Imagine a room full of people with amazing energies. A place where people of different ages and races connected together because of music, well I did exactly that. I imaged myself in an atmosphere whereby I could see some of the most amazing artists perform on one stage and just when I thought that I was still imagining all I heard was…
“Martin had a dream, Kendrick had a dream” – as soon as those words uttered out of Kendrick’s mouth the entire crowd made a noise. It was at that moment when everybody had realized that the Hip Hop legend has stepped onto the stage. Johannesburg Stadium came to life on the 8th of February 2014 when thousands of Hip Hop fans gathered together to experience one of the most amazing shows which was presented specially by Miller Boomtown.
As soon as I stepped into the stadium I knew that it was going to be an amazing night. The place was full of people with different fashion attires and looks. Some of them probably went to bed trying to memorize lyrics from Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.a.a.d City album. The queues outside were ridiculous but nobody was willing to turn back, yes they all stood in those long lines and waited until they got into the stadium.
The evening was packed with hot performances: Yfm’s Dj ZanD got things started before 5 FM’s Ms Cosmo got on stage with an innovative DJ set that included a violinist! Mr Pop Bottles himself Dj Dimplez had the final DJ set and he surprised everyone when he brought out Red Button, SFS, Emmy Gee & AB Crazy to perform various hits from his upcoming album. Blayze & Cassper Nyovest got the crowd amped before Reason hopped on stage on “Steve Biko” performing some refreshingly new material before bringing out his mentor Tumi from The Volume, Ginger Bread Man, Maggz, Riky Rick, Mariechan and Kabela Mabalane aka Bouga Luv to perform with him.
Just a bit before 22.00 3-time SAMA winner Khuli Chana got on stage with his Morafe cohort, KG. Mr Chana Power did not dissappoint killing his performance with his hits “Tswa Daar” & “Mnatebawena” before bringing out TKZ legend Magesh & Jozi member Da LES to perform his new hit “Hape 2.1”. The South African artists really performed to their best of their ability.
But it was the main act Kendrick Lamar who stole the spotlight as he got on stage and stared at the entire crowd for a while whilst everybody started to yell out “Kendrick Kendrick Kendrick”. For a moment it looked like he was about to cry. He performed some of his hit songs such as “Poetic Justice”, “Backseat Freestyle” and “Sing About Me”. “I know some of yol are here because you’ve got different problems in your lives” he stated as he got really intimate with the crowd, getting them to light up their phones whilst he was on stage. He connected with the crowd with every song he performed.
He even brought out his 2 nephews to perform his platinum selling single “Swimming Pool/Drank” before getting off stage leaving the crowd screaming “We want more”. He got back on stage to perform an encore declaring the Joburg crowd as the best crowd he has seen in a while and promising “I will be back!” as the night came to an emphatic end.
Hip Hop has taken a different root – it has grown to a point whereby it connects different artists together. When artists can look beyond their backgrounds and differences and perform on the same stage to produce pure magic. Everybody left Johannesburg Stadium feeling like they had the best experience.
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