I am a House Head and have been for decades. Been riding the waves of the Jamaican house music scene for a while from when I could only hear that kind of music when I listened to Fame95FM, caught a Monday night rave by Alric & Boyd, went to a Queer party in the Hills or travelled. Everything was Reggae, Dancehall and Top 40 shit. With that information, you can see that I am a Gen Xer, so I’ve experienced a few waves. Starting in February 2024, I detected and decided to jump into the middle of the current one. This is my very subjective take on things.
Right now, Kingston, Jamaica’s capital of tech, sports, culture, and music, is turning up the bass and stepping deeper into another wave of its decades-long flirtation with House Music. We’re known for giving eight music genres to the world, including the global powerhouses that are reggae, dancehall, plus a sound system culture. But Kingston right now is remixing its legacy by fueling a growing and undeniably sexy House Music renaissance that started right after Covid, so about 3 years ago with a trickle of events, now there is a proverbial rising tide.
Welcome to the Circuit
If you know, you know-and if you don’t, you’re about to find out. The current House Music circuit is led by passionate DJs, expat Promoters/DJs from France and Italy, newbie event promoters, and bold sound rebels who are spinning something fresh for Kingston’s ears.
The circuit is alive with:
- Sankofa Sessions by revered DJ Iset Sankofa, celebrated 10 years in the space, is on a seasonal break
- Holy Rave by DJ Rio is a 3-year-old EDM Festival that happens a couple of times a year.
- IndiHouse by French expat DJ Afropete is celebrating 3 years here.
- Electric Bangaz’ Music Festival series is just under 2 years old and also now curates the weekly Sunday House at TacBar, Devon House. Curated by entrepreneur and promoter Wendel.
- Euphoric was on Sundays at the Terra Nova Hotel with promoters DJ Lytes & DJ Lava of HeadBopHerz and is on a seasonal break.
- Only Friends is from Steve Urchin ( Sean Paul’s Road Manager) & DJ Pietro, a former Marketing Director of J.Wray and Nephew have had 3 pop-up parties and are now on a seasonal break.
- SunSum is a Sunday-only sunset soiree that popped up two years ago with pop-ups… took a long break, and is now back for a Summer Series. It is produced by Leighton, a geeky House Head.
- Reset and Spectral Rave by the audacious DJ SolarPunk and his business partners, Nicollette, who owns The Community Center.
- Electric Nights have been set up for the last Saturdays of this summer at an open-air location in Jack’s Hill, and House Music by the Beach is a pop-up at Wicki Wackie Beach Bar. Both done by French DJ Sherkhan
- Mystic Thai Fridays, smack in the middle of the city, has been a weekly Dine & Vibes staple for a year now and is curated by newbie DJ Pietro.
- And now Alric & Boyd, the OGs, are returning with a weekly Saturday series at Mingles Bar & Lounge for the summer, starting this July 5. Coming to shake up and elevate the scene for sure.
The Vibe is Real. But the Scene is Still Raw.
I’ve been to 90% of those House Music events over the last 18 months at least twice, mostly as a House Head seeking fresh highs but also as a seasoned event producer with 300+ tech events under my belt.
Despite the magic on the dancefloor ( please keep those damn bistro tables off the dancefloor), production quality varies, and marketing muscle is weak. Many promoters are still sleeping on Email and SMS communities, missing out on building loyalty and repeat attendees, thinking that their social media audience is their actual community. There’s little cultural storytelling to connect Jamaican/Caribbean House heads with the global Electronic Dance Music (EDM) industry is currently valued at US$12.9 billion, according to the IMS Business Report 2025, and sponsorships? Practically untapped. There’s talent. There’s taste. There’s thirst. But there’s still work to do to elevate the scene from underground buzz to festival-worthy boom. But it can be done.
The Summer House Music Circuit is ON
The Kingston Summer 2025 House Music calendar is vibing hard:
- Fridays: Mystic Thai Dine & Vibes still brings the groove curated by DJ Pietro.
