2007 Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest Review by Easy Star Records, and Rankin Media
Hot 102 and GT Taylor - Irie FM set the stage for the Explosion to take place, and it did. The record breaking 25,000 estetic fans came to the the festival to see their favorite stars Movado, the female superstar Lady Saw; Macka Diamond; Ninja man; Bounty Killer and the King of the Dancehall The Doctor Beenie Man, who came clad in the colors of the national flag of Jamaica. The backing band Live Wyya was dressed likewise. Beenie Man thrilled the crowd till the early morning light. He was joined on stage by a beautiful lady called Barbie. Unfortunately her voice was not audible for us to hear and enjoy, as we had the other female singers who accompanied the male superstars. Because the Dance Hall stage has now become like the African griots who critized their political leaders highlightened corruption and abuses in the society, the dancehall performers have seized the opportunities to do this also. The explosive Lady Saw continues to mesmerize her fans especially the male. Wrapping them around her little finger, she inquired "if dem want de work?" Her time on stage was more fun than work, and we all enjoyed her as usual. Macka Diamond marched out with her cane and gave a sublime performance, and although she is the greater of the two females performers, she still has to catch up with Lady Saw when it comes to lyrics. Movado has a chilling, pulsating voice, and is destined to go far if he has a good management team. His album Gangsta For Life captures the ills of the dispossessed in the society, He reminds me very much of the late great Jacob Miller. Elephant Man stormed the stage in his Darth Vader suit with a group of dancers who were as hyped as he was. Not only did he get a visitor to participate under some hard grind but one dancer jumping off the stage to perform dance with a one legged man who comes to the show every year. The fan was then hoisted on to the stage where another dancer did "too much." Munga the upcoming star was unfortunately not holding
the microphone close enough to his mouth for his voice to be heard and appreciated. The Trio, Voice Mail made a fashion statement but vocally they were lacking. Ninja Man, Vybz Kartel, Cham, Vegas, Chuck Fenda and Anthony B, Gyptian, Kip Rich, were all entertaining. Friday, July 20th, It's Evolution night and MC's Elise Kelly of Irie FM and Cordell Green were working it. The Hard Drive Band takes charge professionally, and
the star of the night LL Cool J was fabulous. He
worked the stage with the mike in his hand taking us thru two decades of his reign in Hip Hop and invited the reggae lovers into his world. He thrilled the ladies with his muscular trimmed body, clad in oversized blue jeans and a diamante t-shirt which he
tore off during his performance. He called for one, then fifteen, then twenty ladies to come up on stage. To my delight I was one of those ladies, hoisted up on the high stage by ardent Reggae lover, Tony Rankin of Rankin Media, and the camera man with the best moves. LL also made it plain that he knew who the king of Jamaica was as he gave respect to the Reggae King Bob
Marley rapping to Bob's melody.
Shaggy, clean as the Board of Health, was clad in white hat, light red jacket, white shirt, red tie, white shorts and white shoes. He was spectular but following LL was an AM fete. Morgan Heritage gave a stellar performance lifting up the Rastafarian culture as usual. Buju Banton was as great as ever. He came
out on the stage at about 4:30 and held us captive till about 6:30, no controversal songs but Til Shilo and Driver were filling. Saturday night was the Zenith the MC's were Francois St. Juste - Fame 95 and Paula Ann Porter of RJR 94. The brightest star of the night Mary J Blige was
radiant as she worked the stage in her black and white stiletto heels. She gave of herself vocally taking us thru her dark passages of life. During her act she went into a crouching position singing from her soul to delight of her fans. The tears were visible in her eyes as well as ours as she took us through her touch Love experiences in song. Mary was as blown away as We sang "I'm going down." she just turned the mike Over to the audience. It must truly have been a splendid experience for her and LL Cool J, when the
audience sang out their songs on Friday and Saturday night respectively. Beres blessed us with ninety minutes of pure bliss. He was at his best and very relaxed as he sat and even conversed with his ardent fans. He made it crystal clear that he is most deserving of his super star position in the music industry. Tanya Stephens and Taurus were exceptional crafters. They spent their time on stage showing their fans that they had not only worked hard on their art form but had traversed the ranks to be respected as talented sophisticated international stars. Tanya's husky voice relating to her flirty boyfriend "the street don't love you like I do" and Tarus acclaiming Black woman's beauty as he closed his eyes and sang "She is Royal", is worth anything more than money can buy. LlOYD parks & We the people were there to save the old timers so that they could sing along too. The Mighty Diamond was the cream of the crop putting the iceing on the cake. The organizers out did themselves this year with the abundance of food, internet surfing, and great entertainment, serving the spiritual nourishment that the music provides. I was great to see Ms. Janice Sylvera mingling with the crowd in the press section. The only sad note of the whole event was the news that Johnny G's mother had passed away, we send our condonances and may her soul rest in peace. May we all be blessed to see next year and to attend this the greatest Reggae Show on earth. http://picasaweb.google.com/TonyRankin07/RedStripeReggaeSumfest2006 Written by: Gladys Rhodes/aka Sista Cindy Simeon Photos by:Tony Rankin Winn Clyde Williams Photo Links From Rankin Media and Easy Star Records Coverage of 2007 Red Stripe REGGAE SUMFEST Red Stripe Regge Sumfest 2007 SLIDE