Ras-I Mourns Apryl McIntosh-Smith: "A Mother, A Protector and A Big Sister in One"

(ReggaeVibeMedia.com) - The Jamaican music industry is in mourning after the sudden death in Spain of Apryl McIntosh-Smith, the artiste manager and Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) director who spent her career opening doors for Caribbean music. Reggae singer Ras-I, whom she managed, remembered her on Sunday in words that said everything about who she was to him: a mother, a protector and a big sister in one.

McIntosh-Smith died on Saturday in Gran Canaria, Spain, where she was representing Jamaica at WOMEX 2026 as part of the Caribbean Women in the Business of Music delegation. Her company, Niche Entertainment Group, of which she was chief executive officer, was among eight women-led music businesses selected for the mission, which ran from October 21 to 25 and was described as an opportunity to connect, collaborate and build new possibilities for Caribbean music internationally. She also served as JaRIA's director of education, chaired its Education Committee, and sat on its Awards Committee and Constitution Advocacy Lobbying and Membership Committee.

In an emotional Instagram post on Sunday, Ras-I wrote: "Still can't believe this is real. You had so much more to offer this world. A mother, a protector and a big sister in one. We laughed, we fussed and then we figured it out as a team and, above all as a family. Jah see and know Apryl it doesn't feel real not one bit. Always love, Bossy."

Other artistes, among them Kabaka Pyramid, Mortimer, Romain Virgo and Lila Iké, mirrored the shock and sorrow felt across the industry. For JaRIA chairman Ewan Simpson, the news was especially hard to take: he had spoken with McIntosh-Smith the night before her death. She had been updating him on JaRIA Awards matters and told him she had been discharged from hospital after being hospitalised following a reaction to mould in a previous hotel room, and that she had been suffering some effects of that. That account does not establish the cause of her death, and no confirmed cause has been provided in the information available.

Simpson said the JaRIA family had been "plunged into shock and disbelief at the sudden passing of our education director," adding that members had been cheering her on as she represented them at WOMEX. He reflected on her as an all-rounder, as comfortable in artiste development and production as in management and representation, and a director who could always be called on to help build bridges across the industry. He also held her family in prayer, especially her two young daughters, her close friends and colleagues.

For an industry that had been following her international mission with pride, the weekend turned in a single day from celebration to mourning. McIntosh-Smith's work was about artiste development, music business education and helping Jamaican talent reach wider audiences. For Ras-I, the loss is personal: a trusted manager and collaborator who believed in his music is gone, and the three roles he named for her — mother, protector, big sister — are the ones the whole industry seems to be feeling tonight.

Rest in peace, Apryl McIntosh-Smith. The work you did to open doors for others does not close with you.