Sevana, Jaz Elise, Lila Iké & Naomi Cowan — 1Xtra in Jamaica, 2020

On 8 March 2020, for International Women’s Day, BBC Radio 1Xtra gathered four rising voices of Jamaican reggae — Sevana, Jaz Elise, Lila Iké and Naomi Cowan — for a live session recorded at singer Protoje’s Habitat Studios in Jamaica. The four artists, figures of the “reggae revival” and close to the In.Digg.Nation collective, perform and freestyle over the Rock & Groove Riddim. The capture strings together their own songs — “Peace of Mind,” “Rock & Groove,” “Haul & Pull,” “Sweet Inspiration” — and covers of Jamaican classics by Beres Hammond, Dennis Brown, John Holt and Marcia Griffiths. Backed by a live band, the session spotlights a new generation of women renewing reggae and rocksteady. An ideal live filmed concert for discovering the contemporary Jamaican reggae scene, this 2020 1Xtra performance documents a moment of transmission and sisterhood, between tribute to elders and the assertion of a new wave. A live session as warm as it is committed.