Holding her own
Sole female act on Sumfest Festival Night One wants more done for the ladies
As the sole female act billed for Reggae Sumfest 2025, dancehall front-runner Shaneil Muir delivered a scorching set to dominate among a sea of male artistes.
The Secured singer, donning a form-fitting golden ensemble, shone as brightly as her outfit as she proved herself deserving of her spot on the bill.
As she accepted praise for her stellar performance, Muir said she hopes more female talent will get the same opportunities to prove their worth on massive platforms.
“I 100 per cent believe we need to push more female acts. There needs to be a channel that makes it easier for them in some way. When you know the female acts have the talent, the potential, give them way and make dem make waves,” she said. “Shaneil Muir is here today not only because of hard work and consistency, but because people took a chance on me. It’s a great feeling knowing what you believe about yourself, others also believe in, and so we need to show more of our females in the industry that we believe in them.”
Muir, who made her second Sumfest line-up last weekend, said she was particularly pleased that this year she got the opportunity to share her music on Festival Night One (formerly dancehall night). Outlining that Friday night is usually where the big guns in dancehall usually come out blazing, Muir said she seized the chance to not only gain new fans but also show that she’s one of the most consistent acts in dancehall today.
“I never got to perform on dancehall night at my last Sumfest appearance, and so to have been the only female act on the line-up for that night this year, I was honoured. It was an amazing feeling getting up there and showing what I’m capable of. Everything went pretty smoothly for me, and I’m just grateful for yet another Sumfest experience,” she said.
Now that Sumfest is done and dusted, Muir said she’s looking forward to dropping new music as she has been recording a lot over the past few months. Still, with no definite timeline on when new tracks will be released, the entertainer encouraged music lovers to turn their attention to her recently released EP, Echoes Of Her.
“Mi nah stop drop bangers. I’m going to keep putting my best foot out there. I know my fans are always waiting for new music, and I have been working on it, so more definitely will be coming. In the meantime, I just dropped my EP, so if you haven’t already, go check that out,” she said.
