{"id":5720,"date":"2025-04-16T14:39:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T14:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/16\/reggae-sumfest-boss-joe-bogdanovich-confirms-vybz-kartel-for-reggae-sumfest-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-04-16T14:39:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T14:39:35","slug":"reggae-sumfest-boss-joe-bogdanovich-confirms-vybz-kartel-for-reggae-sumfest-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/16\/reggae-sumfest-boss-joe-bogdanovich-confirms-vybz-kartel-for-reggae-sumfest-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Reggae Sumfest Boss Joe Bogdanovich confirms Vybz Kartel for Reggae Sumfest 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reggae Sumfest CEO Josef \u201cJoe\u201d Bogdanovich on Sunday, April 13, confirmed iconic Dancehall King Vybz Kartel<\/a> for Reggae Sumfest 2025.<\/p>\n

Bogdanovich flew in from Kingston, Jamaica last weekend to watch Kartel deliver back-to-back sold-out performances, on Friday and Saturday, at the 19,000-seat Barclays Center, downtown Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

While in Brooklyn, the Downsound Entertainment boss also took time to speak with Caribbean Life<\/strong> about the upcoming 34th edition of Reggae Sumfest, scheduled for Jul. 13\u201319, 2025, at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex in Montego Bay, Jamaica.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe countdown is now on,\u201d he said, promising \u201can unforgettable showcase of Jamaican music\u201d and adding that Vybz Kartel will headline the 2025 staging of the festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Kartel) will be on stage for about an hour, and it will be a tight set,\u201d Bogdanovich said. \u201cHe does things differently every time. Hopefully, it\u2019ll be a different set list\u2014which I believe it will be.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not an AI guy; he\u2019s a real guy,\u201d he added. \u201cThe sky continues to be the limit for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joining Kartel on the star-studded lineup on Friday night, Bogdanovich disclosed will be Masicka, Tommy Lee Sparta, Govana, Skeng, D’Yani, Laden, Shaneil Muir, and Jah Fabio, while Saturday will feature Sizzla Kalonji, Tarrus Riley, Protoje, Shenseea, Lala Ike, Fantan Mojah, I-Wayne, Pressure and Bugle.<\/p>\n

When speaking about the high production standards for Reggae Sumfest, Bogdanovich said, \u201cI think our track record speaks for itself. We\u2019ve done a lot of shows, especially with Reggae Sumfest being 34 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve certainly raised the level of Sumfest as an international festival,\u201d he added. \u201cWe aim to compete with the best in the world while lifting reggae and dancehall music to the level of global respect it deserves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do things on time. We do the production right. We get the communication with the artist right to understand that you have to raise your game and be more responsible,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

Bogdanovich praised Kartel’s \u201craw and emotional\u201d performance Friday night, telling Caribbean Life<\/strong> it was a powerful showcase of the artist\u2019s growth and talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great celebration…It was him [Kartel] in a raw kind of way,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was emotional. He gave it to them in a way that was natural.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe enjoyed himself, and I thought he gave a very good performance,\u201d Bogdanovich added. \u201cHe was emotional and gave it to them in a way that was natural. I thought it was well done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bogdanovich continued to shower praise on Kartel’s historic performance – 20 years after he last visited New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is just one of those gifted entertainers who is right up there with the best in the world, as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s thinking a lot differently than he used to\u2014he\u2019s gracious, thankful, and it\u2019s good to see that type of openness that he never had before.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is growing, making the right decisions, and developing in a very nice way,\u201d Bogdanovich added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reggae Sumfest CEO Josef \u201cJoe\u201d Bogdanovich on Sunday, April 13, confirmed iconic Dancehall King Vybz Kartel for Reggae Sumfest 2025. Bogdanovich flew in from Kingston, Jamaica last weekend to watch Kartel deliver back-to-back sold-out performances, on Friday and Saturday, at the 19,000-seat Barclays Center, downtown Brooklyn. While in Brooklyn, the Downsound Entertainment boss also took […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}