the fans are hungry to see their performers in person.

And I think that that is one of the biggest wins.

The fans are really supporting the music in terms of showing up for performances like these.

And it's not just for him.