Super Cat To Headline Verzuz’s Inaugural ‘ICONZ’ Series
The announcement that Dancehall’s Wild Apache Super Cat is slated to be the headline act for the inaugural show in Verzuz’s new ICONZ series next week Saturday, has sent the Dolly My Baby superstar’s fans in a frenzy.
Super Cat’s performance comes in the aftermath of the classic showdown between Bounty Killer and Beenie Man which pushed the VERZUZ popularity, generated for it, millions of followers and remains the most talked-about of all the contests to this day.
It comes a year after the Vineyard Party artist’s Jamaican compatriots bombarded American producer and co-founder of VERZUZ, Swizz Beatz, calling for him and his colleague Timbaland to invite Super Cat to participate in one of their VERZUZ clashes, and to note the many reminders that they had been posting on the VERZUZ IG page for months.
The calls from fans had reached a crescendo after Swizz Beatz hailed Super Cat’s return to Dancehall and declared on Cat’s IG page that: “The mighty Boss is Back!!”, when the deejay released Push Time, his first music video in 20 years, in September last year.
On Tuesday morning VERZUZ announced via its Instagram page that the much respected and feared, Dancehall veteran would be stomping his authority on the stage at the Barclays Center in New York on Saturday, October 16.
“Kicking off our ICONZ concert series with the icon himself SUPER CAT. His first headlined show in Brooklyn since Biltmore Ballroom days!!! The ‘Wild Apache’ will be performing live on October 16th from the Barclays Center in New York.
VERZUZ also noted that while the Don Dadda’s fans will be allowed to watch the event in person, they will also have the option of watching him in action online on Triller and Fite TV.
An unapologetic ‘rude boy’ of Dancehall, Super Cat, whose given name was William Maragh, was among the dominant deejays of the 1980s up to the mid-1990s.
Known for his sharp tongue and fearless attitude, the Under Pressure artist was also one of the first Dancehall deejays to go mainstream, forming successful alliances with Hip Hop superstars including Heavy D, P. Diddy and Biggie Smalls.
In the early 1990s, Super Cat relocated from Jamaica to New York, where he signed with Columbia Records. He released the album, Don Dada, in 1992 and The Struggle Continues in 1995. He was also featured on the remix of Kriss Kross’s mega-hit Jump in 1992.
His other hit singles in the early 1990s included Don Dada, Ghetto Red Hot and Dem No Worry We, a collab with Heavy D. His albums include Si Boops deh in 1985, Sweets for my Sweets in 1988 among others.
Super Cat virtually disappeared from the music scene in the late 1990s, only making intermittent appearances over the decades. His last engagements in Jamaica were Sting 2013 and Reggae Sumfest in 2016.
The Apache Indian’s first releases included the 1986 hit Boops, which made a mockery of sugar daddies, and like many other words coined by artistes, became embedded in the Jamaican lexicon.
Now 58 years old, Super Cat was also one of the first Dancehall deejays to glorify and immortalize the Clarks brand of shoes as a fashion statement and the footwear of choice for Jamaican men, in his 1985 single Trash and Ready.
Last year, Super Cat had surprised his fans with the release of Push Time, a collab with artist and producer Salaam Remi, which was hailed as the great comeback of the Wild Apache, for which they had been yearning.
Push Time, a social commentary on crime and criminality, was recorded on the rhythm on which Super Cat, Nicodemus, and Junior Demus voiced the single Cabin Stabbin back in 1994.