Renaissance’s ready to rumble
DELANO Thomas, lead selector and co-owner of sound system Renaissance Disco, is looking forward to working alongside Burna Boy for a second time at the Nigerian superstar’s Jamaican concert on Sunday.
“We did his show during Miami carnival season in October 2022. It’s was amazing,” he told the Jamaica Observer‘s Splash.
In addition to Renaissance, Boom Boom, Chromatic, Bloodline Franco and DJ Mac will also be on the turntables at the event set for the National Stadium in St Andrew.
Popcaan as well as Lila Iké will also be performing.
Thomas said he is elated to have been selected as part of the line-up.
“[It’s] always a great feeling to be on huge shows/festivals here in Jamaica and around the world. I always feel honoured and humble to always get invited to contribute our talent to event at this magnitude,” he said.
The disc jockey said he has been familiar with Afrobeats for years, and is a huge fan of the sound.
“I was introduced to Afrobeat for over 10 years now and was hook to its sound and feel. It’s a fun genre,” he said.
Renaissance Disco evolved out of a sound system called Le Jeux. Thomas was fresh out of Excelsior High School in Kingston when he hooked up with friends to form Renaissance.
The original members are from the middle-class areas of Constant Spring and Liguanea. They are Thomas, Mykie E (Michael Edwards), Leslie Baugh, Robert Richards, Nigel Lyn, Dr Dre (Andre Saunders), Jazzy T (Tarik Thompson), DJ Pepsi (Orville Spence), Oxtail (Tony Smith), DJ Smoke (Ryan Williams), DJ Karim (Karim Thompson), and Mixmaster Marvin (Marvin Edwards).
Its current line-up is led by Thomas, his son Delano ”DJ 3D” Thomas Jr, DJ Christuff (Christopher Hartley), DJ Taj (Taj Graham), Dre Day (Andre Day), Snypa (Damian Anderson), Blaze (Stephen McGibbon), Jazzy T, DJ Pepsi, Mykie E, Dr Dre, DJ Scibbles (Nicholas Johnson), and Joel ”Kruddy” Harrison.
Burna Boy (given name Damini Ogulu) is a Nigerian Afrobeats star. He rose to stardom in 2012 with Like to Party, the lead single from his debut studio album, L.I.F.E.
In 2019 he won Best International Act at the 2019 BET Awards and was announced as an Apple Music Up Next artiste. His fourth studio album, African Giant, was released in July 2019 and won Album of the Year at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards; it was also nominated for a Best World Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.
Love Damini — his latest album — and Last Last are nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Global Music Album and Best Global Music Performance categories, respectively.
