DISC jockeys Chris and Pigeon walked away with a $50,000 money prize after emerging as winners of the gospel sound clash on the ‘Revival Time Music Festival’ at Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in St Andrew on Sunday.
“It was creativity that scored him extra points. Chris experienced technical difficulties together with his computer and got other people’s cellphones to play his songs; he also generated probably the most crowd support,” Sabrina Thomas, co-organiser of the event, told the Jamaica Observer.
The opposite two entrants were DJs Mills and Lava who placed second and earned $30,000, and DJs Unknown and Bobo who walked away with $20,000.
This was the fourth staging of the music festival and was co-organised by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission. It was first held in 2017, nevertheless, it didn’t happen in 2020 and 2021 as a consequence of the worldwide pandemic.
The Revival Time Music Festival is a gathering of the Revivalist community in Jamaica. Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange was slated to be presented with an award for her continued support but was unable to attend.
The day’s activities began with a church service in the shape of fasting and prayer for the nation. Thomas said that, alongside the clash and performance by the guest artiste were the most important high points.
“The gospel sound clash had never been done before. These were secular DJs and it was really good. Minister Yanique Lambert was our guest performer,” she shared.
Revivalism began in Jamaica between 1860 and 1861 as a component of a spiritual movement called the Great Revival. It’s a mixture of elements from African pagan beliefs and Christianity and has several forms, the 2 major forms being Revival Zion and Pocomania.
The Revival ritual involves singing, drumming, dancing, hand-clapping, foot-stomping, and groaning together with the usage of prayers to ask possession. It also includes music and songs from orthodox religion. Revivalism is found chiefly within the parishes of Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine, St Elizabeth and St Ann.
Thomas said the mandate of the annual festival is to sensitise more Jamaicans about what the movement entails, in addition to their practices.
“The thought got here about to have the Revival movement workshop on Heroes’ Day. The indigenous group that was born in Jamaica and I saw it fit to place together a festival to showcase positive features. We’re in a position to sing well — we have now a special sound from everybody else. The manifestation of the Spirit comes upon us in a different way, and we worship the one true and living God, the God who created heaven and earth. It was our way of showing Jamaica and the remainder of the world that we’re Christians — it wasn’t just a few service. In previous years we have now held seminars disseminating details about how we worship, why we tie our heads, and stuff like that,” Thomas explained.
There was also a young drummers’ clash which saw 10-year-old Horatio Gayle walking away with a $20,000 grand prize. Eleven-year-old Nathaniel Nembhard and 14-year-old Deon Douglas placed second and third and received $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.
