Buju Banton had his turn. Bounty Killer had his day. Bob Marley had his segment. Beenie Man got a look in. Spragga was there, Cobra got intermittent spins and Sizzla had a couple shots.
By Mel CookeAnd everyone it seemed, both inside and outside the main hall at the Chinese Benevolent Association headquarters, Hope Road, St. Andrew, had a whale of a time.
The slow jams of Let's Get It On gave way to Dawn Penn's No No No at a few minutes to 1:00 a.m. and the tempo built through Tempted To Touch and Fresh Vegetable into an explosion in Browning. There seemed, however, to be a bigger response to the deejay's own Black Woman.
It was a Buju track, Dickie, which started a string of songs that had the ladies in a frenzy, as homage was paid to male sexual prowess. There was a rhythmic chant of 'woay!' to the matey classic about the other woman not being able to take 'it' out and then 'it' slipping between upper lips, then it was back to Dickie. That in turn was cut for Lady Saw to honour the man who can do it sweet, back to the Buju track and then Shabba promising a special treat for the women who love the 'bike back'.
Explosion
Another Buju song, Stamina Daddy, started another set of songs around a theme in the hour-long stretch of Jamaican music which delighted the huge audience. Terror Fabulous' Position had quite a few women hoisting their posteriors into the appropriate place, to the delight of the men. However, although there was an explosion of delight for Lady Saw and Spragga Benz' Backshot it was quickly pulled out of the mix and the disc jockey said "no no! Dat cyaan play! Not on my team! Dat jus' slip een!"
Jigsy King instructed the women to "***** up yu b...y and ride" which many did and with the cry "is almshouse time!" the DJ dropped Lady Saw's cry "if him lef...", which was picked up a thousandfold.
After the disco of I Will Survive and Celebration, it was back to the 'yard' music and a peek at a pre-Rastafari Capleton with Bombo Red and Granny Lover as well as a look at his tune of transformation, Tour.
Shabba Ranks' Love Punaany Bad dropped like musical bomb that it is, but Buju's Boom Bye Bye, remixed on the same rhythm, was a small nuclear device. The first line was played five times; the command to 'sen fi de matic' played four times and the 'shat dem dead' repeated over and over with gunshot sounds for emphasis, to the utter delight of the audience.
The unexpected mix of Dennis Brown's Revolution to Crazy Baldheads was met with howls of approval, the selector giving greetings in the name of the Most High. Who The Cap Fits was a 'singalong', as was Three Little Birds, and there was pandemonium for War.
Sizzla followed Natural Mystic with his ode to Mountains around Jerusalem, Buju's growth was underscored with Til I'm Laid To Rest,
Anthony B then unleashing Fia Pin Rome before the beat went back up-tempo and upskirt, giving way to hip-hop as the real party people settled in for the long haul inside the main hall at the Chinese Benevolent Association.