- Saturdays: Alric & Boyd’s series at Mingles Bar at The Courtleigh Hotel kicks off July 5
- Monthly Last Saturdays: Electric Nights at Jack’s Hill by DJ Sherakhan
- Sundays: Sunday House at TacBar curated by Elektric Bangaz promoter Wendel
- Sundays: the return of SunSum Sunday House Sessions in Jack’s Hill by promoter Leighton.
- Special: Holy Rave EDM Festival by DJ Rio on July 26th
- Special: Spectral Rave at Fort Rocky this Saturday, June 28th, and Elektric Bangaz EDM Festival coming up in November
- Anniversaries: InDaHouse turns 3 at Eits Cafe.
- Sankofa Sessions: A not-so-subtle message to DJ Iset Sankofa to pop up with Queens of the Deck like she did last year.
Meet the Selectors Currently Shaping the Scene
🎧 The OGs
- Alric & Boyd – Vibe architects and masters of immersive Sound Experience. Jah Know. They know how tf to string up a sound so clear, bass-forward that just makes you…whew chile!
- DJ Iset Sankofa – Revered Culture Keeper with a music knowledge that runs deep.
- HeadBopHerz (DJ Lytes & DJ Lava) – Dancefloor alchemists. This Jamaican/Canadian duo is one part radio DJ with a heavy travel and spin roster and one part DJ, steeped in genre knowledge, a respected mix audio engineer. Watch out for them. And yeah, I am biased.
- DJ Flutesgroove (Negril) – Earthy and electric.
🌍 The Expats
- DJ Afropete – A mosaic of house sounds
- DJ Sherkhan – Tech House Driva
- DJ Pietro – Curator of the Dine & Vibes event at Mystic Thai.
- DJ HotLipz– the British woman who’s been on the scene for years
- DJ SippinT – the Brit who brings fresh Tribal House Beats to Jamaica
🔥 Fresh Blood on the Scene
- DJ Zorubah – Student of DJ Iset Sankofa, who has come into her own. Her personal brand tun’ up as the cute, dreadlocked girl with the tambourine who spins AfroHouse and still moonlights for the Rock Music Space.
- DJ Anash – building her Blen Up Brand that’s more biased to Amapiano and Afrobeats
- DJ Vicky Analog -quietly between Jamaica and New York
- DJ Powa – Open format DJ with a love for the genre. The surprise remix stullah.
- DJ fyahstartah- Love dis ting bad
- DJ Yopelps- I’ve been loving how he drops New Wave Reggae on House tracks.
- DJ Solarpunk – loves shaking shit up with House, Techno and Dubstep
✨ Newbies & Hobbyists
- DJ Tyler, son of an entertainment mogul, Ribbiz. Open format DJ who serves up the Top 40 House Music and is making a name for himself.
- DJ Gabby
- DJ Jus.
Why Kingston Needs House Music
While the male OGs like Vybz Kartel, Buju Banton, Bounty Killa, Beenie Man continue to reclaim dancehall from that forgettable phase of whatever that music was…we all need to dance more. To feel free. To feel sexy, elevated, and connected. Plus it’s Summer dammit.
And, if we are to believe those IG memes that claim House Music slows aging, makes you feel good, we need everyone to step up their game and grow for the good of us all.
And, even as reggae and dancehall, and dub are in our Jamaican bones, House Music offers a parallel universe of energy and sonic exploration. It’s music for the soul and the soles, and it’s tapping into something deeply Jamaican, Caribbean, experimental, exciting, and globally cool.
In the words of a legendary curator: “Why would you not want good music to be appreciated by as wide an audience as possible?”
The Future is Wide Open, and there’s money in it too.
Now it’s great to have passion at the start, but it’s money and the right partnerships that fuel growth.
