Having enjoyed 20 years in the spotlight for his hip-hop-inspired reggae beats – and as a leading figure of the ‘reggae revival’ of the 2010s – Protoje is set to own the stage for one night only at WOMADelaide 2025.
Performing on Sunday, 9 March, in a 7:15pm slot on the central Foundation Stage, Protoje and his band The Indiggnation are bringing Australian audiences a fresh blend of soul, jazz and hip-hop to this year’s WOMAD festival in Adelaide.
Protoje’s musical inspirations began with his parents. Born in Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica (birthplace, also, of Olympic Gold medal-winning javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson) to Breakfast in Bed singer Lorna Bennett and calypso singer Mike Ollivierre, it can be said the reggae revivalist has music in his blood.
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In the two decades since first achieving mainstream attention with the 2005 release of his mixtape Lyrical Overdose, Volume 1, seven studio albums have followed, as well as numerous further mixtapes and countless collaborations with headline artists such as Alicia Keys, Jorja Smith and Wiz Kalifa.
Ahead of his set at WOMADelaide, he expresses excitement not only for his first gig in Australia but for his first time in the country, period.
“I don’t know much,” he confesses, “what to expect from the live music scene and such. I like to keep my heart and mind open to new experiences, so I’m just looking forward to going there and learning about everything that’s happening there and being a part of it.”
The chance to perform with an institution such as WOMAD was also of strong appeal to Protoje, one that he considers a great opportunity to share his art with a different culture on a new continent.
“I’ve always wanted to head to that part of the world to play music,” he says. “When you can celebrate culture and art, it’s always a great thing to be a part of.”
It was in the mid-2010s that Protoje earned further mainstream notice, this time as a poster boy for the so-called ‘reggae revival’ movement, popularising catchy melodies and lyrics driven by cultural teachings and customs from within Jamaica.
His 2014 track Who Knows, featuring fellow Jamaican reggae artist Chronixx, has accrued more than 220m views on YouTube since its release and cemented its status as the go-to party anthem for every sound system in Jamaica.
Protoje’s rise toward the mainstream has seen him perform everywhere from NPR Music’s famous Tiny Desk concert series to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as well as every major festival from Coachella to Glastonbury.
Two GRAMMY nominations for Best Reggae Album followed in 2018 and 2022, respectively, for A Matter of Time and Third Time’s the Charm. Protoje remains characteristically humble when asked about his impact on the reggae revitalisation of which he has been a major proponent.
“Every generation has their own thing,” he ponders. “I guess re-energising reggae to young people and that whole energy that comes along with it… it’s a vibe. I don’t worry about it too much, I just think it’s great when people have interests in it. I’m always grateful to be at the forefront of bringing that energy.”
Looking back on his ascendant rise into mainstream music culture in recent years, there are many key collaborations that have informed his development as an artist.
“I’ve worked with so many great, gifted artists – it’s really rough,” he says, trying to pinpoint just one artist who has left the largest impression. “I guess Chronixx – we have three songs together, Who Knows being a major one for us both. Just seeing him work from when he was, like, 20 years old, 19 years old, was always inspiring… How he comes up with what he comes up with.”
Ahead of his performance at WOMADelaide, he wants audiences to understand how seriously reggae is taken now as an art form and how much he is anticipating his set.
“The energy, the messaging, the whole art that reggae music has… Just looking forward to bringing that to WOMAD, to experience that. It’s just vibes; we’re gonna be having so much fun onstage and it usually spreads to the audience, so I’m looking forward to that.”
To get tickets to see Protoje $ The Indiggnation at WOMADelaide on March 9, head here.
