So, on Thursday I had the pleasure of attending
Nas and
Damian Marley's concert at Wembley and before I write anything else, let me tell you how awesomely amazing it was! Erykah Badu and dancehall legend Spragga Benz were the night's supporting acts, with Miss Badu delivering an awe-inspiring performance of her best known hits. I can shamelessly admit that I cried, even more so when she belted out
Apple Tree off her 1997 debut
Baduizm. With her quirky sense of style, bold sense of humour and echoic, svelte vocals, Badu aptly warmed up the audience and perforated my eardrums as well as my soul. I was ready.
The more I remember of that night, the more it sounds like a story out of a book. Anyway. After more DJ sets, reggae and hip-hop music, the atmosphere became heavy with marijuana smoke and the restless noise of the awaiting crowd. And then it began. With the booming sounds and instruments from the track
As We Enter, Nas and Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley ambushed the stage, reciting the lyrics of the song, sending the whole stadium into musical frenzied ruckus. Charging through various tracks from their joint album
Distant Relatives, the energy was high as fans chanted and sang along; the stage littered with colourful images and people. Damian's dreadlocks cascaded down his back sweeping from side to side as he performed
Nah Mean, Tribal War and
Dispear while Nas' gold Sphinx medallion hung heavy from his neck. And even as Nas slipped into his solo performance, with him taking the crowd back to his Illmatic days, there were no signs of slowing down.
Represent, Nas Is Like, Street Dreams, If I Ruled The World and
Hip Hop Is Dead boomed from the speakers and I swear I could see the sweat and concentration on the faces of the die-hard Nas stans as they recited his songs word for word. Nas hit every lyric as hard as the first, as if he'd just written each bar a second before. It was the Nas' of old who graced the stage,
Illmatic Nas,
God's Son Nas,
Stillmatic Nas.
Amazing Nas.
And of course, Damian Marley was not to be upstaged. Forgive me for not knowing every single solo song that he performed - reggae was never really an interest of mine. But believe you me, I jumped, shouted, hollered and even had my little Kingston bop going on. I enjoyed it and whether or not that was marijuana induced, who cares? The whole experience was phenomenal.
To cut a great story short, the night ended with all the acts on stage while Nas and Damian performed the anthem
Africa Must Wake Up, with Erykah now sporting a "Hip-hop Is Bigger Than Religion" t-shirt (which I
want need in my life). Then as an encore, Nas humbly returned to the stage to perform an emphatic rendition of
One Mic to the sounds of Phil Collin's legendary tune
In The Air Tonight. And not to be outdone, Damian Marley paid homage to his father by belting out Bob Marley's 1980 hit
Could You Be Loved to end the night.
All in all, the night proved to be beautifully powerful and one I'll remember forever. If you missed this, you should be jealous of me, you know.
I'll upload what few pictures and videos I have later, since my camera died on me in the middle of the concert! -__-
