Burna Boy Wows Jamaica Despite Technical Difficulties
Nigeria’s Burna Boy wowed Jamaican fans at the National Stadium in St. Andrew early Monday morning despite the technical difficulties with audio that plagued the show.
His unannounced entrance at 12:35 am to center stage sparked a massive response from the audience, who had waited patiently for his debut performance on the island. Casually dressed, with a constant smile throughout his entire set, the 31-year-old revealed a “secret” to his Jamaican fans.
“Jamaica, I have something to tell you, I am really Jamaican, I love Jamaica, and you’re all Nigerian,” to which throngs of females screamed in agreement.
The tight-knit crowds of over 19,000 patrons stayed glued to the front stage, and in all areas of the National Stadium, clamored to their spots to catch a clear view of the star, all while singing his songs verbatim.
Burna Boy opened with Gbona and also delivered For My Hand, Location, On The Low, Bank On It, Jerusalema, and Alone, among others, with the help with backup singers dressed in all white. Popcaan made his third entry to the stage, joining the Nigerian to perform their collaborative hit, Toni-Ann Singh from his album Love, Damini, while No Games deejay Serani also joined Burna for Secrets.
“When I was 16, or something like that, I used to be in London, and I’d go to the barber shop every time, and they’d play this song ‘Love you girl, do you feel the same? I don’t wanna play games’. I knew I had to work with him one day,” Burna Boy said, referring to Serani’s 2008 track, which was recently certified Platinum in the UK.
One patron in VVIP gushed to DancehallMag about his love of the fusion with Afrobeats, Reggae and Dancehall. “I love what is happening, that is why I am here, I came alone but I am loving this so much, it’s a good look,” he said.
As the night drew close to an end, confetti rained on patrons who quite visibly were in full enjoyment of the show. Burna then did his final two hit songs Ye, and Last Last, before bidding his Jamaican fans “Bye Bye” at 1:40 a.m.
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Before Burna’s grand finale, the sweet sounds of Mandeville’s Lila Iké caressed the masses with her opening performance, enchanting patrons with her vocals. Iké, who briefly brought out Protoje and Kabaka Pyramid, performed her songs Thy Will, Sweet Inspiration, I Spy, Second Chance, Where I’m Coming From, and Dinero.
Her soothing performance made way for the highly anticipated St. Thomas native, Popcaan. Just as roaring cheers welcomed the ‘Unruly Boss’ who was evidently amped to deliver his set, a technical setback interrupted his performance; and soon after, the deejay stormed off stage. Not one to leave fans hanging, Popcaan returned center stage after host, Miss Kitty came out apologizing profusely for the technical mishap.
After a slew of his hit songs, Popcaan called out the legendary Beres Hammond for them to perform their song, God Is Love to the delight of their fans who sang in unison.
Popcaan also invited Toni-Ann Singh to perform their collaboration, Next To Me. The Unruly Boss planted a kiss on the former Miss World’s cheek during their appearance and declared that he loved her.
The Burna Boy Live concert in Jamaica was the final leg of his Caribbean tour which included stops in Trinidad, Antigua, and Suriname.