Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2018 | Page 379

Billboard's renowned Pat
Meschino chimed in on Octane's
performance, “I was fortunate to
be at Reggae Sumfest 2010 when
I-Octane made the transition from
opening act to headliner status.
In his prime-time position that
night, he tore down the stage with
a ferocious delivery of reality lyrics
and ever since, he’s been a powerful
force in dancehall. I’ve seen I-Octane
at every Sumfest since: the years he’s
closed the show when others said
he couldn’t do it, he not only proved
them wrong, he set the stage ablaze!
After being benched for inexplicable
reasons in 2017, this year’s
performance was on another level.
Leaping from the stage to deliver
the majority of his set, standing on a
barrel in the middle of an audience exceeding 10,000 patrons, Octane put down furious, adrenaline-
pumping renditions of his hits. Octane recalled his history in the business on “One Chance”, shared
the barrel platform with a peanut vendor in a tribute to the strugglers, “My Story”, and mourned
the rising crime in Sumfest’s home, Montego Bay with “Lose A Friend” in what may be his finest
performance ever and certainly among the very best of Sumfest 2018.”
Overwhelmed and humbled by the reception, I-Octane stated “Last year dem bench and me se
me nah go work Sumfest again, but me and Joe (Joe Bogdanovich) and Skatta (Cordel Burrell)
work it out and we decide fi come back,”. It is a great honor to be getting this award because I
have been putting in the work over the years,” explained the prolific hit maker. “This means a
lot to me.”