ZAMANI Moodie — a director of Twisted Entertainment, co-organisers of Burna Boy’s Jamaica concert on December 18 — says they hope the event will spruce up the local economy ahead of the Christmas holidays.

“Over the past two years so many businesses, especially the entertainment and tourism industries, were crippled by COVID-19, many of which are still grappling with cash flow and supply issues. Large concert events like the ‘Burna Boy Live’ show are always good for the local economy as a whole, and not just the entertainment industry. Naturally, we hope to work with many local suppliers and entertainment professionals but also provide numerous employment opportunities for service providers in the hospitality industry,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

The Nigerian superstar is set to perform at the National Stadium in St Andrew. Also on the line-up are dancehall heavyweight Popcaan and Lila Iké.

According to Moodie, his team has collaborated with Burna Boy before so they were able to pull the necessary strings to have him in Jamaica for the first time.

“Burna Boy kicked off his Love, Damini North American tour with us in Barbados and the rest of the tour with Duke Concept in North America. He also headlined our festival in Miami in October so given the successes of those shows and being from Jamaica myself, naturally I wanted to bring this experience home to Jamaica,” he said.

Moodie added: “We, Twisted Entertainment, have been doing this for more than a decade in Barbados and other Caribbean islands. As we have grown, we have executed events in Miami with the goal of someone coming to Jamaica. We knew if we were to come to Jamaica it must be a major production, and as such we must find partners with similar vision and expertise — this we have found in Duke Concept from New York and Solid Agency from Jamaica.”

The singer will also be visiting Trinidad and Tobago, and Antigua on December 16 and December 17, respectively.

As for adding Popcaan to the line-up, the director noted that it was a wise move since the two entertainers have collaborated before and both have a huge fan base.

“Popcaan is one of the hottest-trending dancehall artistes right now and has been for quite some time. His catalogue of hits makes him well loved around the world and right here at home in Jamaica. Plus, with his recent trending collaborations with Burna Boy and Toni-Ann Singh we can hardly wait for his performance,” he said.

Moodie further said ticket sales have been very promising, and it is expected that the show will be 100 per cent sold out.

“We are definitely on track for reaching our targeted numbers, and if sales continue on this current trajectory we may have to shut off sales sooner than we expect,” he said.