The roar of the iconic lion that empowers the Rototom Sunsplash international reggae festival returns to Benicàssim (Castellón), enveloping the global experience that, beyond the music, marks edition after edition of the event.
Two years of forced silence due to the health situation will now be broken – from 16 to 22 August 2022 – with the 80 artists from 20 countries that make up, and complete, an “incredible line-up for a spectacular edition“, predicts the director of Rototom, Filippo Giunta. The wait has served, he says, not to “betray” either the formula or the philosophy of the event. Nor the expectations of an audience that to date already exceeds 50 nationalities, “which has given us confidence until the time came“. And all of this “to be able to make a festival like Rototom“, Giunta ratifies.
And here, in strictly musical terms, the journey begins. It does so with Burning Spear (Winston Rodney), the Jamaican roots reggae singer par excellence “and who everyone wants to see once in their life”, nourishing a promising roots-tinged stage with his long-awaited return to the stage. Because yes, the line-up goes on (big) with the most mystical roots reggae represented by Spear himself, along with other key figures of the genre such as Luciano, Black Uhuru, The Abyssinians, Max Romeo, Clinton Fearon or Sly Dunbar and The Revolutionaries; but it also branches out towards the contemporary reggae of the Marley’s (Damian ‘Jr. Gong‘ and Julian), Morgan Heritage or Alborosie; including afrobeats led by Davido and a diverse range of music, like the festival itself, where there is no shortage of ska (The Skatalites), dub (O.B.F), dancehall (Sean Paul), hip hop (Mala Rodríguez) or cumbia (La Dame Blanche). There will also be tributes to reggae legends that lost their voices during the pandemic.
The young Jamaican artist, representing the new reggae scene Hempress Sativa; Africa Unite, celebrating its 40th anniversary; the Italian-Madrilenian tandem formed by Mellow Mood ft Emeterians; Morodo, also from Madrid, together with the Okoumé Lions, and the party brought by the Balkan Paradise Orchestra from Barcelona, which will be accompanied by Tribade, Maruja Limón and Travis Birds, will also energize the 2022 edition.
The purely dub scene will also roar, with a touch of roots, on the biggest space dedicated to the genre on the peninsula, powered by hybrid of 24 scoops of Green Light and Watts Attack, with artists such as the British trident Aba Shanti-I, Channel One and Iration Steppas.
In the dancehall, Rototom confirms the benchmarks of this style: the Jamaicans Jazzy T and Freddie Krueger; Seani B and English Fire from the UK, and the Germans Warrior Sound and Jugglerz; together with emerging names such as the Spanish artist Dj Alicia or the Ugandan Ratigan Era. Code Red, winners of the last World Clash, along with the opening to grime and hip hop with the English artist Lady Leshurr; the live classes of a team of international dancers -with the special participation of Irie Queen- and the 20th anniversary of Madrid’s Unity Sound bring it in this incredible musical proposal for the 2022 edition. That of the reunion.