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The 2004 Island Explosion, held on Christmas Eve at Leiba’s Tiger
Mart in May Pen, Clarendon, was by far one of the biggest stage shows
held in south central Jamaica in quite a while. The event was incident
free and patrons were treated to some top class performances, especially
from Beenie Man, Vybz Kartel, Elephant Man, Capleton, the Fifth Element
Crew, Macka Diamond, Captain Barkey & Wickerman.
Boasting one of the strongest
line-ups of dancehall artistes for the year 2004, Island Explosion, staged
by the Presidential Click and the Clarendon Click, could well be the show
of the year.
From early in the night, the vibes were set by the king of mobile sounds,
Nite Traxx with Teeta Pow, BET and the crew, along with Top Secret, the
‘world sound’ with Tony Few, Dangerous and Monster Parry.
Other selectors such as Tony Matterhorn came in the wee hours of the morning
and kept the place alive with some real mix up vibes, which had the lighters
and torches out in full force. Matterhorn proved that by far, he is one
of the best selectors in the business having paid his dues over the years.
Swatch International with Maestro joined after but didn’t fare as
well as their Kingston-based colleague.
Good opening performances came from Shades and the promising artiste Cutty
Corn who showed much class, having come equipped with some conscious lyrics,
which the crowd appreciated.
The real fireworks kicked off just after 12:00 midnight when Conrad Crystal
and Sugar Roy took centre stage. Singer Crystal had the lighters flicking
as he sang the old gem, ‘True Love Will Never Die‘. The two
combined well and won over the audience with their high-energy performance.
They got their biggest ‘forward’ when they did ‘Get
Education’, which the crowd sang along to.
Clarendon-based artistes Guinea Peppa came next and blazed with his anthem
‘Lick The Chalice’ on a ‘wicked’ Studio One rhythm.
Peppa topped a good performance on a humorous note about Jamaica‘s
all time favorite food, dumpling.
Cultural artiste Ranatan also represented well in this segment, so too
did Culture Lion who ignited some fire with ‘Lion Paw’ and
a tribute to Veronica Campbell.
DJ Chicken, on a comeback trail, was in top flight as he did ‘Nah
Bow‘ and ‘Tek A Bwoy Gal’, which had the crowd moving.
Cashew Man, another Clarendon-based artiste, showed true class. His appearance
drew a big response from his audience and he had them singing along to
‘Woman Mi Lob You’.
Comedy time saw Captain Barkey & Wickerman doing a re-make of some
popular songs, which had the crowd in stitches. The duo did a segment
imploring their audience to bathe, which again earned them big ‘forwards’.
They then went into an anti-gay segment, which also drew a big response
from the audience. Then it was time for the ‘mix up’ segment
with songs such as ‘A Weh Di Gal Dem Weh Nuh Wear People Clothes’
and ‘Go Go Wine’.
Queen Paula was next on stage and immediately declared war on Macka Diamond.
She made an impressive start with the song ‘Hot Gal’ and continued
with some sex-laced lyrics which went down well with the crowd. This could
go down as one of her better performances in recent times.
The classic act, LUST, came next and had the girls screaming as they kicked
off their set with ‘Run Free‘. Singing Melody heated up the
place as he did ‘Let It Flow’, as couples hugged and single
women held up their arms and screamed in the cool Christmas morning.
Thriller U blessed the place with ‘My God Is Real’ while Tony
Curtis chipped in with ‘That’s How We’re Rolling‘.
Lukie D, not to be outdone, had the place rocking as he sang the up-tempo
‘This Is How We Roll‘. Singing Melody again moved the crowd
with the soul stirring ‘I Want You Back’, which brought an
end to a really wonderful performance from the group.
Daville represented well, with the ladies singing along as he did ‘I
Love the Way You Move Your Body‘ and ‘You’re All I Need’.
Daville treated his fans to a lovely performance and showed maturity and
good showmanship throughout.
DJ Ghandi, now known as Ras Ghandi, gave a good performance, ripping up
the place with songs such as ‘A Letter To Mamma’, which the
crowd responded to by waving red, green and gold flags and flicking lighters
in the air. He stepped into second gear as he did ‘I Nah Lef Out
Mi Girls Dem‘. Ghandi is definitely one to watch in the year 2005.
Fantan Mojah from the Down Sounds record camp came, saw and conquered,
as he blazed a big fire with his soul stirring chants. The crowd erupted
as he sang ‘Search and You Will Find’. He kept the fire going
as he did ‘Mamma Hungry’ and ‘As I Rise’, which
earned him an encore. He closed his act with a tribute to Jah Cure with
the song ‘Divide and Rule’.
