The 40th staging of Genesis was held on Thursday, January 1, 2026, at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, and it lived up to its ‘praisefest’ theme in every way.
Presented by the Jamaica Youth for Christ, the event saw a large turnout of worshippers as they began the year on the right note with performances from some of the gospel’s best, which included Jermaine Edwards, Kevin Downswell, Prodigal Son, Johnmark Wiggan, and Goddy Goddy.
While the performers had the crowd singing along and sending up praises, Freedom Come Rain just wants to highlight some that caught our eyes.
As far as we are concerned, Jermaine Edwards’ name spells worship, and it was all about that, and no other song did it more than ‘Halleluia’! Of course, his repertoire included many more songs beyond that. He also came with a declaration for the New Year – No Weapon – which he said will not be successful against Jamaica in 2026.
Well, we have not seen Prodigal Son on the local stage in a while, and it was refreshing to see him as he went into an energetic set. The artiste born Calvin Whilby advertised himself to gospel in 1999 with ‘I Wish’, a song that expressed his yearning to see secular artistes embracing what he had. Some of those wishes came through over time, and seeing him in full swing dressed in red pants and shirt engaging the audience with songs such as ‘Jesus Bigger Than What People Say’, among some of his other songs, was refreshing.
It was a heartfelt moment when MC Nadine Blair called him for prayer, with Daniel Dodd doing the honours, highlighting that purpose was still in his life. The tears flowed as the moment was special; it was almost seven years since he last performed on the Genesis stage, and what a performance he gave!
Kevin Downswell delivered as was expected; he had his repertoire of hits to choose from, and the crowd followed wherever he led.
Among the other performers that ministered at Genesis were Prince Saj, Rian Davis, Carey Sayles, Audia Spencer-Brown, and the Genesis Praise Squad.
The evening’s proceedings were guided by MCs Nadine Blair, Dexter Johnson Jnr, and Ella, with musical accompaniment provided by DJ Noi.
