The fifth annual Jamaica Worldwide Independence International Tune Competitors (JIIFSC) introduced down the home on Saturday, July 27, on the Shiloh Excessive Faculty Theatre in Snellville, Georgia, with Jamaican diaspora expertise on full show.
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Rising as this 12 months’s winner was Lee ‘Priest’ Johnson, a Conyers, Georgia resident initially from Blenheim in Manchester, Jamaica. His track Jamaica Ina Mi Blood earned him the highest prize of US$8,000 (roughly J$1.28 million), a trophy, and the bragging rights that include successful the more and more standard contest.
Previous winners Ernel and Doxology positioned second with their entry If Yuh Love Jamaica Sey Sure, receiving US$4,000 and a trophy. Third place went to Boston-based Dion Knibb for My Candy Jamaica, incomes him US$1,000.
“We had a wonderful turnout with intense viewers involvement and kicked off the 63rd Jamaica Diaspora Independence Celebrations in yardie fashion,” mentioned Dr. Garfield McCook, the occasion’s founder and organizer, in an interview with the Observer On-line. McCook, a Jamaican-American businessman primarily based in Atlanta, launched the competitors in 2021, impressed by Jamaica’s longstanding Pageant Tune Contest. It’s open to Jamaican artists residing within the diaspora.
Different finalists within the 2025 staging included Chawlih Crux from Washington, D.C. with Jamaica Now; Lisa Blackford from Virginia with My Jamaica Residence Candy Residence; IJAHKNOWAH, representing Georgia, with Yardie; and Canada’s Tania Lou with Jamaica Soul.
The occasion marked a spirited begin to Jamaica’s Independence celebrations throughout the diaspora, mixing music, patriotism, and cultural pleasure.