The global electronic music market is set to hit US$24.5B by 2032. North America is leading the growth, but Jamaica is a global cultural superpower, we are also trendsetters and wave riders. Let’s maybe make our own unique sound and make a bunch of money too?
In my humble opinion, for this wave to crest, Kingston’s House scene needs:
- Better production value
- Smarter marketing strategy
- Deeper community building
- More storytelling & media coverage
- Brands and sponsors who want to tap into Jamaican/Caribbean cool meet global culture
- Intentionally send some killer remixes and original sounds out into the world for crying out loud.
And speaking of the Soundscape of the Scene.
What I hear most on the scene is AfroHouse, TechHouse, Deep House, Melodic House, and unfortunately, yeah I said it, that shit called Tropical House, which is not from us here in Jamaica. What I would love to hear more of, SocaHouse, dropped on the scene by DJ Rio, DanceHall House, and New Wave Reggae House, mixed masterfully by DJ YoPelps, DJ Lytes, and DJ Powa, who have brought Half Pint, Vybz Kartel and Lila Ike’s music especially to the House Music Scene.
Open Invitation to International DJs?
I am pretty excited to see how this Jamaican Summer of House Music unfolds and which brands will offer the best experiences, build a community and a business that transcends the underground flirtation vibe, so we become a natural magnet for a larger Jamaican, Caribbean event audiences and of course attract some of THEE best – Black Coffee, Shimza, Carl Cox, Da Capo, Caiiro, Honey Dijon, Uncle Waffles, and Thandi Draai to our shores.
So who’s going to cover the scene? Imma give it a go, as much as I can.
Who’s going to build it? You all are, of course.
Because Kingston, Jamaica, is calling.
And House Music is home now. I believe.
UPDATE
This article is about to get longer and rightfully so. As it got around…alot of information about the history of House/EDM in Jamaica came at me like a hose. Thanks, DJ RedSelector, who came with jogging my memory and dropping DJ names, events, and pieces of timelines that stretched back 20 years. Grateful for this, as I believe the more we know about the waves of the scene, the better for us. So I pulled all that he sent me and decided to add it as a list, and still, I know some people and things will not be mentioned in this, simply because I don’t know. And if I did, email me:at ingrid@gridnetevents.com
So here goes.
DJs / Selectors / Crews (House & House-Adjacent Influencers in Jamaica)
- DJ Archie – An OG to di bone, especially known for sets at Red Bones Café. I remember those
- David Muir – Founding member of Ambassadors, early vinyl collector and selector
- DJ Redselecter – Known for producing one of the few local House tracks to gain popularity
- Shane “Fyahstarter”
- DJBreach – Co-founder of Housing Project
- DJ Charles Lazarus – Key underground player
- DJ Kwame – Deeply embedded in the early-to-mid 2000s scene
- DJ Elmo – Known from the Housing Project era
- DJ Pieter – Longtime contributor to the underground scene
- DJ Engineroom
- David Marston
- Kamal Bankay – While open format, he’s been a vocal ambassador for the House genre
- DJ Stereo Massive – Part of a progression of influential crews in the 2000s
Events / Parties / Projects (House Music Scene in Jamaica)
- Smoking Jacket – Long-running party series at Carlos Café
- CHR’s Parties – Held at Tony’s Bar, pivotal to the mid-2000s house scene
- Devon House Pub Events – Popular uptown venue for early House gatherings
- The Deck at Fiction – Early Wednesday nights were crucial to the scene’s energy
- Longboarder Parties – Outdoor vibes in St. Thomas.
- Housing Project
- Cloudwatching at Holywell – Iconic outdoor listening sessions in the Blue Mountains
- Moving Mountains Festival – Curated by Kevin Bourke at Strawberry Hill, featured Ibiza DJs
- Tmrw Tday Festival – Held in Negril, hosted global names like Soul Clap, Dubfire
- Major Lazer in Kingston -Marked the shift toward EDM influence and the mainstreaming of electronic music locally
Frankly, maybe a mini-documentary is needed.
