SINGER Maxi Priest is elated about his upcoming performance on DJ Cassidy’s reggae-themed Pass the Mic: BET After Party show.

Scheduled to air on Saturday, February 26 at 10:00 pm on Black Entertainment Television (BET) shortly after the broadcast of the 53rd annual NAACP Image Awards.

In addition to Maxi Priest, Pass the Mic will also feature performances from Shaggy and from Columbia Records act, Super Cat.

“We have a lot of family in the business, and it was Sharon Burke of Solid Agency who called me and asked me if I’d be interested in doing Pass the Mic. I had seen it before and I thought this was a great opportunity and another avenue for us to be able to share our culture and our music to the world. And I am blessed to be part of it,” Maxi Priest told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday.

“It’s great to be a part of this! When you think about BET as a station that was created by someone like myself for us, to give us an outlet, and then for DJ Cassidy to come up with an idea such as Pass the Mic during COVID. It has been appreciated by so many people. And, to be a part of this, I feel honoured. This is something I want to be a part of, sharing our culture and our music with the world, so I’m happy to be a part of this,” Maxi Priest continued.

Maxi Priest said viewers should should expect nothing but good vibes.

“I had a great time, and it was so much fun, and I truly hope that everyone else feels the same. It was an honour and a pleasure to share the music with DJ Cassidy – he sure knows how to select music from different genres. He kept everybody in the groove right across the board, and most importantly, it was awesome!” he said.

Previous Jamaican entertainers who have performed at DJ Cassidy’s Pass the Mic series include Wayne Wonder, Sean Paul, and Beenie Man.

Maxi Priest, who shot onto the musical radar in the mid-1980s, is known for a string of hits, including covers of Wild World and Some Guys Have all the Luck, the Billboard hits Close to You, Set the Night to Music (with Roberta Flack), Just a Little Bit Longer, and That Girl (with Shaggy).

To date, he has earned Grammy nominations in the Best Reggae Album category for Fe Real (1994), Man with the Fun (1997), and It All Comes Back to Love (2021).

His most recent body of work is the 2020 collaborative effort United State of Mind with Livingstone Brown and Robin Trower.

Maxi Priest said he has new music on the way.

“I am working on so many different projects right now. I’m working on a gospel album in memory of my mother who was a missionary in a Pentecostal church and for my family, as this is our groundation. This is something that I have wanted to do for many many years, and I guess this is one of the upsides of COVID for me. I’m also working on various different singles and collaborations, as well as a Maxi Priest album, and an Afrobeat album. Music is what I love, and I’m blessed to be doing it. Thanks to the people,” he said.