Artistes hope to reach youth with festival song entries

Recording artistes Stacious and I-Octane believe their involvement in this year's Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's Festival Song competition will help to bridge the age gap with the nation's youth.

In this week's episode of STAR Chat, set to air this Saturday on THE STAR's YouTube page, both entertainers said the competition had lost its appeal to the nation's youth over years, and believe that with their core fan base being adolescents and young adults, they may be able to turn those eyes back onto the competition.

"We love festival growing up but we have that generational disconnection over the years weh we nuh hear the younger yutes dem a embrace the festival itself. When mi and Stacious a yute, we love hearing these songs no matter which reggae-dancehall and reggae artiste dominant, a festival song was big enough and solidified inna the culture," said I-Octane. "Over a period of time, we had that disconnect weh we hear the songs but we nuh really a listen and there is a difference between listening and hearing."

BRINGING FLAIR TO COMPETITION

I-Octane said that he decided to enter this year's competition to see if he could foster some change with his unique flair.

"Mi decide say mi nah go do the typical festival songs and typical melodies. Nothing wrong wid dem and big up those artistes. But mi feel like mi wah put the I-Octane thing to it and kinda get back the younger generation into the culture itself," he said.

Stacious said that over the course of the competition's 55-year history, the sound of the tracks became somewhat monotonous.

"This year, I think the songs are giving a variety and I love that. I think giving variety to people now, the younger generation will listen because they hear sounds they identify with," she said.

The top 12 songs in this year's competition will be available for purchase and streaming on 30 digital platforms globally. The contestants will be vying for a prize of $3 million - to be shared among the producer, writer, and singer. The public will determine the winner via votes. Each finalist has been assigned a voting number. Voting began on July 5 and the winner will be announced on July 22.