Conscious Minds November to Remember 2 – Night of Divas

Soca Queen Destra Garcia
Soca Queen Destra Garcia

Divas, both big and small (and fluffy and slim) congregated at the Guyana National Stadium for Conscious Minds’ “November to Remember 2 – Night of the Divas” concert last Saturday, November 17, 2012.

I understand that with November being the month to raise awareness for Domestic Violence, head of Conscious Minds thought it wise and timely to hold an event showcasing Caribbean Dancehall & Soca Divas. However, he neglected to include his own Guyanese divas but I guess we’ll discuss that later, first let me tell you about the show.
The show was hosted by Lisa Punch and Mondale Smith. Lisa, though not slated to perform opened up with a song (a song the DJ took forever to find) before she introduced the first act of the evening. Rags up! Flags up! If you’re not a soca loving diva then you would really find it hard to appreciate Destra Garcia’s music. Bringing the revelry and excitement of Carnival, Destra took us from hits to hits of her sweet sweet soca music. Many of the stiletto wearers decided to forego their ridiculous heels for flats to jump and frolic around to hits such as Max It Up, In D Air, Carnival, Jumpin’ and many more. She had patrons moving from one side of the stadium to the other. She even called a young lady from the crowd to represent for the Guyanese ladies. No one from the VIP opted to represent so a very willing young girl from General jumped the barricade to join Destra on stage. Her jumping did not go in vain because she surely didn’t disappoint.

Denise "Saucy" Belfon

In the middle of her performance Destra introduced on stage with her another one of Trinidad’s soca sensations, Denise ‘Saucy Wow’ Belfon. Saucy wasted no time in getting down to business and displaying her agility as she did the bicycle and many other gyrations. She even schooled the divas on what to do to their men when they got home, I hope many took notes. Saucy Wow’s energetic performance featured hits such as “Saucy Baby” and one of the best impersonations of Tina Turner’s song, “Private Dancer”. Destra got back on stage and the soca duo performed “Obsessive Winers” together before Destra finished off her performance and culminated the soca aspect of the show. Yes, I can tell you that many persons were dripping at the end of all that wining.

Tanya Stephens
Tanya Stephens

From Trinidad to Jamaica, from soca to dancehall, from the revelry of Carnival to stimulating social commentary, from the soca queen to the dancehall queen, from Destra to Tanya Stephens. The ladies (and surprisingly some men) all rushed to the front of the stage to get a little closer to Tanya. Women respect Tanya because they can relate to each and every one of her songs, some of the few she shared included “Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet”, “Tek Him Back”, “Boom Wuk”, “It’s a Pity”, “What a Day”, “Good Ride”, “These Streets” and many more. A for Amazing Tanya!

Spice

The show got a little hyper when dancehall diva Spice came on stage, the very vulgar Ms. Jim Screechie , who looked much better in her outfit last night then the clown suit she wore in August belted out the few tracks she has and then invited fluffy Pamputae on stage with her. Pamputae might be fluffy but she can move thus her recent single Slim vs. Fluffy which she sang with help from Spice and two girls, one fluffy and one slim from the crowd. The fluffy girl outdid the slim girl just like the song says. LOL. Pamputae ended her performance with her signature “Pat Yuh Pu$$y” and left Spice on stage who did an amazing but very raw rendition of the Power of Love.

Dancehall Queen Lady Saw
Dancehall Queen Lady Saw

The last diva to grace the stage was the Queen of Dancehall, the one, the only Lady Saw who got right down to business by taking off her heels and belting out hits such as “If Him Lef”, “Woman Mi Name”, “Sycamore Tree”, “Gal No Worry”, “Wife a Wife”, “Hardcore (It’s Raining)”, “It’s a Pity”, “Push

Over” and concluded with her very recent “Heels On”.
The show was an epic one I must say. Kudos to the Divas!
But I would have really liked to have at least two Guyanese divas on stage maybe Timeka Marshall & Jackie Hanover (sticking to the dancehall genre) and one last thing before I go, why was the show so scarcely attended?

