KINGSTON, Jamaica — Years ago, Netherlands-based radio broadcaster Tamara ‘Mystic Tammy’ Wijngaarde was shocked to realise that reggae is actually not the dominant sound on the radio or in the streets in Jamaica.

She discovered that weird fact during one of her visits to the island.

“I was surprised that they don’t play a lot of reggae music in Jamaica but when you go to Gambia, everywhere you go, there is reggae, in the streets, in the markets, everywhere, but in Jamaica, it was different…a bit unusual cause Jamaica is the birthplace of reggae,” she said.

“Why is reggae not revered in Jamaica? What happened?” she mused.

Mystic Tammy, who is originally from Suriname, says that reggae is revered in African countries like Gambia.

“Gambia is different, they like good music. They haven’t moved away from reggae, they love the vibes and the vibes are different…they know everyone’s music, they adore the vibe, they sing everything no matter the artiste, they feel the music because the energy is contagious, and of course, there is a message. They love the foundation, but not the new dancehall music so much,” she said.

Mystic Tammy works on the radio station, Rakoki.NL in the west side of Amsterdam, the cultural capital of The Netherlands. Her programme is called Mystic Royal Selections where she plays every Friday during the 3:00pm to 5:00 pm slot.

She made her name by being the only female on the Firehouse Sound International Gambia with the DJ Fireman crew in Gambia. She started her career spinning vinyl records and gradually taught herself how to play digital music on her laptop.
“But I still love foundation music,” she said.

She admitted that she prefers music from acts like Chronixx, Vaughn from Midnight, and Akae Beka, Garnet Silk, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Marcia Griffiths.
Over the last couple of years, music critics have pointed to a decline of reggae on mainstream stations in big reggae loving countries like Belgium, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France, which have large immigrant populations from their former colonies.

According to reggae promoters, the Reggae Revival movement led by Protoje, Lila Ike, Chronixx, Sevana and Koffee has largely stalled. No reggae songs are even on the playlists of mainstream radio in Europe.
One of reggae’s brightest new stars, Chronixx has not been performing or releasing songs with regularity for several years. Koffee, who is signed with Promised Land Records, which had a distribution deal with RCA that ended two years ago, has been missing in action.

Further, the new dancehall stars emerging out of Jamaica no longer produce ‘message music’ and have abandoned the Garvey-centric ideals and black consciousness of their older counterparts.

“I play roots, culture, old 90s dancehall, reggae, and even the younger generation like Shenseaa, ’cause she sings the radio version and the raw version. I know what the song is saying, it goes against my core beliefs, but it is ok, if I am going out, I like it, but modern dancehall is not radio-friendly,” Mystic Tammy noted.

The station’s listenership is a mix of Jamaicans, Surinamese, Africans and native Dutch. A substantial number of Surinamese people migrated to the Netherlands, particularly to Amsterdam, seeking better opportunities. Suriname, a northern South American country, was a Dutch colony from the 17th century until it gained independence in 1975.

“Reggae music is still big in Europe; with the right artiste, it can be mainstream,” she said.

Mystic Tammy believes that there is still hope for ‘message music’, especially with the emergence of strong female singers.

“There are still artistes out there who are bringing the right frequency, Queen Omega, Samora, Micah Shemaiah. I push the queens, Samora is huge. She has been flowing, it’s important that we as women in the musical business support each other. I love to promote my sisters. Who else is doing that?” she said.

Mystic Tammy said reggae aficionados are loving the Roots and Culture tour featuring Jah Mason, Lutan Fyah and Zhayna. The shows, which are taking place during the winter, have been doing well, pulling sizable audiences and wowing them with great performances in indoor venues in Germany, The Netherlands and France. The tour ends on March 31.

“What I see is that the people are excited to see the combination of Lutan and Jah Mason. They are always sad when the show ends, it’s been a long time since they saw Lutan so they’re excited to see him again, Jah Mason as well, and they are impressed by seeing a great female reggae act like Zhayna, we need more females,” she said.