By Subhana Shiwmangal
Toronto, Canada-based Guyanese-born artiste and founder of Canadian music company, Reggae Kingdom, Matusala Mannings, recently visited Guyana to promote two concerts, motivate local artistes and provide a platform for them to showcase their talent.
Through the music company co-founded with his friend, Corrina Ottned, he intends to build a company here called, “Reggae Kingdom Tour Guyana” which will include a production studio, a recording studio, a rehearsal studio, and an office in order to structure music properly in Guyana as he feels there is a lot of talent here.
Mannings, who has been in Guyana since August, said that the first Reggae Kingdom concert, “September to Remember” held on September 28 and featuring various local artists such as Alabama and First Born had a poor showing. However, Mannings is optimistic that the second concert, “Reggae Kingdom Second Leg”, billed for the National Park on December 28 will be successful and is calling on the public to attend and support the local artistes who will perform.
“The main purpose of the tour is a mission. We have a mission whereby we want to see… mainly Guyanese talent, because I was born in Guyana, and this is where I am planning to reside from this day on, you know. Reggae Kingdom is a company that has a motto to bring in music from the street to the studio to the world. So, I am here in Guyana to motivate not only myself, but my fellow artiste friends, because I have a lot of artiste friends. I meet one every day. I’m here to motivate them, to let them know that music is not a joke. It’s a serious thing, and I want to motivate them and give them a platform where they can showcase their talent to the world…,” Mannings said.
He related that because reggae is the closest thing to soul music, as it brings people together, and on Reggae Kingdom’s platform, artistes can sing soca, chutney, calypso, jazz, R&B, and rap. He reaffirmed that the platform is non-political and promotes positive music without vulgar or negative content. The main aim of the tour is to bring Guyanese talent to the world and provide opportunities to showcase their skills.
“This is just the Guyana part. So, when we’re going out to Canada, to Jamaica, I want to bring along the graduates of this Guyana tour. The graduate meaning the person that comes out with a certificate from Reggae Kingdom, that says hey, he needs a chance overseas. Or not only that, once their talent is good, because we’re looking for the best to represent the flag of Guyana when we go on tours, like in New York, Canada, Jamaica,” he said.
Mannings, who hails from D’Urban Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown was singing from the age of nine. He is Guyana’s youngest recording artist and began his musical journey to international stardom 20 years ago. Mannings disclosed that the idea for Reggae Kingdom was originally planned with Franklin Hilbert, a well-known promoter in Guyana who passed away recently, and he is carrying forth that vision.
He added that he is currently looking for sponsorship and serious inquiries to help the tour succeed. He mentioned that he chose Guyana because there is a lot of talent here and he would like to guide the younger artiste in a structural way he did not experience as an artist growing up.
“Guyana has so much talent, not only in music, but in sports, in education. So, it’s so vital for me, because I don’t want the younger generation to go through what I went through with music, or what my brother went through with music. So, it’s very vital and important for me that I come and structure and guide with my experience that I have in music. I want to… let Guyana know that music is a natural resource that lasts for a lifetime… It’s not like gold or rice and all these things that come and go. This is for a lifetime because it’s humans, right? We live for a lifetime. Okay, right. So that’s why this means a lot, not only to myself, but for the people that I lost, like Franklin…”
