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KINGSTON, Jamaica — What began as a low-key, unmarketed casual gathering for a small circle of connections has grown into one of Jamaica’s most buzzed-about new experiential events, and Seychella Beach Society is gearing up for its highly anticipated second installment on August 15. Drawing inspiration from the globally adored hit reality series *Love Island*, the upcoming edition will carry the playful, immersive theme “The Beach Becomes The Villa”, hosted at the scenic East Beach coastline in St Mary.

The unexpected rise of Seychella Beach Society is a case study in organic viral growth. When the event was first conceptualized in February, its creators never planned for a large public turnout. It was designed exclusively as an invitation-only weekend meetup for brand ambassadors and close friends, with no formal marketing push, no pre-planned long-term business model, and no ambition to become a major seasonal attraction.

But within days of the initial planning, grassroots interest exploded. Word of mouth spread quickly among local event-goers, and social media shares amplified curiosity across Jamaican social circles. What started as an intimate gathering bloomed into a full-scale public experience in less than a week, ultimately drawing more than 1,500 attendees to its debut. That first outing instantly cemented Seychella as one of the most talked-about beach events of the season, catching even its organizers off guard.

“The first staging was never part of some grand, long-term strategy,” explained Jhe’Vonté Webster, chief executive officer of event producer Civica Society. “It was simply about bringing people together to enjoy each other’s company in one of the island’s most beautiful coastal settings. The overwhelming public response told us there was huge demand for something different — something that felt organic, elevated, and rooted in real community connection, not just a generic commercial event.”

Civica Society is no stranger to large-scale Caribbean event success: the team is already behind Scream, the biggest annual Halloween celebration in the region. Buoyed by the unexpected success of Seychella’s debut, the company is now mapping out an ambitious expansion roadmap, with plans to grow the brand into a staple experiential offering by 2026.

For the upcoming August event, attendees can expect a fully immersive *Love Island*-inspired experience that stays true to the vibe that made the first outing a hit. The lineup will include carefully curated themed activations, diverse entertainment options, and lifestyle-focused offerings, all set against the backdrop of St Mary’s unspoiled East Beach.

“Over the years, we’ve built Scream into one of the Caribbean’s premier annual events, and refined every detail of how we deliver large-scale, memorable guest experiences,” said Phillip Morrison, Civica Society’s chief financial officer. “Now we’re focused on growing our events portfolio and creating one-of-a-kind experiences that stand out in the industry. Seychella is our next chapter — it’s an opportunity to build something truly unique that guests can connect with on a genuine level.”

Organizers emphasize that Seychella Beach Society has evolved far beyond a typical beach party. It is positioning itself as a curated lifestyle experience centered on human connection, Jamaican coastal culture, and creating lasting, shareable moments for attendees. Born from a casual hangout among friends, the brand has rapidly emerged as one of Jamaica’s most exciting new experiential entertainment concepts, blending live music, curated fun, and the island’s iconic natural scenery into a one-of-a-kind social gathering.

One of Jamaica’s most buzzed-about contemporary reggae talents has landed a potentially career-changing opportunity, as rising UK independent music powerhouse Lizzy Records announced its first signing from the Caribbean island nation. The deal comes as the Black-owned London label accelerates its push into international markets, placing a big bet on D’Yani to become reggae’s next global breakout star.

The partnership follows a string of early wins for the reggae vocalist, whose hit tracks *Live a Little* and *Little Things* cemented his reputation as a fresh, compelling voice in modern reggae and earned him a growing fanbase across North America and Europe. His latest drop, the single *Journey*, has already racked up strong early engagement ahead of his hotly anticipated full-length album scheduled for release this summer. In just days, the track’s official music video crossed the 100,000 view mark, while it has accumulated thousands of streams across major digital streaming platforms – clear proof of D’Yani’s expanding international pull.

Kareem “Remus” Burrell, the producer at the helm of D’Yani’s upcoming album project, attributes the artist’s early success to his unwavering authenticity. “D’Yani’s authenticity as an artiste has enabled him to connect and speak to fans around the world — and if you combine that with his work ethic, then you get the level of results we’ve seen so far with *Journey*,” Burrell explained.

Executives at Lizzy Records echoed that enthusiasm for the new signing. Demonie “Squidell” Wilson, the label’s head of A&R, called D’Yani an ideal fit for the growing roster. “He’s shown the talent and discipline it takes to get there, which is why he is the perfect addition. Through our partnership, we believe we can elevate his career to the next level,” Wilson said.

Founded and led by veteran music executive Dion “Sincere” Hamilton (also known as Sincere Lizzy), Lizzy Records has quickly emerged as one of the most respected independent forces in the British music industry over the past half-decade. Built on a core mission of nurturing culturally resonant artists while retaining full independent ownership, the label has partnered with ADA (Alternative Distribution Alliance) for global distribution and marketing, giving it access to worldwide infrastructure without sacrificing its creative and operational independence.

