Queen Ifrica Receives 2023 Young, Gifted & Black Reggae/Dancehall Icon Award, Hall Of Fame Induction

Fyah Mumma Queen Ifrica recently added the 2023 Young, Gifted & Black (YGB) Entrepreneurial Awards’ Reggae & Dancehall Music Entertainment Icon Award and Hall of Fame Induction to her list of accolades.

In a release, which was posted on their website, the YGB organization noted that Queen Ifrica, whose given name is Ventrice Morgan, had her accolades bestowed at their 18th annual Black Tie Gala & Fundraiser in Queens, New York on February 22, but that it was officially presented to her in person, last week at the ROK Hotel in Kingston.

“Queen Ifrica’s scheduling only allowed acceptance of her honors virtually that night, however, organizers was able to arrange with the ROK Hotel Kingston by Hilton, a private meet & greet reception today to present in person their prestigious honors…,” the release noted.

Queen Ifrica was also presented with a US Congressional Proclamation from the Honorable Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, a US Senate Resolution from Honorable Senator Kevin Parker & Mayoral Citation from Honorable New York City Mayor Eric L. Adams, the YGB stated.

Queen Ifrica told The Gleaner newspaper that the presentation was a humbling moment in her career.

“This is my legacy. More than anything else, I think it’s about legacy and the fact that I’m being recognised by people who are impacted by my music and by what I do as a public figure. I’m humbled, moreso because it was done of their own accord. I’m just humbled these people saw my name and thought I was deserving of such honours,” she told the publication.

Queen Ifrica’s music career began in 1995 after she shone at a local talent contest in her Montego Bay hometown. 

She became a part of Tony Rebel’s Flames Production in 1998 after the Fresh Vegetable deejay, heard what he regarded as her clean vocals, and saw the unmistakable quality of her performance, during a show in honour of the late Garnett Silk, and asked her to join his team.

In May 2010, following the release of her Montego Bay debut album, Ifrica was the toast of the International Reggae and World Music Awards, which was held in Queens, New York.    

Montego Bay, which was one of the most popular reggae albums of 2009, garnered her four awards: Artiste of the Year, Most Educational Artiste of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Best Female deejay. 

The album tracks included Don’t Sign, Far away, In My Dreams, Lioness on the rise, Montego Bay, Coconut Shell, Yad to the East, calling Africa, Keep it to Yourself, Streets are Bloody, TTPNC and the controversial Daddy, a song about incest.  There were two versions of Daddy on the Montego Bay album, one in English and the other in Spanish.

Among Ifrica’s other hits are Serve and Protect, Times Like These, Far Away, Randy, Below the Waist and Let’s get Silly.

According to a VP Records release in late April 2021, Queen Ifrica, was working on new material in preparation for her forthcoming album for that label.

And in February last year, Ifrica had also revealed that both Nuh Rush Records and Organic Records were among the production houses with which she would be working to produce her upcoming album, which will be her first full-length project since her 2017 Billboard Reggae Albums chart-topping album Climb.

After disappearing from social media in 2020, and seemingly taking a hiatus from public life, Ifrica had resurfaced in April 2021 when she released the track Four Women (a Nina Simone cover version of an original released in 1966 on her Wild Is the Wind album) to mark the anniversary of the 1969 recording of the Jazz icon’s Live from Berkley album.

The track, which was produced by Medication singer, Stephen Marley, was released “in tribute to the legendary an American jazz singer, composer, pianist and arranger, and was part of a seven-track Reggae EP titled Celebrating Nina: A Reggae Tribute to Nina Simone, which also featured songs from her compatriots Cedella Marley and Etana.