分类： entertainment

As the global music landscape continues to evolve, small nations across the world are redefining their cultural sonic identity by blending time-honored traditions with cutting-edge contemporary styles. In Belize, a groundbreaking new concert tour called Rising Riddims is doing exactly that, answering a long-simmering question: what does the future of homegrown Belizean music sound like?

Scheduled across five of Belize’s most populous communities through September 2026, the free tour has already drawn enthusiastic crowds in San Ignacio and Dangriga, with the third stop set for Orange Walk on the evening of September 18, and a closing finale planned for Belize City on September 20. Organized under the National Institute of Culture and History’s (NICH) Belize Music Project, the tour showcases a roster of some of Belize’s most exciting emerging talent: indie singer Viv, powerhouse vocalist Mocha, rappers TY Rome and Vince the Prince, among other contributing artists.

At its core, the Rising Riddims project is built on a clear creative mission: to honor Belize’s rich musical heritage rather than abandon it, crafting an original, modern sound that is still unmistakeably rooted in Belizean identity. Deron Thompson, producer with the Belize Sound Syndicate and lead creative behind the tour, explains that the team has developed two distinct new subgenres for the project, both adapted from classic Belizean styles. The first, Expunta, fuses traditional punta rhythms with experimental elements drawn from house music and alternative genres. The second, Boom and Chill, reworks the beloved traditional boom-and-chime sound for 21st century audiences. “We kept the core instrumentation that defines these traditional styles,” Thompson notes, explaining that the team recorded samples using original instruments including the ding-a-ling, jaw bone percussion, and a historic boom drum crafted by renowned maker Mr. Peters. Over these traditional foundations, they layer modern chord progressions, drawing influence from dancehall, reggaeton, and other global popular genres to create a sound that feels both familiar and new.

Seth Cambranes, an artist also known professionally as Flayed Lotus, highlights the range of talent featured on the tour. From San Pedro-based indie rock rising star Viv, who has already built a loyal regional fanbase, to Mocha, whose dynamic, powerful vocal delivery has wowed early crowds, the lineup spans multiple genres. When working with TY Rome and Vince the Prince, Cambranes explains, the team was able to rework the artists’ original tracks with custom boom-and-chime and punta edits, weaving traditional Belizean elements into their already well-crafted work to deepen its cultural roots.

Kristopher Arnold, a recording and mastering engineer with Belize Sound Syndicate, says the project’s potential is what has kept him invested from the start. “This isn’t just a one-off tour,” Arnold explains. “I truly see this music taking Belize’s entire music industry to the next level. It has the potential to establish a completely new, globally recognizable genre that puts Belizean culture on the international map.”

For music fans across Belize, entry to all remaining shows is completely free. The Orange Walk performance kicks off at 7 p.m. local time at the Banquitas House of Culture, followed by the Belize City closing show at the city’s House of Culture the next evening. The project represents a growing movement across small cultural communities to preserve heritage while nurturing the creativity of young artists, ensuring traditional culture continues to evolve and resonate with new audiences.

As local creators push to reimagine Belize’s rich musical heritage for a new generation, the innovative *Rising Riddims* project is bringing its genre-bending fusion sounds to audiences across two major Belizean cities this weekend. What began as a collaborative experiment back in May 2025 is now ready for public showcase, with two consecutive nights of free live performances that celebrate the evolution of Belizean rhythm.

The project kicks off on the evening of September 18 at Orange Walk’s Banquitas House of Culture, running from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The collective will then travel south to Belize City’s House of Culture for a second show on September 19, held during the same evening hours. Entry to both performances is completely free, designed to make the new experimental work accessible to as many local listeners as possible.

Helmed by producer Deron Thompson of the Belize Sound Syndicate, *Rising Riddims* centers on a core creative mission: blending time-honored Belizean musical traditions with contemporary global genres to craft entirely new, distinct sounds. Thompson describes the work as intentionally experimental, with the collective already developing two fully realized original styles under the project umbrella: xPunta and Boom & Chill.

Breaking down the xPunta sound, Thompson explains the genre layers driving four-on-the-floor house music beats and edgy alternative production over the backbone of traditional punta rhythm. For Boom & Chill, the team draws inspiration from the local Boom & Chime style, integrating iconic traditional instruments—including the percussive jawbone and boom drum—with modern harmonic progressions that resonate with contemporary listeners. Thompson notes the resulting sound carries a laid-back dancehall energy that also accommodates reggaeton flows, resulting in something that cannot be mistaken for any existing genre.

