In as much as I wished I was present
to update you as to what happened during this year’s Afrobeats festival,
I couldn’t make it but Wanlov the Kubolor does a review and a special
one on the performance of legendary performer, Lauryn Hill.
Read from below what the “Kokonsa” hitmaker wrote;
Miss
Lauryn Hill is a god that many have tried to kill with their selfish
words over the years…saying stuff like “she has lost it”, “she’s not
pleasing the fans”, etc…I started to believe them till I recently read a
piece by Talib Kweli that made me realise she was like me…she does not
like doing what people expect of her…it makes her craft dull to her to
her real fans over time.
Last weekend I got to confirm this
assumption for myself thanks to the 2nd Annual BBNZ Afrobeats 3-day
Festival sponsored by Club Beer. Before I get to Lauryn’s performance I
must say I really enjoyed my performance, but not as much as the crowd
did. Also I was so happy to meet MI Abaga & hear him perform on
stage with XO Zenavoe, I loved what EFYA wore so much and was sad she
performed late, even though she was the perfect closer to the festival,
and I cut my foot on glass because I got way too turnt up when Sarkodie
came on stage right after Lauryn Hill so I watched the rest of the
performances from a chair as I lost one calabash of blood.
Before
I get into Miss Hill’s set let me give you some secret info…One week
before Lauryn had to be in Ghana her band leader died and the whole band
cancelled on her so the guys at BBNZ had to book Lauryn a new band and
fly them to Accra. On arrival one of the new band members fainted at the
Airport in Accra, but came to shortly after. The next two days up to
the night of their performance were full of constant rehearsal as this
band was new to Lauryn. So there was no rest from arrival in Accra till
Lauryn got up on stage at about midnight on Sunday and stunned us with a
two hour tornado of sound and movement that all who saw will never
forget.
She came on stage in dark thigh-high high heeled boots
covered in golden bohemian butterfly-ish henna, a dark knee-length huge
flower african print umbrella skirt and a dark long sleeved african
print stretch turtleneck. Her hair was short and hers and she looked
serious and beautiful. Chale she commanded the stage from pih! Go!!
As
the band hit us hard with music, she rap/sung her lyrics with free jazz
signature top speeds fitting 6/8 raps into 4/4 beats and vice versa
plus more techniques I will learn how to explain one day. She kept
looking over her shoulder from time to time to correct the sound guy or
the band till she was satisfied with them. Just as I begun to feel she
was rushing through her set she slowed things down a bit to connect with
her audience taking a 5 minute break to go and bring her acoustic
guitar. We sang along to all her songs and later the hip-hop heads
amongst us like Shocker went crazy when she begun to perform stuff from
Fugees because the songs sounded just like they did when we were in high
school and the way she walked back and forth on the stage crouching and
rapping in true mc fashion sent us into a frenzy as we screamed the
lyrics along with her. Towards the end of the set she went into Reggae
mode and did a couple of Bob Marley covers. I am not a big fan of Reggae
and even more of other musicians doing Reggae covers, but I enjoyed
Lauryn’s renditions immensely. She ended her set with “That Thing” and
we went crazy especially because she was trying to mess up our plans for
the night by telling the girls what some of us are about
I have
seen many rappers and singers on various stages in my lifetime from all
over the world and let me just say they will all fit comfortably in
Lauryn Hill’s back pocket. She is a god.
I keep thinking I heard Lauryn sing “I was embarrassed by Ghana’s crowd”, but maybe twas just a slip of my ear
Wanlov The Kubolor (I am not a music journalist…i wrote this because no one else did…so take it like dat).
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Saturday 20 December 2014
Wanlov The Kubolor Reviews Lauryn Hill’s Concert In Ghana
Publisher GhanaThings.Com
12/20/2014 05:17:00 pm
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