King Lagazee, the award-winning radio personality and host of Yaad Settingz on Asaase 99.5 Accra, made reggae history when he won the 2024 Raggae Sound Clash competition in Jamaica.
Lagazee stated that his goal for 2024 is to bridge the cultural gap between Ghana and Jamaica through reggae, dancehall, and sound systems.
“First and foremost big respect to the G.O.D and the entire Asaase Radio team who sent me to Jamaica. Big Up Stampede who put me in the clash at Original Dancehall Thursdays in Half Way Tree. It was always my dream to clash in Jamaica,” Lagazee said.
He paid homage to the likes of Dynamq from South Sudan in Africa, who set the pace as the first African to win a sound clash in Jamaica.
“That inspired me a lot, sound systems like Jammys Super Power, Bass Odyssey, Killamanjaro with the Great Ricky Trooper, Pink Panther and among others inspired me a lot and it was a great feeling to clash in Jamaica,” he said.
The Raggae Sound Clash competition is basically a show to promote love and unity among raggae lovers in Jamaica. There were three sound systems for the competition: Lagazee Sound International from Ghana, Super Gold Sound from the USA and Play Maker from the UK.
“We had 10 minutes of Dubplate rounds each and the second round was a 5-minute minutes Dubplate round and Play Maker Sound was eliminated. So Lagazee Sound Intl and Super Gold Sound went to Dub Fi Dub and Lagazee came on top 4–3 best of 7,” he said.
Lagazee’s victory in a sound clash competition on Jamaican soil marks a historic achievement.
“This win is not a joke thing, I value this win so much. This is a sign of not giving up and pushing hard.”
Lagazee had to the turn the tables after it seemed that he was on the verge of being wiped out in the contest.
“The experience was a bit of a mix feeling, it was like a wicked adrenaline rush, but we held our grounds to do the sound killing…I was down 3 – 0 in the dub fi dub best of 7 and I came from zero to 4 and I won the clash. It was a great experience and I love to do this again. Big up to the team Lagazee sound Int’l members, Selecta Maestro, Jahface and Bob Afrika,” he said.
The reggae-dancehall scene in Ghana has been bubbling and expanding for years.
“The reggae-dancehall scene in Ghana 🇬🇭 is huge, with the likes of shatta wale, Stonebwoy, samini, Ras Kuuku, Epixode, Blakk Rasta, Konkarah JahVybz, Knii Lante, Osagyefo, Kojo Kombolo, Aklerh, Renner etc is making everything run fast and smooth, the only problem is corporate Ghana 🇬🇭 consumes reggae dancehall but is difficult for them to sponsor our event, but i irrespective of that we still do our mid week reggae bashments and so on,” he said.
Lagazee said sound systems in Ghana are flying the flag for the culture.
“Sound systems in Ghana are still pushing the agenda of sound system culture, the likes of Lagazee sound Intl, controlled by King Lagazee, selecta, Jahface and Bob Africa, not getting Nexus Sound system, Fyah Krew Sound Intl, Nature Won Sound Intl, Golden Finger Sound, One Love Africa Sound System, Lifted Selection, Mighty African Sound Intl among others are trying to keep the culture alive. I can tell you on authority that people love the vibes and they always want more,” he said.