Artist Seth Cambranes, who performs under the stage name Flayed Lotus, emphasizes that the project prioritizes collaboration between creators from every region of Belize. The performance lineup for the weekend showcases this wide-ranging collaborative spirit, featuring Flayed Lotus alongside a diverse roster of local talent including Xhaba, Bad Bwau, Mocha, Stina, Viv and more.

For Cambranes, the project’s creative approach is rooted in respect for Belize’s existing musical identity, rather than attempts to overhaul it. “A lot of our music is very rhythm-based,” he explained. “We’re not removing anything, we’re just adding to it. We’re only adding to the rhythms that we have.”

DJ and producer Kristopher Arnold, another core member of the collective, says the project does more than create new music—it opens a path for Belizean sounds to connect with younger audiences and grow beyond the country’s current local industry. Arnold says he holds a clear long-term vision for the movement: “I personally see a vision of this music going places, taking Belize’s music industry a little bit further than it is at the moment.” Beyond just creating new genre labels, Arnold says the fusion approach injects fresh, youthful energy into traditional Belizean sounds that can resonate with listeners both at home and abroad.

For Thompson, *Rising Riddims* is more than just a series of performances—it is part of a broader push to nurture original creativity across Belize’s music scene. The end goal, he says, is to cultivate a truly distinct Belizean fusion sound that gives local creators the platform to share their work with global audiences far outside the country’s borders.

A major controversy has engulfed Ed Sheeran’s ongoing international tour, after the removal of supporting act Macklemore for his public pro-Palestine advocacy prompted every remaining opening performer to quit in solidarity, throwing the North American leg of the tour into chaos.

The dispute began after rapper Macklemore, best known for his 2012 hit *Thrift Shop*, spoke out in support of Palestinian rights during an early tour stop in New Jersey. The 43-year-old artist has been a vocal advocate for Palestine since Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the October 7 2023 attacks.

On Monday, Robert Kraft, owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, announced he would block Macklemore from performing at the venue later that month. Shortly after the announcement, Macklemore confirmed he had been dropped from all remaining US tour dates supporting Sheeran. The rapper directly blamed Kraft for the move, claiming the prominent pro-Israel donor pressured other stadium owners to issue an ultimatum to Sheeran and tour organizers: remove Macklemore, or the entire show would be canceled.

Kraft, who previously cut institutional funding to Columbia University over the school’s response to on-campus Gaza protests, confirmed he supported the cancellation but has not directly addressed Macklemore’s accusation of coordinated pressure across venues.

Sheeran moved quickly to distance himself from the decision, writing in a public Instagram statement that removing Macklemore was a choice made by the tour’s promoter, not the headlining artist. He added that venue operators had explicitly threatened to cancel the entire remaining shows if Macklemore remained on the lineup. The singer told Macklemore that the phrases “Free Palestine” and displays of the Palestinian flag had been described as hurtful to people he had consulted.

In response, Macklemore countered that framing these expressions of solidarity as more offensive than the death of more than 70,000 people in Gaza — a majority of whom are women and children — represented a fundamental moral disconnect. The rapper kept the focus of his public remarks on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, rather than his own removal from the tour.

The backlash to Macklemore’s ousting spread almost immediately. All four remaining opening acts — producer and songwriter Finneas, singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, Irish folk band Beoga, and Danish pop group Lukas Graham — announced they were withdrawing from the tour in solidarity. Finneas shared his position publicly on Instagram, writing: “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed. I stand with Palestine and its people.”

The incident has sparked broader debate over freedom of expression in the entertainment industry, particularly around discourse related to the Israel-Gaza conflict. Legal experts note that private venue owners hold the legal right to select which performers may appear on their property. However, Lee Rowland, a representative of the National Coalition Against Censorship, called the episode a visible symptom of a growing, systemic problem of chilling speech around the conflict.

Macklemore has received widespread public support from a range of high-profile figures since his removal, including U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal, both prominent progressive critics of Israeli policy in Gaza, and fellow musicians Zara Larsson and PinkPantheress.