“Are you not entertained?” was the question put to the crowd by one of the minor performers earlier in the night at Jamzone international night at the National Stadium.
The answer to the question borrowed from the movie “Gladiator” was a resounding ‘yes’, with each performer dishing out crowd-pleasing acts for copious amounts of time. The show ended at around 04:30 on Sunday.
This concert was the final leg of shows for the 12th Jamzone summer affair by Hits and Jams featuring hip hop star Rick Ross, Jamaican dancehall artistes Elephant Man, Spice and Macka Diamond in addition to local rapper Gialiani and a slew of other lesser known performers.
The thunder definitely went to Rick Ross, a.k.a. Rozay, a.k.a. ‘biggest boss in the business’. So big he’s got former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega on speed dial.
“Can I get a Rozay?… Huh!….HUH!” he asked the crowd at the stadium. They responded in kind with a collective “huh”, Ross’ signature grunt. The artiste began with ‘I’m not a star’ from his 2010 Teflon Don album. He then went on to remixes and the original of BMF or Blowin Money Fast. Known for his over-the-top glorification of bling, he then dished out hits such as ‘Take it to the head’, ‘Stay Schemin’, ‘Bag of money’ and ‘Hustlin’ among many others.
Ross occasionally tossed a sweat-soaked face towel to his fans in the audience.
He also had up and coming rap artists in his entourage, which included security personnel and camera men.
Connecting with the crowd, Ross said that it felt as if everything he has done in his music career has led to this performance in Guyana. “It’s my first time here. It won’t be my last,” he promised the crowd. He said too that his recording company Maybach Music, which he called one of the biggest in the industry, began modestly in a basement and encouraged them to dedicate themselves to their dreams and rise “to a boss.”
Ross should have performed at a show in April of this year but pulled out citing health concerns at the time.
Before the ‘biggest boss’ took to the stage at 3 am, the self proclaimed Energy God Elephant Man worked the crowd with animated performances of some of his best known tunes. The ubiquitous Ele had the crowd moving with ‘Nah Linga’, ‘Sweep’, ‘Gully Creepa’, ‘Pun de River’, ‘Higher Level’, ‘Bad Mind’, ‘Wheelie Bounce’ and ‘Signal de Plane’, among others. He then gave a tribute to Buju Banton by performing ‘Driver’, one of Buju’s top tunes before he was jailed for narcotics-related conspiracy.
Spice and Macka Diamond gave a good accounting of themselves appealing especially to the females in the audience and each performed for about half hour. However most of their songs were non-PG rated.
The crowd on Saturday night was clearly far smaller than the previous night, where Mavado had been expected to perform. Observers opined that the crowd had turned up to see Mavado whose immigration issues rendered him a no show for this year’s Jamzone Regional Night. One person selling near the stadium said that Saturday night was a far cry from the level of business she was able to do the night before.
This newspaper observed acres of parking space on the stadium tarmac as opposed to its being filled almost to capacity the night before.
