Frustrated with the little airtime he got at his previous job, Wayne “Shugga Wayne” Watkins decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns and start his own Internet radio station. That entity, Shugga Wayne Rockers Radio, celebrated its first anniversary in May.
The station actually debuted on May 8, 2020 and currently has three hosts. Shugga Wayne hosts “The Rise”, the station’s principal program, from Mondays to Thursdays from 7 am to 10:30 am.
On Sundays, there are gospel-based shows hosted by Memzie and Pastor Natasha.
With “The Rise”, Shugga Wayne gives preference to high-profile artists including Luciano, Buju Banton, Beres Hammond, Tarrus Riley and Chronixx. There is also space for hardcore dancehall, he said, “Once it’s clean.”
The 53 year-old Shugga Wayne is from St. Elizabeth parish in southern Jamaica. After completing a one-year certificate course at Northern Caribbean University in neighboring Manchester parish, he got into broadcasting eight years ago.
He started his career at Bess FM, one of Jamaica’s smaller stations, but soon found out that getting a regular spot was not easy.
“I left because I have a passion for and was not getting the amount of airtime I wanted to showcase my radio talent,” he said.
Wayne “Shugga Roy” Watkins also hosts a weekly afternoon show on Roots FM, a community radio station based in Kingston.
Written By Howard Campbell