The Lineup for the 1st Annual Africa Unite Reggae Sunsplash in South Africa has been announced. The event is set to take place on 23 – 24 September in Cape Town at Stranfontein YMCA. It is organised by Bantu Media SA under the tutelage of [RUF] Rastafari United Front who earlier in the year made an open call to artists, promoters and DJ’s to make submissions for participating in the Event.
The final line up was announced today via the poster on the Bantu Media Facebook page as a profile picture. The confirmed line up looks like this: 40 Local Artists; 7 International Artists; 18 DJ’s on the line up and 7 Live Bands, a total of 62 Acts making it the biggest line up of local acts in South African recent Reggae history. Out of the 62 acts, there are only 4 female protagonists and are all Cape Town based. This is quite disappointing considering that it’s an event organised by a governing body that seek to speak and represent for all. It also paints a wrong picture of South African Reggae, giving the impression that female protagonists are invisible and only good enough for backing vocals. This is not the case at all. Just recently Sounds of Edutainment hosted the Afrikan’s Womens Concert at Rasta House in Yeoville with a full female line up with stellar performances; MzansiReggae puts out a compilation every year called Mzansi Reggae Sistas and there are other examples that can be cited to debunk the myth that there are no female dancehall reggae artists that are active in the scene.
Whatever the reason or however the process was of selecting acts for the very first Africa Unite Reggae Splash, there is no doubt that there was a serious oversight from the organisers. An effort should have been made to reach out to female artists once the final draft was made available. Organisers of such events should have at least enough knowledge on the landscape of Reggae in South Africa to be able to make informed decisions and be able pick up on such a skewed representation in the early planning stages.
You might also like: Africa Unite Reggae Sunsplash 2016
With that being said, perhaps its time that these female artists make themselves known, put out their works and claim their spot in the whole scheme of things. Efforts like Mzansi Reggae Sistas Vol I & II, lack the support of the very artists that are in the compilation, so it’s not really surprising that they get to be left out in the long-term. They must take a stand and make their voices heard on public forums.
The First Annual Africa Unite Reggae Sunsplash will be held in Cape Town in September, 23-24. Details are on the events page on Facebook. Tickets are selling for R100 from RUF. For further details regarding the event:bantumediasa@gmail.com
Tel: +27 60 544 5695 | +27 73 305 1056 | +27 82 683 9212
