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THE curtains will finally come down for good on the musical magic of George ‘Fiji’ Veikoso when he is laid to rest today in his village of Buretu in Nakelo, Tailevu.
The event will also bring to a close a brief, shining chapter in the annals of Fijian — and indeed Pasifika — music, arts, culture and heritage in final salutation to a performer whose voice was — and is — a booming rallying anthem for Pacific people all over the globe.
From the early days of the mindless madness of the streets of Raiwaqa and the angry, often misguided political ideology of its resident reggae ensemble Rootstrata, Fiji moved to Hawaii in 1987, the year the uniform of brutality stormed into Parliament and scarred the national political landscape forever.
There, he set up shop and conquered everything musical, right up to his Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album in 2002 for his collaboration on the Island Warriors compilation album.
By then he was well established as FIJI. In acknowledgement of his indigenous and hometown roots, he told the Honolulu Star Tribune: “I put the name Fiji on me just to show that Fijians are definitely a very positive force in the Pacific.”
Wielding a vocal range that allowed him to shuffle easily without breaking a sweat between a warm, earthy tenor and an ear-piercing falsetto in a nanosecond, Fiji — or Pojee as he was known back then — fused R&B, jazz, soul, gospel and Poly and island reggae into a sound that became uniquely his own.
It was a catchy, instantly infectious sound, gift-wrapped in harmonies that were as tight as they were breathtakingly sweet, earning him the respect of such reggae royalty as UB40 and catapulting him to stardom, even, in some quarters, to demi-godly status.
The social media domain lays testimony to this.
At the news of his passing, social media was inundated with tributes, sadness and tears, a little akin to that iconic, goosebumps moment when, in 1978, Robert Nesta ‘Bob’ Marley raised the joined hands of Jamaica’s two opposing party leaders, Prime Minister Michael Manley and opposition leader Edward Seaga, in a powerful show of solidarity against the political turbulence wrecking the island nation then.
Right across the Pacific region and the reggae world, Fiji’s sound drew numerous industry accolades for the singer-songwriter, musician, producer, occasional actor and mentor — the Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Male Vocalist of the year and Favourite Entertainer of the year and the People’s Choice Award.
He also co-wrote and sang Let Me Be the One for the TV show, Baywatch, and acted in the 2002 surfer film Blue Crush. He produced and released many albums during his career, including Evolution, Born and Raised and Gratitude. One of his all-time and most popular songs is Lia.
In 2014, he was awarded the Best Pacific International Artist Award at the Pacific Music Awards. Four years later he won the Pacific Music Awards, Manukau Institute of Technology Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades-long contribution to the Polynesian reggae scene.
In 2023, Fiji’s catalogue surpassed more than half a billion streams on digital streaming platforms.
Last year, Fiji came home, in September, do you remember? Unbeknownst to one and all, that homecoming was to be for good.
Strapped into a wheelchair and leading the charge in a two-night show that featured the Pacific’s finest — J Boog, Maoli and Josh Tatofi — Fiji totally owned Nadi’s Prince Charles Park in an act that will be difficult to emulate.
Today, the faithful gather at the Vodafone Arena to bid farewell to an icon who shaped their view — and sound — of the world. Then it will be on to Buretu for the burial.
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