Riding high with his hot single Rum and Red Bull, the self-proclaimed King of the Dancehall, Beenieman, is the first performer in a series of parties and stage shows being staged at Studio 38 this week.

In what the popular entertainment spot describes as a “sizzling” series of events, Beenie will open on Thursday, December 30, followed by the rarely seen Pluto Shervington with DJ Squeeze for New Year’s Eve on Friday December 31. Then it’s over to the royal one, Tarrus Riley, who performs on Sunday January 2, backed by the legendary Dean Fraser and his band.

Over the holidays, DJ Squeeze will continue to spin his old school jams on Wednesday nights at Studio 38, while Kingston Rock, which features live entertainment on Sundays, continues at the same venue. A special event, Omega — The Last Call, will be held on Monday December 27 to celebrate the end of the decade and the start of the next. This will feature music by Kurt Riley and DJ Pillz.

The Grammy Award winning Anthony Moses Davis, popularly known as Beenieman, was born in Waterhouse, Jamaica in 1973 and has become one of the true greats of dancehall music. He started toasting at 5 years old and won the Tastee talent contest in 1981. He has never looked back. During the period from the mid to late 1990s, Beenie Man dominated the Jamaican charts to the extent that he could claim the crown of “Dancehall King”, a title only bestowed previously on Yellowman in the early 1980s. Beenie Man’s first real break into the United States came in 1997. He heard an instrumental rhythm by an unknown producer named Jeremy Harding, and demanded to add his voice to the rhythm. So this was the birth of his first international hit; he recorded Who Am I and the single quickly went gold. It opened the doors for the world to see a new reggae star in the pages of Newsweek and other major media outlets. The same year, Beenie Man topped the Jamaican singles chart with seven different singles.

During the late 1990s, Beenie Man began his conquest of America with the hits, Romie, Who Am I and Girls Dem Sugar which featured American R&B singer Mya. During this time he received an impressive number of international music awards including a MOBO Award for Best International Reggae Act.