Wyclef, Fetty Wap To Headline Shaggy And Friends Concert

GRAMMY-AWARD winning artist Wyclef Jean will join rapper Fetty Wap and pop icon Sting as international headliners for the 2018 staging of charity event Shaggy & Friends.

According to the Jamaica Observer Shaggy made the announcement at a launch held at the Bustamante Hospital for Children in St Andrew yesterday where he explained:

“Sting was a no-brainer. He and I had done a song together and we have been friends for a long time. We were doing some work here and there and I just said: ‘How about coming to Jamaica?’ And I will tell you a crazy story right now. Every Breath You Take, which is Sting’s biggest song, was written right here in Jamaica… at Golden Eye. A lot a people don’t know that. Jamaica holds a very dear place in his heart. It will be his first time performing here… so a real no-brainer. As far as Wyclef is concerned… Clef is almost Jamaican, so it was easy. Clef and I have had a great relationship for years. Fetty and I see each other here and there and a mutual contact told him about the concert. He just came and check me out and said I will be there for that.

He continued: “It’s hard to get international acts on board. It’s not the same sentiment… they just don’t connect. So everyone I go to I ask them: ‘What is your charity?’ and offer myself in return for their performance, but it doesn’t always work out for various reasons. This year we just were very lucky with these three.”

SOLIDARITY: Wyclef is a household name in Jamaica and has spoken fondly about his love for the culture.

A number of other, Caribbean acts are booked to perform including Bunji Garlin and Fay-Ann Lyons, Christopher Martin, Aidonia, Dexta Daps, Junior Reid, Shenseea, Barrington Levy, Third World, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Capleton, Professor Nuts, and Wayne Wonder.

This will be the sixth staging of the event, since it started in 2009. Shaggy, through his Make A Difference Foundation, has donated more than 450 pieces of equipment worth over US$1.6 million to the Bustamante Hospital for Children — the only specialist paediatric hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Over the years a stellar line-up of successful acts have graced this event’s stage including Lauryn Hill, En Vogue, Boyz II Men, Ashanti, Ne-Yo, Sean Kingston, Omi, Machel Montano, Elephant Man, Beenie Man, and Bounty Killer.

Next year’s concert is anticipated to take place at Jamaica House in St Andrew on Saturday, January 6.