That balanced strategy has already delivered standout results for the label. One of its flagship artists, EsDeeKid, has amassed more than one billion global streams across his catalog, establishing him as one of the most successful acts to break out of the UK’s underground rap scene. Its roster also boasts a stacked lineup of critically acclaimed and commercially successful artists, including Fimiguerrero, Rico Ace, Len, Knucks, Scorcher, SINN6R, PayperboyCity, Zaylevelten, yaemulli and Ohmien.

The label’s impact on British independent music was cemented in 2020s with *Conglomerate*, a collaborative album from Fimiguerrero, Len and Cityboymoe that became the first UK underground rap project to break into the Official UK Albums Chart Top 40, falling just short of the Top 20. Industry analysts widely hailed the achievement as a watershed moment for independent Black British music, proving that artists could maintain full artistic authenticity while achieving mainstream commercial success. Beyond the charts, Knucks has sold out headline tours across Europe and North America, expanding the label’s global footprint, while pioneering grime artist Scorcher has solidified its standing as a leader in the UK’s rap and grime movements.

In recent years, Lizzy Records has turned its focus to strategic international expansion beyond the UK’s borders, starting with investments in emerging African talent – Nigerian rising star Zaylevelten has become one of the label’s fastest-growing acts. The signing of D’Yani marks a deliberate next step: building a meaningful presence in the Caribbean, the global home of reggae.

For Hamilton, the D’Yani deal is far more than a single signing; it is a key milestone in the label’s broader vision to evolve from a UK rap imprint to a truly global music company that unites exceptional artists from Britain, Africa and the Caribbean under one independent umbrella. As streaming continues to break down long-standing geographic barriers in the music industry, creating new pathways for international artists to find global audiences, both D’Yani and Lizzy Records stand to gain from the partnership.

The Jamaican artist gains access to the label’s established global marketing network and distribution infrastructure, resources that can help him cut through the crowded competitive landscape, where Caribbean artists must compete for listener attention alongside A-list American pop and hip-hop stars. For Lizzy Records, the signing delivers an authentic foothold in reggae, one of the most culturally influential and commercially enduring music genres in the world.

While the global music market remains fiercely competitive, industry watchers note that the partnership aligns D’Yani’s proven talent and growing fanbase with a label that has a track record of turning emerging talent into global success – making this one of the most exciting signings of 2024 for reggae music.

On May 29, a deeply personal true-crime film that took half a decade to complete finally made its public debut, shining a long-overdue light on one of Toronto’s most heartbreaking 1990s homicides. *Ottey Sisters*, the 110-minute feature centered on the 1995 murders of young Jamaican-Canadian sisters Marsha and Tami Ottey, arrived via U.S.-based pay-per-view platform Theater Giant, bringing a story shaped by personal grief and decades of unresolved trauma to global audiences.

The film’s visionary, Dwight Benjamin — a Los Angeles-based filmmaker born in Jamaica’s Clarendon Parish and raised in Toronto — is no outside observer to this tragedy. At the time of the killings, 14-year-old Benjamin was romantically involved with Tami Ottey, the younger of the two sisters, and had spent years integrating into the Ottey family home. In a raw interview with *Observer Online*, he recalled how single mother Avis Ottey welcomed him like her own son, cooking meals for the pair, driving them to Tami’s football matches, and building a warm, loving home that Benjamin still holds close decades later.

In the summer of 1995, that peaceful life was shattered. Marsha Ottey, 19, three years Tami’s senior, was days away from moving to the United States to take up a competitive track scholarship at the University of Arkansas. When she rejected the persistent advances of her ex-boyfriend Rohan Ranger, Ranger and his cousin Adrian Kinkead drove to the Ottey home and carried out the brutal double killing. It was Avis Ottey, returning home early that day to help her older daughter pack for her move, who made the devastating discovery of her daughters’ bodies.

Today, Benjamin, now in his mid-40s and a formally trained filmmaker educated at the Theater of Arts Hollywood, stepped into multiple roles for the project: he wrote the screenplay, directed the film, and even appears on screen as himself, while actor Tamara Gilmore takes on the role of Tami. Funding the entire $150,000 production out of pocket, Benjamin spent five years shooting the project on location in Los Angeles, all with the full blessing of Avis Ottey — the matriarch of the Ottey family, who Benjamin still speaks to regularly, decades after the tragedy.

For Benjamin, the process of making the film was as much a journey of healing as it was an act of remembrance. “It was difficult to relive that era. That entire time shaped my adulthood. That trauma was real and this movie process helped with dealing with it,” he explained. The pair still grieve together, sharing memories, crying over their loss, and processing the frustration of a justice system that granted Ranger parole in 2022, after he served just 24 years of his sentence. Kinkead, who was convicted of the murders in 1999, remains incarcerated to this day.

More than three decades on, *Ottey Sisters* stands not just as a true-crime drama, but as a tribute to two young women with their whole lives ahead of them, and a testament to the enduring bond between a grieving mother and the boy who once called her family his own.