Babyface, Beres Hammond And Bounty Killer For Reggae Sumfest 2024

American singer Babyface and Jamaican acts Beres Hammond and Bounty Killer will be headlining the 2024 staging of Reggae Sumfest.

The announcement was made earlier today via official social media.

“We couldn’t keep it a secret much longer! Get ready to groove to the soulful rhythms of the legendary Babyface as he takes the stage at Reggae Sumfest,” the brief (yet very effective) announcement read.

Babyface and Hammond will take the stage on July 20, 2024, while Bounty Killer—who will also be honored—will grace the Catherine Hall, Montego Bay stage on July 19.

Babyface, whose given name is Kenny Edmons was a guest act at the now defunct Jazz and Blues Festival in 2010. The event pulled thousands of fans both locally and internationally. 

Reggae Sumfest has, in previous years, introduced the audience to international acts such as Alicia Keys (2001), Snoop Dogg (2001), Rihanna (2006), Lil Wayne (2008), Usher (2010), Nicki Minaj (2011), Miguel (2013), Future (2014), Common (2015), and Jennifer Hudson (2015).

Babyface has written and produced over 26 No. 1 R&B hits throughout his career and has won 12 Grammy Awards. He is known for tracks such as Every Time I Close My Eyes, Never Keeping Secrets, Hurt You (with Toni Braxton), and And Our Feelings.

Meanwhile, Beres Hammond—who was recently bestowed with a Doctorate from the University of the West Indies—is no stranger to the Sumfest stage. His last performance was in 2022, which saw him rendering classic after classic for almost an hour.

The Five Star General, on the other hand, will finally be given his flowers for his indelible contributions to Dancehall. With a career spanning from the 1990s, the deejay, whose given name is Rodney Price, is known for his lyricism, rhyming schemes, and hardcore tracks. Recently, he fittingly expressed disdain at the decline in rhyming where Dancehall tracks are concerned and the amalgamation of hip-hop beats in the genre. 

Following this year’s Heroes Day Awards, some music fans were calling for Killer to receive the Order of Distinction (OD), Jamaica’s sixth-highest honor, for his contributions. However, he remained unbothered and confident in his own impact, declaring that he’s an “OG.”