The legendary David Rodigan arranged a studio session for BBC 1Xtra in Jamaica earlier this year featuring some very prominent female reggae artistes. Either serendipitously or strategically, the videos from the session were released just in time for International Women’s Day. The “Sista Session” as it was dubbed, featured some very soulful performances from singers both new and old. In my opinion, former dancehall queen Nadine Sutherland stole the show here with a rootsy tune called “Inna My Blood”. She’s definitely still got it!
Another big surprise was this mesmerizing performance by Tanya Stephens. I’ve always thought of her as more of a singer, but she chants down babylon in this track like a seasoned deejay.
My favorite female reggae singer at the moment is Jah9, who has been featured many times here on TickuTalk. She is no stranger to BBC 1Xtra studio sessions, and not to be outdone, she knocks this tune, called “Humble Me”, out of the park as well.
Queen Ifrica is the artist that I’m least familiar with out of this bunch. She is one of those artists where I’m sure I’ve heard some of her songs before, I just probably never put two and two together and connected her name with those tunes. The song is more of a slow jam than a reggae tune, so it’s not quite my cup of tea. She does have a nice voice though, and I will probably use this as a reminder to look up some of her other tracks.