Popcaan Announces Unruly Fest 2023 In St. Thomas
Dancehall deejay Popcaan has announced the return of Unruly Fest, set for December 22, 2023, after a three-year hiatus.
He dropped the bombshell today with a simple flyer bearing his image, the festival’s date, and of course, its St. Thomas location.
The first staging of Unruly Fest was held in December 2018 at Goodyear Oval in St Thomas. It was a completely sold-out event, which saw thousands of local and international fans turn up to see the deejay, special guests Drake and Tory Lanez, and other entertainers live.
“This is a St Thomas product. I’m so proud of St Thomas tonight. This is my hometown, so whatever me get, me share it with my hometown,” Popcaan had told the crowd at the event’s second staging in 2019.
However, during a Twitter rant in 2021, after he was slapped with several traffic violations, Popcaan threatened to move the festival from St. Thomas, as he felt cops in the parish were making him a target.
In 2022, he hinted to Clash Magazine that he would be taking “Unruly Fest to London for the very first time.”
News of Unruly Fest’s return has been met with excitement on social media.
Grammy-nominated singer Jesse Royal commented, “The Entire World Ago De deh!!!!!”
One fan even suggested he invites Valiant, who accused Popcaan of “running him off a stage.”
“Fada dipo has to be there!! #fixtings 🙌🏾,” he said.
“Yeah affi frwd a da one yah flight ✈️ affi book east side st Thomas 🇯🇲” one more supporter said.
Added another fan: “Know how long mi a wait 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥”
“Jamaica in December looking real nice 👀” one more commenter chimed in.
Recently, Popcaan hailed Protoje for the successful staging of the Lost In Time Festival in February, and in his response, Proto said he was simply following the blueprint of Unruly Fest.
The Dun Rich deejay’s 2019 performance at Unruly Fest was quite memorable. He entered the stage by taking flight via a harness rig and kicked off his performance with a rendition of his 2010 hit Dream, while soaring above the audience.
There was a 2-hour delay to the start of the show and some major traffic chaos as patrons moved in and out of the venue.
The daring aerial performance required a crane and was the first of its kind in Jamaica which left the audience in awe, as countless drones buzzed around the St Thomas native to capture the display.
In between verses of Dream, Popcaan paused to give a shout out to the Worl’ Boss Vybz Kartel, who is currently incarcerated on a life sentence for murder and awaiting the verdict on an appeal. He said of Kartel, “ah you mek dis possible”.