Jamaican-born, Bronx-based entrepreneur Suzette Williams at her Bronxwood Pure Hair Care enterprise.
Photograph by Anthony “ER Guru” Turner
Amongst hundreds of music lovers anticipated to descend on Montego Bay, Jamaica for this 12 months’s Reggae Sumfest, slated from July 13–19, is Suzette Williams, a Jamaican-born, Bronx-based entrepreneur, who credit R&B icon Toni Braxton with inspiring her life and profession path.
“Within the Nineties, Toni Braxton dominated the airwaves in Jamaica,” Williams informed Caribbean Life on Tuesday. “I used to be in highschool then, and she or he was the whole lot. I had a cosmetology instructor, Ann Marie Goss-Baker, who wore the identical quick coiffure Toni had. I additionally lower my hair similar to hers — it was iconic.”
Williams’s admiration has gone past being a fan – it formed her future.
“Due to Toni, I caught with cosmetology, and, in the present day, I run my very own enterprise,” she mentioned. “If you happen to verify my Instagram, you’ll see my highschool photograph — Toni’s coiffure and all. She impressed so many women like myself.”
Williams, who operates Bronxwood Pure Hair Care, previously Home of Pure, within the Bronx, mentioned that whereas she’s but to attended Reggae Sumfest, “this 12 months, I’m stopping the whole lot to be there.
“I’d love to fulfill Toni Braxton in particular person and inform her how she impressed me,” she mentioned.
However Williams just isn’t going to Reggae Sumfest alone; she is making association for 10 of her associates to journey along with her what guarantees to be a “evening we’ll always remember.”
“Sumfest right here we come!” Williams mentioned. “After Sumfest, we’re planning to tour the island. However the spotlight will likely be seeing Toni Braxton stay. I owe her that second.”
However she mentioned her love for Braxton’s music isn’t just private — it’s a part of her skilled area.
“Most days in my retailer, Toni’s songs are performed. Shoppers ask why, and I proudly inform them, ‘That’s the artist who impressed me to develop into who I’m in the present day,’” Williams mentioned.
Requested which is her all-time favourite Toni Braxton music, Williams mentioned: “In highschool, I had a boyfriend who lived distant. After we didn’t see one another, ‘Seven Entire Days’ was my anthem. That music was my life.”
Famend for hits like Un-Break My Coronary heart, Breathe Once more, and He Wasn’t Man Sufficient, Braxton’s set guarantees to ship a heartfelt and nostalgic vibe.
“Toni Braxton’s look underscores Sumfest’s world pull,” mentioned Joe Bogdanovich, CEO of Reggae Sumfest, who was in New York final week to attend the Jamaica Vacationer Board’s (JTB) seventieth anniversary occasion on the Hardrock Cafe Time Sq. in Manhattan.
Sharing the stage with Braxton at Sumfest 2025 will likely be Tarrus Riley, Protoje, Fantan Mojah, Lila Ike, Bugle, I-Wayne and Strain, “making certain an evening of highly effective lyrics, soul-stirring performances, and deep-rooted Jamaican tradition,” Jamaican-born, New York-based leisure publicist Anthony “ER Guru” Turner, informed Caribbean Life.
