M.I
Friday, June 15, 2012, will go down in
the history books as the night superstars shut down the city of Awka in
Anambra state using the power of music, as part of the ongoing
nationwide Star Trek 2012, tagged Naija Rocks.
Billed to commence at 7pm at the Marble Arch Hotel, the show had hundreds of youths trooping in as early as 6pm.
A slight drizzle came down at about 8:30pm, but the teeming crowd wasn’t deterred. DJ Switch
continued to thrill the crowd till 10pm with his impeccable mix of
Nigerian gbedu, which kept the crowd excited, and in anticipation of the
headlining acts, such as D’banj, MI, Phyno, Mr Raw, Ikechukwu, Sound
Sultan and many others.
By 10pm, the host for the night, Gideon Okeke,
stepped on stage to keep the crowd occupied. This he did for the next
two hours, with mild anecdotes here and there in English and in his
native tongue, and with short dance competitions.
He also called out several upcoming acts, who performed for exactly 1 minute each. Among the acts who performed were E-Boy and Sammy Young, Polash, with his unique blend of highlife which the crowd enjoyed, Smile – another female highlife exponent who showed a lot of potential, Bamayie,CJ Kool, Sammy C and many others.
Of particular note was a one legged rapper called Toxic and eclectic singer/rapper BMG,
who came all the way from Benin city. ‘Toxic’ quickly caught the
attention of the audience due to his handicap, and also with his style
of rapping, as he wowed the audience with a freestyle on the popular
Lil’ Wayne ‘A Millie’ beat. Meanwhile, BMG came on with a unique style
of carrying along the audience, blending various genres of classic old
school/new school joints on a contemporary hip hop beat. He spent close
to 15 minutes on stage, and by the time he was done, he had won over the
entire audience.
At 12am, Gideon Okeke introduced Crystal,
the 2012 winners of Star Quest, and they promptly did what they do
best, delivering a great performance. The group is made up of Emmanuel
(drums), Godwin (Bass), Daniel(Keyboards), Civian & Tinuke (Vocals)
and rapper Romeo, who hooked the crowd with his incredible flows and
stage charisma.
Next on the stage were the 2008 Star Quest winners, Diamonds. They also thrilled the crowd, and ‘rewarded’ them with cash.
A little after 1am, Sound Sultan came on
stage amidst ear-deafening shouts of excitement from the audience. A
veteran of the industry, Sound Sultan owned the audience the moment he stepped on stage, with performances of his hit songs – Jagbajantis, Area, 2010, and Orobo.
He got a few plus-sized ladies from the audience to back him up with
dances on the stage as he performed ‘Orobo’ to the enjoyment of the
crowd.
Next up was Mr Raw
(formerly known as Nigga Raw). Donning an ash colored t-shirt, a DJJJ
snapback, and accompanied by his back up singers, the audience showed
their excitement as he thrilled them with back to back songs such as Spiritual Konji, and Nigger Raw Nwa Nem) from his catalogue of hits. Next up was the Short Black Choc Boy – M.I,
whose arrival was greeted with an even louder cheer. M.I seemed larger
than life as he stepped on stage, backed up by his female DJ Lamboghini.
His presence literally added an extra spark to the already frenzied
crowd. Without much ado, the rapper took his time to perform a mash up
of many of his hit songs, including Anoti, One Naira, Overkilling Remix, and Undisputed Champion.
He took a little break to engage the
audience in a little ‘one-on-one’ to name a few of the popular Nigerian
hiphop songs. As a surprise, while wrapping up his performance, he
pulled in eastern rapper Phyno from backstage and they both performed ‘Multiply Remix’ to the delight of the audience, who were only too glad to sing along.
Finally, with a lot of fanfare, MI exited the stage at around 3:30am, and the Kokomaster D’banj entered dressed in all black. Ladies literally swooned at the sight of the legendary G.O.O.D music artiste. Rightfully called ‘The Entertainer’, Dbanj immediately proceeded to perform a lot of his songs including ‘Olorun Maje’ and ’Endowed‘.
Following in M.I’s footsteps, Dbanj brought in Ikechuwku, much to the pleasant surprise of the audience, and they both performed some of Ikechukwu’s joints.
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