Click to view album –> November to Remember 2 – Night of Divas

Conscious Minds Entertainment: Night of the Diva’s cast gets bigger

Spice, Tanya Stephens, Pamputtee join cast 

The Conscious Minds Promotions has released several more mega caribbean dancehall and reggae queen names to add to the ‘November to Remember 2’ cast for the true experience of ‘The Night of the Divas’ mega concert. The event is billed for November 17 at the National Stadium, Providence.
The promotions group that is continuing its drive to add to the development of the entertainment industry has announced that in addition to Dance Hall self styled Grammy Award Winner Misses Lady Saw the other names carded for the Jamaican segment of the show now includes Spice who has hits such as ‘Ramping Shop,’ ‘Slim vs. Fluffy’ and ‘Jim Screechie, the fluffy and sexy diva-luscious Pampute of fluffy gyal fame, and Gaza Kim. As if that line up is not enough all conscious vibes, truth seeking ladies and men who want to dig into the women’s secret bag of emotions and tricks the very conscious vibes lyricist Tanya Stephens. A mega soca line up out of Trinidad is likely to be named shortly as’ the night of the divas’ event is said to be one to celebrate and showcase the different sides of women in the face of all the hurts, disappointments and successes she is still as a rose.

Lady Saw
Lady Saw

Lady Saw
Since bursting on to the music scene in 1994 Marian ‘Lady Saw’ Hall has produced eight and counting albums to her name such as ‘Lover Girl’, ‘Give me a reason,’ ‘walk out,’ ‘my way’ and 99 ways etc. Lady Saw received a gold certification from the R.I.A.A. for “Smile” with Vitamin C, a triple-platinum certification from the R.I.A.A. for “Underneath It All”, her 2003 collaboration with No Doubt, and a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Duo or Group for her featured performance on No Doubt’s single “Underneath It All”. She recorded such songs as “Freedom of Speech” and enjoyed a big hit in Jamaica with “Hardcore” in 1985, which was followed up with “Welding Torch.” She also recorded “Condom,” warning girls of the dangers of unprotected heterosexual sex. Lady Saw recorded duets with major stars, including Beenie Man, Luciano, Dennis Brown, Bounty Killer and Beres Hammond.

By the mid-1990s she moved away from slackness towards “conscious” lyrics. In 1999 she had a major hit in the United States with “Smile”, recorded with Vitamin C, which peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, also a major hit in New Zealand and Canada, and certified gold with over 500,000 sales. In 2002, her collaboration with No Doubt, “Underneath It All”, which reached number three in the US and sold more than three million copies, reaching triple platinum certification. The track won a Grammy Award for’Best Performance by a Duo or Group’. Lady Saw is the first female deejay to win a Grammy Award and to be certified as a triple-platinum artist and is also touted as the first woman to headline dancehall shows outside her native Jamaica. She launched her own record label, Divas Records, in January 2010 and has since released a single ‘no less than a woman,’ a song that addresses the issue of women who have not been able to birth a child of their own. The Lyrics that encourages women to understand “ not having a child don’t make you any less than a woman, I got so much love to give to so much unwanted kids” as message that mirrors he life experience.

Spice
Spice

Spice returns yet again
The ‘Jim Screechie queen’, Spice, is billed to return after two high-energy performances in Guyana and is promising an even more exciting return. Guyana knows her capabilities on stage as while she was originally contracted for one Guyanese performance, Spice made such an impression on her Guyanese fans, that she was immediately booked by yet another promoter for another event the following day. She is quoted as stating “I love my Guyanese fans. It was such great energy and the vibe was really crazy for both events. The turnout, even for the last-minute event was phenomenal, but it just shows what can happen when you hit the stage with a great set and give the fans their money’s worth.” The mother of two, made the radical decision to hit the stage one week after the birth of her daughter, NichoLatoya and stated back then that “… I’m a naturally assertive person and I go after anything I want. I was in a position where I was physically fit to hit the stage again, so why hold back?”
The deejay is known for her’spicy’ tracks, Fight Ova Man, Ramping Shop (featuring the equally controversial, Vybz Kartel), Back Broad, Slim vs. Fluffy (featuring Pamputtae), Jim Screechie and others.

“Tony is a fabulous producer and his stuff has always been mainly cross-over material. With the two tracks, fans can definitely expect the unexpected. In the same way that Jim Screechie caught persons off-guard because they didn’t expect that kind of flow from me, the two songs are gonna do that,” she says. Her other songs include ‘I Wanna Know’ and Keep It All as well as ‘Me Good’.

