Guyana and Barbados share a special bond, a bond that Pop songstress Rihanna is obviously the living proof of!
Since this little sun-kissed beauty touched the international music scene in 2004, rising to stardom and now being described as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, she has proudly owned her Bajan and Guyanese roots.
This was most recently exhibited on social media over the weekend when Rihanna celebrated her grandfather’s birthday in the sunny island of Barbados where she grew up. The Directors of Hits and Jams Entertainment, Kerwin Bollers and Rawle Ferguson, were pleased to have been invited to the private function which was hosted at the songstress’ mother’s home for relatives and close friends on Sunday, November 03. During their visit, they used the opportunity to speak with Rihanna and her team about a possible concert in Guyana.
Rihanna’s Manager, who is also the Co-Founder and President of Roc Nation, Jay Brown, was also present at the Birthday celebration and discussed with Directors of Hits and Jams Entertainment Rihanna’s interest in performing in Guyana. Brown said that he is very opened to the proposal especially since Rihanna is thrilled to perform here.
It was gratifying to discover that Rihanna and her family are still very much in tune with Guyanese culture and are proud of their heritage. In honour of her grandfather’s birthday, Rihanna posted on Instagram “Happy Birthday Grandfadda Bravo!!!!! You are so special to all of us!!! If it wasn’t for you buying out the whole tray of mangoes from gran gran Dolly that one day you got off your ship in Guyana, and charmed her with that smile laced with a gold cap, NONE of us would be here!! So I’m saying a special thanks to you for having a heart of a lion, my Scorpio Kind, Legend!!! They will never know what it took for you to get us here!! I love you way past unconditional!!! You’re true as steel BRAVO!!!!”
Rihanna’s mother, Monica Braithwaite, took pride in the Guyanese dishes she prepared for the birthday function which included pepperpot and curry. “She said she cooked this curry the real Guyanese style with the Guyanese spices aggi and geera,” Bollers recalled with a smile.
Meanwhile, Rawle spoke about his encounter with the megastar and stated that she struck him as a “very calm, very down to earth and very natural person”.
Rihanna is one of the leading Pop artists with a total of 238 awards from 540 nominations. Apart from awards for her work, Rihanna has also received awards as an artist, including 22 Billboard Music Awards, 17 Barbados Music Awards, six NRJ Music Awards, three MOBO Awards and two BRIT Awards. She was also named the most liked celebrity on Facebook at one point, ranked as one of Forbes Magazine’s top-earning women in music and even third most googled woman!
Earning herself some of the biggest acknowledgements this generation of artists have ever seen, Rihanna definitely lives by a demanding schedule. However, a concert headlined by Rihanna is foreseen in Guyana! “The perfect time has to be set but a performance in Guyana is not too farfetched,” Bollers said.
Hits and Jams Entertainment has worked with international Grammy Award winning artists such as R. Kelly, Rick Ross, Neyo, Trey Songz, Akon and Eve and is in the process of organizing a January 04, 2014 concert with John Legend and Beres Hammond.
Rihanna and her family have not returned to Guyana in several years and are looking forward to returning soon for a huge celebration in the form of a concert with the Guyanese fans.
Hits and Jams Entertainment is very optimistic and excited about the possibility of bringing yet another, and one of our own, back to Guyana! The entertainment giant also believes that this can possibly be the artist’s biggest Caribbean concert since Guyana is located in South America and bordered by countries which are home to a large portion of Rihanna’s fan base! This will therefore result in a large influx of tourists benefitting this sector greatly.