QQ back to touring after hiatus

Dancehall artiste QQ is busy on the road again following his recent return to touring after a hiatus that kept him away from his European and North American fans for years.

The singer is now in New York City following his first tour stop in Virginia Beach last Saturday, after his tour kicked off at the start of April. He is expected to travel to other cities in North America and Europe with a performance earmarked for Jamaica next week at the Kite Festival and Family Fun Day in St Ann on Easter Monday.

"The last time I went on a full-fledged tour was pre-pandemic. If I am to pinpoint an exact date, I would be lying because I am not sure, but I know it was definitely before the pandemic," he said.

"The inability to tour had a significant impact not only on my career but my personal life, and obviously, financially it affected me. I have been in music for such a long time, next year is going to make it 20 years. I have never lived to see a pandemic, this was my first and because of them shutting down the industry significantly, this is probably the first time in my entire life I have experienced what total loss of income in the industry was like," he said.

He said he is ecstatic at being able to tour again though the pandemic forced him to devise other ways to reach his audiences.

"The inability to tour made me have to think outside the box and as such, with social media being the driving force with how our music is distributed, it did become the medium [I used]. I did my lives (live videos) quite often and it felt personal ... it did help to build a bridge between me and the fans," he said.

He said the tour will be predominantly about him, but there are a few dates when other artistes will be featured.

"For example in Sweden there will be an Afrobeats artiste by the name of Dadju, and there are a few other dates where other artistes will be at," he shared.

He will do performances in Miramar, Boston, Free Port and San Diego among other cities. His tour is expected to end on September 2, in Canada.