Fast rising star I-Wayne was next and kept the fire blazing as he did
‘Nuh Dash Weh Belly’ It was pure excitement as he did ‘Living
In Love’ and his big song ‘Satisfy Her’. Calling for
lightning, brimstone and fire, the Portmore-based singer showed off his
lyrical prowess and had his audience listening attentively.
The imperial one, Alley Cat, was next with some of his hits, especially
the soul stirring ‘Why’, which earned him a big forward from
the crowd.
Following the exit of Alley Cat, MC Nuffy was presented with two MC of
the Year awards by the promoters of Island Explosion and Champions in
Action events, for his outstanding work as an MC for the year 2004.
At 4:25 am it was time for dance class. It was sheer pandemonium as Elephant
Man took the excitement to a higher level. People danced away as if in
a trance as he did songs such as ‘Bun Bad Mind’, ‘Over
De Wall’, ‘Bun Down Dat’, ‘Higher Level’.
Elephant Man went into the crowd and continued to rip the place apart
as he did ‘Hypocrite’ and ‘Weddy Weddy’.
Back on stage he asked, “A weh dem hate mi fah people? How dem so
bad mind? ‘bout Elephant Man have AIDS! How people so wicked?”
He then proceeded to rip the place apart as he did ‘Too Bad Mind‘,
‘Chakka Chakka’, ‘Father Elephant’, ‘Signal
The Plane’ and ‘Blaza’. He then exited the stage to
much disappointment.
At 5:05 am it was time for another Rasta segment with the introduction
of the Fifth Element Crew, which brought out the red, green and gold flags
and lighters.
Richie Spice could do nothing wrong for his fans as he sang ‘Marijuana’,
Chuck Fenda joined in with ‘I Swear’, while Richie Spice continued
the onslaught with ‘Blood Again’ and ‘Ghetto Girl’.
The surprise of the night, Macka Diamond, came next.
The big response she got as Nuffy introduced her was sign enough that
big things were to come. Macka didn’t disappoint; the place erupted
as she walked on stage with her sidekick Sandy Star and belted out ‘Wi
Nuh Chase Money’. “A wah do some rasta man eh? Well, since
them tek so long to make mi come on, a gwine mad up yah,” she said.
Macka lived up to her words as she stepped up a gear and had her audience
jumping as she did ‘When Mi A Ride C---y’ and ‘Mr. Tekky
Back’. “Dem a fight wi (female artistes) but wi nah give up,”
Macka remarked.
She continued to buss the place as she did ‘Lexus and Benz’
and walked off stage. She was called back and kept the vibes going with
‘Don’t Want No Short Man’ and a new song ‘Tickle
Me’, which had the crowd in stitches.
When the ‘Doctor’ Beenie Man took centre stage, he had everything
in the air – hands, lighters and flags – as he kicked off
his performance with ‘Dem A Talk Bout Man Apologise’, then
‘Bun Chi Chi Man’. The excitement went fever pitch as Vybz
Kartel joined Beenie Man to do the song ‘No Apology‘ and their
hit song ‘Picture This’.
Beenie and Kartel kept the energy going from start to finish as they took
turns ripping up the place. Cartel with ‘Pu--y Ja’, ‘Picture
Me and You’, ‘Gi Mi De Breast’ and ‘Nuh Dutty
Panty’.
Beenie Man gave his fans the full treatment as he reeled off hit after
hit, songs such as ‘Bad Man Nuh Ramp Wid Punany’, ‘Bun
A Troublemaker’, and others from his ‘bad man’ catalogue.
Kartel and Beenie Man were joined by Tanto Metro & Devonte, who also
added to the excitement.
Sizzla Kolonji was next and rocked the crowd as he did ‘Rise To
The Occasion’. He continued to blaze the fire with ‘To The
Point’. As if that was nothing, he carried his fans into further
musical heights with songs such as ‘Got To Be Strong’, ‘Dry
Cry’ and ‘Holding Firm’.
With his audience spellbound, Kolonji’s performance ended when Bounty
Killa walked on stage.
Bounty Killa treated his fans to his typical performance, which included
his string of gun tunes. He also courted the girls with his song on the
popular Drop Leaf rhythm, ‘It’s Okay’.
The fireman Capleton, at 6:50 am, took centre stage with a large crowd
still on hand to close what was truly a wonderful event. He didn’t
disappointed his fans who waited as he ripped the place apart with songs
such as ‘Or Wah’, ‘Tek It Off’, ‘Turn It
up’ and ‘Consuming’.
The prophet served his fans a musical feast, taking them from his early
days to more recent times. He had them jumping from start to finish, giving
them their full money's worth as he always seems to do.
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