Getting to the heart of the Greatest Reggae Show on Earth

Something to Smile About, by Isaac Hye

Isaac Hye books a trip from Britain to Jamaica for Reggae sumfest and decides to stay with a Jamaican family, rather than at an all-inclusive hotel. His one-month stay with a family in Pleasantown, st ann, is the topic of this hilarious book, a story told with British deadpan humour and a surprising knowledge of culture and history that reveals a tender love of Jamaica and polishes the rough edges of our tropic island into a very shining and unusual “Journey Into the True Heart of Jamaica”.

Meet Ras Kelvin, Deedee, Poochie, their friends Radar, the driver (“always trying to break the land speed record”) and Buzzy —’both of whom seem like real gentlemen… especially to the ladiessssssss” — and several children Mo, Snoop, TJ, Kaddy and Jay, Deedee’s other children. There is Pops, whose welcome gift is a large bag of ganja, and Momma — who is the house’s real authority. “When Momma says ‘Jump’, these kids try to break the Olympic record.”

We travel with Hye and the family on several adventurous and hair-raising journeys speeding on Jamaica’s many ‘bad’ roads, for shopping trips to Ocho Rios, visits to family in St Elizabeth and the doctor in Kingston. There are stops at historic Jamaican birthplaces and moments of National Heroes Alexander Bustamante, Marcus Garvey and Paul Bogle, and a chapter describes a memorable visit to Bob Marley’s Nine Miles birthplace.

Most of all, he meets simple, everyday Jamaicans. “Jamaica, and more importantly its people, were everything I could have possibly hoped for.” He takes the ball at a beachside football game, attends a hilarious cricket match at a country village, enjoys Poochie’s birthday party on Emancipation Day and the drums of a Rastafari celebration of the Emperor’s July 23rd birthday.

All, before finally spending three sleepless nights taking in the music, crowds and amazing sights, sounds and atmosphere of Reggae Sumfest, which he declares is not only the Greatest Reggae Show on Earth, but ‘the greatest show on Earth, period!”

Accredited as a journalist, Hye takes the reader backstage and into the cordoned, exclusive media room, giving a description of the reggae artistes and people who take up residence there for three nights jostling for couch space and interviews with the world’s greatest reggae artistes. He reports on his interviews with them and gives his opinion of their performances, from the scandal-filled dancehall night, to the two nights of roots and regular reggae. It’s a view rarely shared about the engine of Jamaica’s most popular music show. (“Dancehall Night was quite simply the most fantastic spectacle I have ever witnessed.”)

Hye’s farewell from the family who have become part of his life is a summary of all that makes Jamaica such a wonderful country and its people so special. (“Jamaicans smiling and laughing through their tough lives.”) The reader shares his tears because his words describe how great our island is when seen through the eyes of others who understand how far Jamaica has come from a country of enslaved Africans without land or wealth, to a beautiful nation that could be a true Paradise, if only …

This is an unusual story, told with endless laugh-out-loud moments, and worth reading by Jamaicans and visitors alike.