Jamal to headline first Instahype ‘in di city’

Fans are eagerly anticipating a high-energy performance by dancehall artiste Jamal, who's scheduled as the headline act for the annual party, Instahype, that's making its debut in the Corporate Area this Saturday.

"Jamal is the frontrunner who came over into 2025 as the hottest artiste. Suh wi saw him as the person to watch from di year start. Coming off his performance from Freedom Street, Jamal left that stage with the most hype and the most buzz, and he carried that momentum over into this year. So it was a no-brainer, easy decision," Instahype's promoter Dre Hype told with THE STAR.

"The fans are yearning for Jamal because it's not too often people see him in this corporate space, so we're trying to be the ones to bring him to that stage and give the fans that experience. From Maxfield, to Allman Town, Rollington Town, St Andrew - fans every weh mi guh to support other events, right across the board, personally told me that they're really looking forward to see him," he added, noting that surprise guests will be passing through the event.

Changing the venue from Stony Hill, rural St Andrew, making it the first "Insta in di City", adds to the excitement.

"Over the past year and a half the communities of Stony Hill have been on the edge with murders and shootings in and around the community; and that has really crippled the night life in that area. Nobody wanna be a part a dat suh people stay away and I don't want my patrons to come to the community and encounter anything at all," said Dre Hype.

"So to avoid that, I changed the scene and come into di city for the 40th birthday [celebrations]," he added, noting that Instahype has been incident-free. The change of venue was also Dre Hype's response to fans' pleas.

"Persons who consider Stony Hill as far, a beg mi over the years fi please bring it to the flats. Suh dis year, mi a yield to their requests and it's a win-win for everybody," he said. The venue is D'Lux, which Dre Hype called the "most buzzing entertainment spot in the Corporate Area".

"It's my 40th birthday and I haven't received any complaints this year about the venue being too far, so I'm expecting everybody who mi know over the course of the 40 years, to come out suh mi can celebrate mi achievements wid those people. Mi proud a miself too, enuh, and what I've achieved in winning awards and carve out a presence for myself in media and journalism and I don't want it to be a hassle to anybody," said the award-winning journalist whose given name is Andre Williams. His official birthday will be on September 10.

Following a top performance in 2018 from Rygin King, the event has garnered an "instant hype and household name".

"A lot a entertainers normally come to the event just to pass through, but he was the first booked performer. Then after that mi seh mi ago tweak the event a little bit. It did move away from the original name [Dre's Birthday Bash] already and called Instahype, but it needed something more. Suh I said, let us infuse the performance aspect inna it and see how dat work, because after di first year [hosting a live performance] wid Rygin King, the party became a household name inna Stony Hill and its environs," Dre Hype said. He said he decided to "stick to the formula of getting the 'who is who' at the time or during the high point of their careers on Instahype". Since then, the party has featured several other hotshots such as Valiant, Jahvillani, Nhance, Malie Donn and a cameo appearance from Chronic Law.

In addition to the extra flair created by whoever is the headline deejay, the promoter said that the name Instahype is also derived from Instagram, which, around the time of its inception, provided the space for persons to post their fashion pics on Instagram, "which created that instant hype".

"Suh with our party, yuh inna waah hype environment with good music, good food and great vibes...and everybody a come out looking hype because remember seh a straight pon di 'gram yuh gone di next day, enuh, man," he laughed. "Suh wi just start role with the name 'Instahype' and the branding just stick and a work from eva since".