The heavy downpours
at the Big Sean gig fucked up everything from sisters’ weaves to expensive
electronic equipment, the entire stage even blackened after the water short
circuited something, but fortunately electricity to the massive LED displays
and the rest of the hi-tech stage was swiftly restored.
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| Strobe lights and many other fancy features adorned the modern Axecess Jozi stage |
It Saturday night, 1 February 2014. We’re at the much anticipated Axecess Jozi gig at Mary
Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, it started drizzling moderately at 11:30pm just
when AKA concluded his dope performance which had him bringing out his intimate
homy Da Les as well as Maggz to perform Heaven.
He also debut upcoming single Congratulations
which was well received. But when Sean
ascended the stage after his performance round about midnight, it was raining
cats and dogs.
At one point, the weight of the rain water accumulating on
top of the main stage’s roof became so heavy that it eventually came cascading
down onto the stage like a waterfall. Big Sean didn’t give a shit at all that
his stage was getting flooded; he stood topless underneath the waterfall with
arms outstretched like the Christ the Redeemer statue, while the thousands of
people soaking wet in the rain cheered him on like sports fans at a stadium
rooting for their favourite jock.
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| Water cascades onto the Axecess Jozi stage, damaging electronic equipment, but Big Sean continues performing. |
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| The snazzy VIP section where we indulged in free finger snacks and two open bars |
The lucky few people in the tented VIP section who were
sheltered from the heavy showers could only watch in horror as some of the
nearly 9k people in the uncovered general area scuttled for shelter. Some found
shelter in the tented food court. Some
gave up altogether and from VIP I could see droves of people dashing out of the
venue to the parking lot faster than Oscar Pistorious chasing a cheeky blonde.
Mad props to the vast majority of the crowd who soldiered on
despite the awful deluge, you guys are true hip hop fanatics, and many
salutations to the Axecess crew, who took the initiative of running out into
the rain, taking the heavy umbrellas in the food court and carrying them to the
general area so folks could have some form of shelter from the elements, albeit
flimsy.
Sean’s
performance was short and average at best. Firstly, he didn’t even have a hype
man but his DJ Mo Beatz rapped Meek Mills verse’s on Burn, a joint which features Sean. And when Sean performed Dance, featuring Nicki Minaj, he
actually ran Nicki Minaj’s entire verse while he hopped around the stage like
pogo stick until the hook came in. I mean who does that?
He also made
inappropriately phallic gestures with the mic stand, such as sliding it
in-between his legs and holding it in front of his crotch as if he was trying
to pass time to get this show over and done with and collect the money.
But there
were moments of glory, the Detroit rapper didn’t disappoint when he performed
his other major bangers from Finally
Famous and Hall of Fame albums
such as Guap, Beware, Marvin Gaye and
Chardonnay and the trap laden 10 2 10
where he used a loudspeaker as a mic, just like in the music video, even the
opening acts chilling in VIP went ape shit for that one. He also brought out
his momma on stage at some point, err, cute?
The warm and
partly cloudy weather was way more hospitable when Mzansi’s opening acts
ascended the stage at twilight. And coincidentally just a few blocks away, residents
of Chinatown were blasting fireworks to celebrate the Chinese New Year. We gaped
in awe as the colourful fireworks crackled and blossomed like giant Lotus flowers
in the darkening sky, while on the ground,
the high tech stage’s confetti, smoke machines, strobe lights and fire
shooting nozzles all came alive like a mechanical monster to start the main
event.
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| Residents of Chinatown were celebrating their Chinese New Year with fireworks just a few blocks away from Axecess Jozi |
Reason was
one of the first local rappers on stage and arguably the best performer of the
night. He ruthlessly raped the mic when
he rapped over some Kwaito beats, but when his DJ from Audio 3D cut the beats,
Reason went on an uncontrollable acappella rampage. He received some claps and bows after
spitting I Am Not An Ordinary Human Being
, Ricky Rick who is featured on the song came on stage for his verse and fucked
shit up with some wicked punch lines.
Some argue
that the best rapper of the night was Khuli Chana, the Motswako rapper
gracefully rapped all of his classics, plus he also did some throwbacks with
his old crew Morafe which was met
with overwhelming appraisals from the crowd, the fancy strobe lights and
hypnotic graphics in the background LED’s made his performance even more
unforgettable. But nobody will forget the end of his show, Khuli shouted “FUCK
THE POLICE!” before dropping the mic and swaggering of stage.
Granted, the
rain scattered the crowd like insects when Sean was about to perform, but is
that an excuse for the b-grade performance he gave us, or was that the best he
could do? If so the people who bailed as soon as it rained didn’t really miss
much, AKA wrapped up the best entertainment of the night.
Considering
this was the first among many forthcoming Axecess parties, it was a completely
successful gig. The microphones were perfect, the speakers boomed crystal clear
audio and the pyrotechnics synced perfectly with the live performances which
were streamed live in 3D to Sky Room and the Axe VIP section.
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| Reasons performance was one of the best if not the dopest |
If anything,
Axecess Jozi proved one thing, and that is given the same equal platform as big
name US rappers like a modern stage and a passionate crowd, South African m’rappa’s can viciously out rap any
Americans.
A polite
warning to the next international rapper Axecess will bring later, come with your A-game and don’t insult local
hip hop with a mediocre performance “just ‘cos it’s Africa,” because you will
get embarrassed by our emcees.
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