Tanya Stephens ready to give conscious diva vibes.
Be it the National Park or a club Tanya Stephens has proven that she’s all about lyrics and message to empower women and to dish the dirt on reality for men to wake up and celebrate their women despite. She’s been to Guyana on several occasions and somehow fans can never get enough of her no matter what and she’s ready to dish the unadulterated truth be it a little white lie, a good ride, on these streets. This mother of a teenage daughter is not afraid to dish it to the man (the powers that be) or the KKK and she’ bold enough to tell a married man lustfully that ‘it’s a pity’ or ‘you nuh ready feh this yet. ‘ Her Repertoire is endless and she’s ready to serve it all up to her Guyanese fans.

The ‘Night of the Divas’, set for November 17

Lady Saw
Lady Saw

Entertainment lovers are advised to mark their calendars to experience a night of mega Caribbean entertainment. On November 17 Conscious Minds Promotions is set to serve up an all female cast for a ‘November to Remember 2’ mega concert.

Dubbed “The night of the DIVAS” the stadium is already booked and artistes have begun to sign their contracts for the mega inter-regional entertainment event.

On November 17 the event’s lineup brings together acts from Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica, and Guyana at the National Stadium, Providence. The lineup includes Queen of the Dance Hall ‘Lady Saw’ and at least five other Caribbean divas spanning the Soca and Dance Hall genres. Event Promoter Iana Lewis says “the idea is to unite the Caribbean women for a night of mega entertainment while celebrating, liberating and empowering women in the face of all the domestic violence that has caused many women to be dead or badly injured.”

Mondale Smith, Public Relations officer said, “This is one of two mega shows that we have got planned for the year as part of efforts to add to the national entertainment product and while it’s a divas concert, it’s for the men to come out with and celebrate their women.”

The last mega event staged stage by Conscious Minds promotions was the ‘I’m ok’ concert headlined by Bennieman and Destra along with Ritchie Loops. That show was sponsored by Banks DIH and Digicel Guyana and was attended by in excess of 10,000 satisfied patrons.

I’m Ok Concert

Destra GarciaEven as the day draws closer to the staging of the Conscious Minds Promotions concert  at the National Stadium  Corporate citizens Banks DIH through its Guinness and Banks Beer brands as well a Digicel has thrown their sponsorship weight behind the Christmas Gift to ensure that entertainment seekers on the local shores have a “Merry Christmas” at an affordable cost of $1000.  Public Relations Officer to the event Mondale Smith said that Beenie Man will not only be entertaining the masses with his high energy style for this event along with Future Fambo and Richie Loops. ” We have added a soca component that  caters to soca lovers to the cards and  that high energy will come from Trinidadian Soca Queen Destra Garcia live on stage. Smith said that both artistes are “coming with their bands and admonished that it’s now a ‘Dance Hall King Beenie Man meets Soca Queen Destra concert.”

He said that more details will be made available about the concert but informed  that plans are accelerating  even as sponsors are responding very favorable to the promotion.

Over the years we’ve seen the likes of many international shows brought to Guyana by various promoters but only few have been able to attract thousands to venues such as the National Park and The National Stadium. Those shows include events promoted by local businessman Lennox Lewis and included the ‘November to Remember’ in 2008 which featured Vybes Kartel and the Portmore Empire, Erup, Konshens, Bugle, Future Fambo, Spice and De Angel.   Prior he had staged a Pre-Easter Bashment that featured Busy Signal, Demarco, Tony Curtis and Daville. In 2007 the Pre-Fathers Night Bashment featured:  Tanya Stephens, Natural Black and DYCR.

This concert comes after a  two year promotions hiatus and will also feature a line up of local acts. Promoter Lewis who resides between Guyana and Jamaica has informed that Guyana is his home and that he’s ready again to offer Guyana an international lineup of entertainers to add to the development of the local entertainment industry offerings for the festive season. The show is slated for staging on December 18th at the National Stadium.  In addition to the artistes being present to entertain, Jamaica’s RETV will be on location too to cover the event. Beenie Man is no stranger to the local shores and always attracts a large following of Guyanese.  The door remains open for more of corporate Guyana to jump onboard to give Guyana a most memorable Pre-Christmas event.

Lewis notes that in years past “all of our events have been violence free and well supported by the masses and we do not foresee that mode changing”.

He also noted that “As part of our plan we are proposing to give a minimum of 10 percent of the profits from this event to bring Christmas cheer to the children of the Joshua House Children’s Home”.