Fiery Ifrica at Rebel Salute – speak her mind

Claudia Gardner, Assignment Coordinator

WESTERN BUREAU:

Reggae recording artiste Queen Ifrica says politicians should pay keen attention to the criticisms of them made by artistes at events such as Rebel Salute, in order to enable them to better address the country’s social problems.

Ifrica was speaking to The Star in an exclusive interview following her performance on Night Two of Rebel Salute, which was held in St Ann at the weekend. She had spent much of her time on stage calling for better treatment of the Jamaican people, including those affected in the May 2010 Tivoli security operation by their political leaders.

Trust

Other entertainers such as Jesse Royal, Fantan Mojah and talk show host and event emcee Mutabaruka had also rebuked the Government for betraying the trust of the people. But in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Ifrica said she was happy many of the politicians had still not shied away from the event, despite the imminent reprimands they were sure to get from especially the Rastafarian entertainers.

“Everybody out deh, from both sides. Last night in here full (of politicians). I think (Security Minister) Mr Bunting is here tonight, (Justice Minister) Mark Golding, the mayor. Yeah, man, they are here. Rebel Salute does that you know. When you come to Rebel Salute, you are in your red, green and gold. You jus’ a chill. Nobody no look like politician tonight. Everybody look like Jamaican and real people,” she said.

Issues

“They (politicians) should be here. They must come here so they can see the people and understand that when we speak on issues that affect the people, they see the response from the people and therefore, when they go back to their offices, they know that when they are going to talk, they have to talk real because the people are listening. It is good. They should go to every show,” she added.

In the meantime, Ifrica said she would be launching her new album early this year and revealed the name of the album after a brief consultation with her representative from VP Records.

“My record company say me can say di name. You know how much people ask and a oonu (Star) get it?” She quipped. “It name Play Day. We looking at about 14 tracks. It might go to 16, but 14 is where we want to stop. All of it is completed, so it’s a matter of doing the fine works and twists and turns and then we talk about the launch date and the release date and stuff,” she said.

“I can’t tell you a specific date, but I can tell you it’s early this year,” she added.

Her last album, Montego Bay, was released in 2009, featuring songs such as Welcome To Montego Bay, Coconut Shell, Daddy, Keep It To Yourself, and two love songs, Far Away and In My Dreams, among others.

Ifrica will do an overseas tour following the album launch.

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