Yellowman, Johnny Osbourne & Dancehall Legends to Perform at ‘Nice Up Jamaica’ Benefit at Brooklyn Bowl

Pure dancehall royalty will grace the stage of Brooklyn Bowl December 16 for Nice Up Jamaica, a benefit concert helping with hurricane relief in Jamaica. With Jamaican legends Yellowman, Johnny Osbourne and Yaadcore on the bill this night will go down in history as one to remember. Proceeds to support groups offering vital assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa which battered the island in October.

According to a press release from LargeUp Agency, DJs Max Glazer, Ayanna Heaven, JonnyGo Figure, African Violet Roots, Barry Cole and LargeUp’s own DJ Gravy will set the tone for the evening with musical selections; Nick Seale of New York’s Power 105.1 will serve as the evening’s MC.

Tickets can be purchased HERE. 

Direct from Jamaica, the original king of dancehall, Yellowman, returns to Brooklyn for the special headlining set backed by his long-time backing group, the Sagittarius Band. Also slated to perform are dancehall godfather Johnny Osbourne; JA-to-BK legends Screechy Dan and Red Fox; and Jamaica’s own Yaadcore & Di Yaad Man Dem. The duo of saxophonist Anant Pradhan and Jamaican percussion great Larry McDonald will back Johnny Osbourne, also performing a set of their own. 

Proceeds and donations from the event will benefit the American Friends of Jamaica, Rebuild Cockpit Country, World Central Kitchen, and Ghetto Youths Foundation in their relief efforts following Hurricane Melissa, which claimed lives, homes and businesses across much of Jamaica in October, devastating the nation’s economy.

In an effort to give back to the country whose music and people have inspired the world—and our respective missions—LargeUp and Brooklyn Bowl were inspired to join forces and curate a night of music featuring iconic reggae/dancehall voices from Jamaica and New York’s Jamaican community. With the event falling just days before Christmas, Yellowman—who donned a Santa cap on the cover of 1998’s A Very, Very Yellow Christmas, cementing his status as dancehall’s own Father Christmas—emerged as a natural choice to headline, on account of his inspiring story of perseverance through poverty and cancer, and track record of charitable service. 

“LargeUp is a unique platform celebrating Caribbean culture, with an intention to enhance people’s lives with a positive frequency,” said Dave (DJ Gravy) Susser, LargeUp co-founder. “With the island of Jamaica that we all love so dearly in desperate need, all of us who are inspired by it should do what we can to help.”

Read more about the event today on Billboard.com: https://www.billboard.com/music/concerts/yellowman-johnny-osbourne-jamaica-hurricane-benefit-concert-1236129629/ 

If you love Jamaica and reggae/dancehall, this will be a night you won’t want to miss. Donations of bedding, tarps and clothing are encouraged — come help us fill the barrel!

About Yellowman

Born Winston Foster in 1956, Yellowman is the artist responsible for introducing Jamaican dancehall music to an international audience. Coming to fame in the early 1980s with a prolific run of releases that included 1982’s Mister Yellowman album and signature hits “Zungguzungguguzungguzeng” and “Mad Over Me,” Yellowman almost single-handedly created the coarse, sometimes crude and fearlessly direct sound of today’s dancehall music. In 1984, Yellowman signed to Columbia Records, becoming the first Jamaican toaster to release an album with a U.S. major label. That same year he appeared on “Roots, Rap, Reggae” from Run-DMC’s King of Rock, marking the first collaboration between a Jamaican dancehall artist and a U.S.-based rap act. A cancer survivor who has overcome countless obstacles, from poverty and homelessness to bullying due to his albinism to an invasive jaw surgery to remove a malignant tumor that permanently disfigured his face and sidelined his career at the height of his fame, Yellowman is set to celebrate his seventieth birthday in January 2026 in perfect health. He continues to tour year round, delivering high-energy and physically strenuous performances backed by the Sagittarius Band.
Watch “The Yellowman Workout Plan” on LargeUp TV:

About Jonny Osbourne

Few artists in Jamaican music history boast a body of work as revered and influential as Johnny Osbourne. In a career spanning almost six decades, Johnny has traversed the musical changes from reggae to dancehall with ease, earning him the title Dancehall Godfather. Following a decade in Canada, where he performed and recorded with various bands, he made a stunning return to Jamaica in the 1980s, recording the legendary album Truth and Rights for Studio One, and working with producer/label King Jammy on 1980’s Folly Ranking. “Buddy Bye,” his 1985 single on Jammy’s Sleng Teng riddim, is one of the most identifiable dancehall songs of all-time, having been sampled and interpolated by the likes of Arrested Development, Daddy Yankee and Major Lazer. His latest album, Universal Love Showcase, was released on August 29th, 2025 on VP Records. 

About Anant Pradhan Larry McDonald

Recalling the sounds of 1960s and ’70s Jamaica, saxophonist Anant Pradhan revives the traditions of its early innovators alongside one of Jamaica’s greatest percussionists, Larry McDonald. McDonald, a pioneer in his own right at eighty-eight, has over half a century of recording and performing experience, and has collaborated with artists including Gil Scott-Heron, Taj Mahal, and Lee “Scratch” Perry, with whom he toured up until his 2021 passing as a member of Scratch’s longtime backing band Subatomic Sound System. A kindred spirit of McDonald, Anant Pradhan is an official member of the current touring group of the legendary Skatalites. Larry calls him “the steward of our music going forward.” 

About Yaadcore

From game-changing DJ to groundbreaking artist, Yaadcore is one of the most unique and intriguing figures in today’s Jamaican reggae scene. After gaining prominence as the essential selector of the reggae revival movement headlined by acts like Protoje and Chronixx, the Mandeville, Jamaica native has emerged into a powerful and influential artist in his own right. On the heels of breakout singles “Ready Now” and “The Calling,” the now full-time vocalist released his debut album, Reggaeland, in March 2022 through his own 12 Yaad Records. www.yaadcore.com 

About Red Fox + Screechy Dan

Solo artists in their own right as well as frequent collaborators, Jamaica-born Red Fox and Screechy Dan arrived in Brooklyn amidst a massive wave of Caribbean immigration in the early 1980s, and found themselves at the center of a musical movement that would come to redefine reggae. Red Fox released a string of New York dancehall classics, including “Pose Off,” a signature collaboration with his good friend Screechy Dan, before releasing his major-label debut, As A Matter of Fox, on Elektra Records in 1993. He continues to release music and perform worldwide, championing his unique style of music, born in Jamaica and bred in Brooklyn. Known for his unique style, sense of humor and unconventional lyrics, Screechy Dan began his recording career shortly after moving to Brooklyn as a child from Kingston, Jamaica. Coming to renown in the early 90’s as a part of the Ruff Entry Crew, along with Red Fox, Shaggy, and others, he was part of a movement of New York-based dancehall acts who paved the way for a new sound and a new generation of Caribbean artists to be heard. Recent years have found him touring as a member of Subatomic Sound System, the dub outfit known for its work with Lee Scratch Perry.