Dancehall music in T&T has found a new home at the Magnum Xplosion “SummerStage” concert event.
This, after a massive crowd gathered last weekend for the first edition of the series since the pandemic and enjoyed stirring live performances from both Trinidad and Jamaica’s hottest acts.
Highlights include: Jamaican dancehall star, Timoy “Teejay” Jones advising the masses to “put down the guns” and “stop the violence” here in Trinidad, Jada Kingdom appraising and approving the crowd and its energy, Magnum Top Performa, Tevaughn “Jubba” Taylor (Jamaica) and Spotlight Winner, Ola “Kesi” Tempro (Trinidad) making their respective debuts onstage, Jada Kingdom twerking, Valiant outlasting the intermittent rain showers and Skeng turning the stage into his own private beach as he soaked everyone and everything in close proximity with his rock star behavior throughout his performance. Jones was the headline act for the event, which was held last Saturday night and attracted several thousand dancehall and Trinibad music fans.
“Stop killing one another,” stated Teejay, while in the midst of his commanding 40-minute set.
“My name is Teejay, The Up Top Boss and true me sing badman song, this is just entertainment! Ghetto youths, me wha uno make nuff money, take care of your family seen, yuh understand. We no do petty crime, we no rape women, we no kill lickle pickni, yuh understand. All ah de G dem who know say ah money alone we ah pree. But we bad same way and we na go drop we 3 points cause we dey ah road.”
Rheon Elbourne and Jahllano then delivered a stirring tribute to the late K-Lion, before the seductive “Jada Kingdom” Murphy took the stage and invoked screams and shrieks from her many adoring fans. Taking the stage at midnight and expressing satisfaction with the turnout and the energy of the assembly, she said rhetorically:
“Meh love how the crowd looks! None ah we in here not no losers, don’t it? Cause one ting we ah go try how much time, no matter if ah million times, don’t it?” Launching into her popular song, “Win” she grooved and waved, wined and twerked for the litany of cell phones recording every moment.
Skeng followed and built upon the stir Jada had already caused and soon had the audience fixated on his unpredictable movements, indecipherable speech and rock star type behavior. Somehow, they knew all his lyrics and sang along as he sprayed champagne and various other beverages all over the stage, the crowd and himself in turn. Between Jada and Skeng’s appearances, most cell phone memories may have been almost full to capacity, but there was much more to come as Raheem “Valiant” Bowes would claim the stage and work it to perfection, sharing his many hit singles with an endearing and charismatic stage presence, in spite of the intermittent rain showers.
Around 2 am, those assembled in the Savannah, nearby in Belmont and in surrounding areas within earshot were blessed with the sound of Sam Cooke’s classic “A Change is Gonna Come” delivered acapella by “Teejay” offstage – just to demonstrate his singing ability and bless the place right. Making his entrance with his mega popular “Haunted” hit single, the singer/songwriter had the massive crowd singing his lyrics and following his instructions throughout his performance.
Joined briefly by Keri The Dancer to demonstrate the moves for his latest smash hit, “Drift”, “Teejay” put the icing on the proverbial cake before local acts, “Squid”, “Tech Sounds” and “Lady Lava” added more delectable dessert treats to the SummerStage offering.
Spokesperson for Purple Robe Entertainment and Ultimate Promotions, Lyndon Gomez thanked the fire and police services for their cooperation in making the event safe and successful. He said:
“We faced a number of challenges on the day of the event in particular but managed to rise above them all and execute an event, which lived up to and some say surpassed expectations and fulfilled the mandate and objectives of our corporate partner and title sponsor of the Magnum Xplosion series. We sincerely thank and appreciate all team members who assisted or provided services to the production of this event and look forward to working with key stakeholders to grow and nurture the entertainment industry in Trinidad and Tobago and throughout the region.”
Magnum Tonic Wine’s Project Manager, Danielia McLean was in attendance and expressed great satisfaction with the event. “It’s always a pleasure for us at Magnum to be able to join in the celebration of music.” She said, “In Jamaica, dancehall is more than just music, it’s a way of life and we are honoured to be able to share that with our Trinidadian family. Tonight was an incredible show and we are awed at how well-received all the artistes were here. Many thanks to the promoters for having us on board and we look forward to many more years of partnership as this event grows year after year.”
