I-Octane Conquers 2018 Sumfest
“There is a saying that says “the best revenge is to live on and prove yourself”, and that’s what I needed to do, for myself, for my fans, for Sumfest”. – I-Octane
It was long anticipated by reggae and dancehall fans to witness the return of international recording artist I-Octane to Jamaica’s premiere and largest concert festival Reggae Sumfest. Noticeably absent to last year’s staging, I-Octane was himself busy putting the finishes touches on his third full length album “Love & Life”.
A fan favorite, the prolific artist made up for lost time by delivering classic hits such as “Mama You Alone” and “Lose A Friend” , to music from his top charting billboard “Love & Life” album like “Weh Di Fire Gone” and “Unfair Games” featuring Yanique Di Curvy Diva who to the delight of patrons made an appearance on the coveted stage.
I-Octane’s relationship with his fans are meaningful and special to the artist who is well known to leave the safety of the stage to make his way into the core of the crowd for a more intimate delivery. Through Reggae Sumfest live stream, social media overwhelming positive feedback was captured. “Him shell dung d place! hot ras – @cooliecool.” “Iconic!!!!!! – @prince_rikardo_elite” “Congratulations loved the performance – @hisqueen.angel”, “@realioctane u deallllllll with it WELLLLLL me a tell u – @kimmieluvsu”, “Energy him a feel and a connection wid di fans – @king_anthonythefirst”.
Billboard’s renowned Pat Meschino chimed in on Otane’s performance “I was fortunate to be at Reggae Sumfest 2010 when I-Octane made the transition from opening act to headliner status. In his prime-time position that night he tore down the stage with a ferocious delivery of reality lyrics and ever since, he’s been a powerful force in dancehall. I’ve seen I-Octane at every Sumfest since: the years he’s closed the show when others said he couldn’t do it, he not only proved them wrong, he set the stage ablaze! After being benched for inexplicable reasons in 2017, this year’s performance was on another level.
Leaping from the stage to deliver the majority of his set standing on a barrel in the middle of an audience exceeding 10,000 patrons, Octane put down furious, adrenaline pumping renditions of his hits. Octane recalled his history in the business on “One Chance”, shared the barrel platform with a peanut vendor in a tribute to the strugglers, “My Story”, and mourned the rising crime in Sumfest’s home, Montego Bay with “Lose A Friend” in what may be his finest performance ever and certainly among the very best of Sumfest 2018.”
Overwhelmed and humbled by the reception, I-Octane stated “Last year dem bench and me se me nah go work Sumfest again but me and Joe (Joe Bogdanovich) and Skatta (Cordel Burrell) work it out and we decide fi come back,”. It is a great honor to be getting this award because I have been putting in the work over the years,” explained the prolific hitmaker. “This means at lot to me.”
SOURCE: MPR CONSULTING
