On Sunday, September 3, 2000, my friend and I were invited to a club called Lion's Den in New York City. We were informed that Ras Kimono (Kim as he's widely known) was scheduled to play at 10 p.m.
I wasn't very excited at the invitation because I didn't know what to expect. All I could think of were songs from Kim's debut like "stop dat break dance a rumba stylee" and "gimme likkle sugar for me tea." Catchy tunes, I must admit and I can't deny that those songs were part of my groove equation in those days, but I just wasn't in the mood for that kind of "reggae."
So, being Africans and trusting that the show would be late, we took our time and arrived at Lion's Den at about 11:45p.m.
We got there only to find Kim standing at the bar, watching another band on stage. Things were moving behind schedule as expected and we settled in to terrible sounds from the young Jamaican group on the stage.
About midnight, Kim and his band mounted the stage and opened with a Bob Marley classic "No woman, no cry." Kim then took the microphone and began what would become the first of many didactic speeches (in Jamaican Patois) during his performance. Yes, patois! Although his Igbo accent kept creeping in, he insisted on Jamaican Patois for his Jah, Rastafari talk.
During the first five minutes, I was content sitting down at the bar because my friend and I had determined that it would be in our best interest to hold on to the stool we had captured upon entering the bar. We decided we would dance in rotation and our dance partners, the male friends we met at the club, seemed okay with that.
Eventually, after I realized that my friend had run off in betrayal to dance for about fifteen minutes, I decided to abandon the chair and take my rightful place on the dance floor.
Although I enjoyed much of the performance, I regretfully cannot give the title of a single song the band played.
He did renditions of great reggae hits but unfortunately, his own style is not very distinct.
I think Ras Kimono has great talent but if he wants to break out of the bar circuit and into the big time, he needs to perfect his own style. I don't care if he blends reggae with house, techno or atilogu beats; I just would like to hear something unique.
Sunday's performance unfortunately didn't do it for me but I still had jouvé to make up for it later that night.
Related Links
