Welcome to
Oneness in Progress.
Loading
Enter the Arena.
The official rulebook for Echoes of Dub by Bekelé. Eligibility. Areas. Submission guidelines. Judging criteria. Awards. Rules. Read it before you enter.
"Dub poetry is not performance. It is position. It is the Jamaican voice refusing to be quiet."
Echoes of Dub by Bekelé is a national dub poetry competition dedicated entirely to one of Jamaica's most powerful and most under-celebrated art forms. It is the first competition of its kind to bring together basic school students, primary students, secondary students, tertiary students, and the general public on a single, unified, all-digital national platform.
The competition exists to recognise excellence, build a permanent living archive of Jamaican dub poetry in practice, and give every voice a stage worthy of the work.
The competition is organised into six Areas. Entries compete within their own Area. Area winners feed into the overall competition awards.
Solo entries: One performer. Open to all Areas.
Group entries: Two or more performers. Group entries within school Areas are scored separately from solo performances within the same Area.
Schools and Open Arena entrants can submit unlimited pieces. The first three pieces are covered by the $2,500 JMD registration fee. Each additional piece is $1,000 JMD.
Format: Video files in MP4 format. Phone cameras are acceptable.
Delivery: Submit via Google Drive link (download access enabled) or direct upload through the entry form on the registration platform.
Audio quality: Voice must be clearly audible. If using outdoor locations, minimise wind and background noise. A quiet indoor setting is preferred.
Transcript (optional): Submitting a written transcript of your piece makes it eligible for the Dub Poem of the Year grand prize. The transcript should be the spoken text of your performance.
Registration
Covers your first three entries. Same fee for schools, tertiary institutions, individuals, families, and community groups.
Additional Entries
No upper limit. Submit as many pieces as you wish beyond the first three.
Payment method: Bank transfer. Account details are provided after registration. Send proof of payment via WhatsApp to confirm your entry.
All entries are assessed by a panel of experienced dub poetry practitioners. Each entry is scored out of 100 across five criteria. Judging is blind — judges do not know the entrant's name, school, or background. Scores are averaged across the panel.
Rooted in Jamaican voice, rhythm, and dub poetry tradition.
Timing, pacing, breath control, and command of rhythm.
Power of individual verses, quality of chorus or refrain, and overall lyrical construction.
Conviction, commitment, and energy of the performer or group.
The lasting impression of the piece as a whole.
In the event of a tie, the entry with the higher score in Cultural Authenticity is ranked above the other.
The complete rules are in the downloadable Codex PDF.
Schools: Any registered Jamaican basic, primary, or secondary school. Public and private institutions equally welcome.
Tertiary: Universities, colleges, community colleges, and teachers' colleges.
Students: Must be currently enrolled at the registering institution at time of submission.
Open Arena: Any individual, group, or family not entering through a school. No age restriction.
Residency: No residency restriction. Jamaican students studying abroad and diaspora participants may enter through Open Arena.
Echoes of Dub is a preservation initiative as much as it is a competition. Every accepted entry is held within the Bekelé Republic cultural archive as a documented record of Jamaican dub poetry in practice.
Permission notice: By submitting an entry, schools, students, and Open Arena entrants grant permission for recordings to be held within the Echoes of Dub cultural archive. Entries may be used in future educational, cultural, and preservation initiatives under the Echoes of Dub and Bekelé Republic name.
Entrants retain full authorship and ownership of their original compositions. The archive permission does not transfer ownership of any original work.