Eight overseas Jamaican singers chase US$8,000 at JIIFSC final in Georgia

Eight Jamaican performers living abroad will battle for a US$8,000 first prize when the sixth Jamaica International Independence Foreign Song Competition (JIIFSC) crowns its champion on July 25 in Snellville, Georgia.

Contest founder Dr Garfield McCook told Observer Online that this year’s finalists mark the widest geographic spread since the competition launched in 2021. “Our diaspora reach is expanding based on those in the finals. We have a finalist from Italy, three from Canada, one from Georgia, one from Pennsylvania, one from Florida, and one from Detroit,” he said.

Titleholder Lee “Priest” Johnson returns for Georgia with One Of A Kind, after taking the 2025 crown with Jamaica ina mi Blood. Florida’s entry is D Mack with Jamaica is The Place. Canada fields three acts: Ammoye’s A Yard featuring Lord Sassafrass, Derrick Watson’s All Jamaicans, and Tyson Knight’s Jamaica Is A Woman.

Rounding out the lineup are Detroit’s Clement Gordon with Granny, Pennsylvania’s Peter Positive with Love mi Yard, and Italy’s Richardo “Bringle Faya” Amos with Woii.

According to McCook, second place carries US$4,000 and third place US$1,000. The JIIFSC follows the model of Jamaica’s Festival Song Competition, which marks 60 years this year and also holds its final on July 25. Toronto-based Lavie Lujah claimed the first JIIFSC title with Certified Yardie.