MONTEGO BAY, St James — Reflecting on the opportunity given to perform in the Catherine Hall community, where he grew up, dancehall newcomer Topmann is confident that he delivered during Festival Night I of Reggae Sumfest 2023 at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre in St James.

“It is a great feeling to know that I came out and did a great representation of myself. I represented my community well because the people dem did always want to see me on this platform, so now me come out and do my end of it,” 25-year-old Topmann, whose given name is Jamario Hines, told the Jamaica Observer on Saturday morning after his 13-minute set.

“Mi guarantee say everybody proud, because dem know the individual I am and just know that I worked for this,” the entertainer added.

This was not Topmann’s first introduction to Reggae Sumfest, as just last year dancehall act Govana introduced him as a youngster to watch. With songs like Gyal Code and Dutty Foot Fren in his catalogue, Topmann said he was certain that he would have been officially booked for this year’s staging of the event.

“I expected this because I’ve been doing my end of the bargain, so God just blessed me with this opportunity with my own official time,” he said.

The young entertainer shared a story of inspiration and perseverance about his journey to the Reggae Sumfest stage with patrons of the event. He stated that, as a youngster growing up in Catherine Hall, he, along with other community members, would “hustle” during the Reggae Sumfest by selling parking spaces. But his dream was always to take the festival stage as a performer.

He told the Observer that his story should bring some encouragement to others wanting to take a similar route.

“It’s very inspirational because it shows everyone that nothing is impossible. Nothing great or worthwhile has ever been achieved without enthusiasm,” said the Cornwall College old boy.

Flexing his creative muscle to show versatility as a young entertainer, the artiste said his supporters can expect a different style of music with his upcoming EP titled True Me.

“An EP is coming out with more songs like Running. It is going to show a different side of Topmann other than Gyal Code. I am working on it to be released after my birthday in September,” he said.

Officially released a month ago, Topmann said Running was inspired by troubling events happening around him.

“Not only my depression, but also other persons around me did a go through some little things that did hard to explain. So I was in a zone where I could use my writing skills to relate to that [message],” he said.

“So I just did something like Running to say that, no matter the situation…you just have to continue to run because you don’t know when you will reach to the point of rescue. I was running from some situations that needed to be addressed,” Topmann added.