Ashanti
Leighton Williams and Mel Cooke, Staff Reporters
RAPPERS AND deejays have been working Jamaican stages in tandem for close to a decade. Biggie Smalls came to 'Sting' in 1997 a wheelchair and tossed money like confetti - and they were reportedly greenbacks too. It would seem that the most hardcore of the hardcore, Sting, has been a pioneer in the rap field, seeing Puff Daddy, as he was then named, was also at Sting in the early '90s.
He did not even get bottled.
'Reggae Sumfest' has been responsible for a standout set of rappers making a summer stop in the land of wood and water. Ja Rule was there on 'International Night' in 2001, returning a year later with a vastly overhyped Ashanti in tow.
Jay-Z made the show in 2000, with Snoop Doggy Dogg woofing his way on-stage at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre a year later.
In 2000, Wyclef Jean spun dubplates, sang, stood on the fence cordoning off the press area to get closer to his people and generally had as good a time as he gave at the summer festival.
Relative newcomer to the summer festival scene, Sashi, has been hot out of the blocks with rappers. The 'Snoopster' in 1999, Puff Daddy in 2001, Wyclef Jean, Busta Rhymes, Lil Kim, Naughty By Nature and Eve have all 'shaken, not stirred' at the James Bond Beach, where the celebration is held.
In fact, it would appear that there is somewhat of a rotating cast of hip-hop performers to hit Jamaica, among a slate of calendar events. These are most notably 'Sting', 'Fully Loaded', 'Reggae Sumfest', 'Sashi', 'Reggae Rock', 'Frenzzi 2K2' and 'Reloaded'. From those events, as well as a few others, a long list of popular hip hop acts have graced local shores. Among them, excluding those already mentioned of course, are Run DMC, DMX, Jadakiss, Ludacris, Mystikal, Lil Zane, Doug E. Fresh, Lauryn Hill and Salt 'N' Pepa. Interestingly, Puff Daddy, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Ja Rule, Wyclef Jean, Eve, Naughty By Nature and Lil Kim have all performed in Jamaica at least twice.
However, although many of the local events have had rappers sometimes as headline acts, the vast majority have worked in tandem with local acts on these shows both locally and abroad. In fact, nearly all if not most of Jamaica's home grown front-line artistes have been on shows with United States based rappers. From Reggae Sumfest to Sting, hip hop and local artistes have shared the same venue for at least one night.
Reggae Sumfest is marketed as a reggae festival and for most renewals boasts a line up of predominantly local talent. Sting, 'The Greatest One-Night Show on Earth', also has an overwhelmingly local line-up every year.
The Loaded series (Fully Loaded, Reloaded and Overloaded) is described by its promoters as being a party and not necessarily a stage show. However, the patrons have come out in there droves annually whether or not overseas talent is present.
However as to whether or not the hip hop acts have pulled more crowds to Sting or any other event is debatable. For example, Sting 2002 was said to have drawn 35,000 people to Jamworld in Portmore where the show was held with a line up of strictly local acts. Hot Shots 2002 had no hip-hop artistes. However, the reports do indicate that a bumper crowd was on hand to witness reggae talent at their best. The previous Hot Shots held in 2000 also got a good crowd. However, many have said the reason behind such strong support from the Jamaican public was owing to the success of Shaggy and Rik Rok's It Wasn't Me.
Fully Loaded 2001 from all reports had no foreign based acts but it was able to pull a good crowd. In addition, despite boasting a line up inclusive of overseas talent, Reggae Sumfest have complained about having difficulties paying the bills at the end of the festival. Similarly, Reggae Rock, while boasting a line-up that included both hip hop and local talent, turned out to be a flop when it was held at James Bond Beach last year.
In all of this, rappers have come and gone and getting them here have seen patrons forking out anywhere between $800 to $2,500 to get to see the heartthrobs of the BET/MTV phenomenon. Sumfest on an average year charges at least $1,500 on an international night. Sashi's price tag came in at $2,500 or US$50. Sting's tickets have probably gone for as much as a $1000 when hip-hop acts have been present. The TNT Bob Marley concert held at James Bond Beach in 1999 saw patrons dishing out as much as $2,500 for an event that lasted only four hours. Some patrons even complained that they did not get into the venue until 10:00 p.m. and some missed the concert altogether. The bottom end of the scale sees Reggae Rock and Fully Loaded. Both events had a $800 price tag.
Hot Shot 2002 ticket prices were $1,000 each.
