3 weeks ago
20
Rastafarian firebrand Lutan Fyah is eagerly anticipating his upcoming tour of Europe where he will get to showcase the tracks from his latest album, Strength and Resilience.
The 14-track album will be released on Mediacom/Utopia record labels before the tour kicks off in March. The Strength and Resilience album was produced by I Grade based in St Croix, US Virgin Islands.
“When I do music, I do it from my core. I evoke feelings and emotions, so that when my fans hear my songs, they are touched by my words and understand the place where it is coming from. Music is everything to me,” Lutan Fyah said.
The Save the Juveniles singjay is optimistic about the prospects of the upcoming tour.
“Right now, we are releasing this album and I see the promoters are already pushing the European tour which is good. I know that the Europe tour will work and be a big success,” he said.
Lutan Fyah is a touring beast. Known for his songs of liberation, unity, marijuana, and Rastafarian roots, he has made his mark both locally and internationally. He firmly believes in permeating his brand of reggae music in all corners of the world, even breaking new ground in regions of Asia.
“I will be going also to Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan later this year and Cambodia also this month. I’m building a worldwide fan base with nuff nuff songs,songs like rice grain and nobody can convince me otherwise .... so dem can’t back me up in no particular marketplace,” he said.
The Roots and Culture tour will kick off in Berlin, Germany on March 1 before heading to Dortmund, and then Groningen, Amsterdam and Deventer in The Netherlands. Other stops include Lille, Rennes in France, and then Bilbao in Spain on March 16. The tour snakes through regions of France before ending in Paris on March 27.
The Roots and Culture tour is organised by Michel Jovanovic of European-based Mediacom and Free People Entertainment, led by its chief executive officer Cabel Stephenson. Other artistes on the tour include Jah Mason, emerging reggae singer Zhayna and the Free People band.
“Roots rock is very powerful globally. It is one of Jamaica’s musical strengths anywhere in the world, it is the column of our music and that’s why have we have to own it for ourselves and that is why I will carry the flag to ensure the music stands out, it is the root of our music, the fanbase of reggae music is so large, we cannot sit down and allow it to wither away,” Cabel Stephenson, chief executive officer of Free People Entertainment, said.
In 2023, Lutan broke a 15-year performance drought in Europe when he toured with Max Romeo and Droop Lion on the 50-plus date Ultimate Tour. He also did the Reggaeville Easter Special shows with Lila Iké. This tour was coordinated by Stephenson and Jovanovic.
Lutan is anxious to get back in the marketplace to help fly the banner of reggae internationally.
“I toured Europe with Max Romeo in 2023 when an artiste [Queen Ifrica] cancelled and I went instead of her. Now I am looking to return once again to promote this album. All I know is that anywhere reggae is played in the world, Lutan Fyah is played there,” the man who was born Anthony Martin, said confidently.
Stephenson understands the import of reggae touring acts in an age where new reggae acts are touring fewer shows and breaking decades-old traditions of building cult movements.
Stephenson added.
STRONG STREAMING NUMBERS
Lutan Fyah has cultivated a loyal international fan base as evidenced by his strong streaming numbers. To close off the year 2024, he rocked an audience of more than 90,000 at the Island Vibes Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia, then did shows in Bali and the Ivory Coast in Africa .
Lutan Fyah’s most streamed song on Spotify is ‘ Bossman’ which has racked up just shy of 19 million streams. Other songs that have done well on the streaming platform are Bla Bla Bla (3.9 million streams); At Peace (4.69 million streams); and Let Me Be (3.1 million streams).
“I’m preparing merch, working out, and getting my fitness up while preparing myself mentally,” Lutan said.
Hailing from Spanish Town, St Catherine, Lutan Fyah studied architecture at the University of Technology and played professional football for Constant Spring FC before starting his musical career in 1999.
The Save the Juveniles singer has collaborated with several artistes, including Fantan Mojah, Turbulence and Pressure.
When he’s not in the studio creating new music, Lutan Fyah serves as the manager, coach, and primary investor of his community football team, Beacon Hill FC.
English (US) ·