Labor Day Sunday Jam: Featured Live performances from Ninja Band and X2

Ninja Band Members
Ninja Band Members

As usual the show started late and in addition to the late start technical difficulties were encountered. Nevertheless, patrons waited
patiently until the problem was resolved to be graced with Live performances from “Ninja Band” followed by Jumo Primo and Adrian Dutchin aka
X2. With an exceptional performance from the Ninja Band, X2 came on keeping the momentum by performing one of their hit song “Tic Toc” that had everyone moving on the dance floor.

X2: From Left Jumo Primo and Adrian Dutchin
X2: From Left Jumo Primo and Adrian Dutchin

The mature audience proved that age is nothing but a number when X2 selected two persons to come on stage and dance “somebody pussy cat get
away”. The man and woman would’ve put any young girl or boy to shame with their dance moves and antics; “talk about wickedness!”.
Unfortunately, we were only allowed to capture scenes from the performances on stage and not of the audience.

 

Patron: Getting jiggy with it
Patron: Getting jiggy with it

Regardless of that it was a decent event, Audience participation from X2 was the main thing that kept the crowd hype, bringing home back to some people who haven’t been in awhile, it was like there was a little Guyana in the building brought on by an impromptu salute to our national anthem which everyone sung without missing a beat. Then when they were in the process of ending the show with Palancing the power went down again and even though they tried to improvise they couldn’t hear themselves singing so the show ended on a dead note, literally!.

When the power was fixed again the DJ played, and If you weren’t too busy dancing you would have spotted “Kapa Shanti”, a Guyanese born reggae artist based in New York chilling with X2, also the well known and talented Director Mr. Brian Virgo who just rapped up the video of Jumo’s latest Single coming out at the end of September “Dying Days” written by Jumo himself. Check out the links.

View pictures from this event at –> GuyanaLive.com Gallery

By – Luanna Pedro

Introducing: GT Boy Kapa Shanti

Kapa ShantiBorn 1976 in Georgetown, Guyana, as Jomo Proctor, he attended Craig Nursery School and also had some of his primary schooling at the Houston Community Primary School, East Bank Guyana.

In 1986, he migrated to the USA where he completed his formal education by graduating from Staten Island College, New York, with an Associate Degree in Business Management.

He is at present a licenced carpenter for the Motor Transport Authority in New York.

Also known as Kapa Shanti, through his grandmother who was an active churchgoer, he enjoyed hearing his grandmother singing her song-keys.

While walking home from school he would hear reggae music blasting from music boxes of some his favourite artistes such as Gregory Isaacs, Freddy Mc Greggor, Bob Marley, Yellow-man etc.

But what really inspired him to pick up the microphone and following his dreams as a singer and performer happened one day while he was looking at an underground tape hosted by David Levy from Barbados now a radio DJ on one of the international channels in America (WBLS).

He saw Ninja Man, Lieutenant Stitchie and others performing, but none of them stood out and took him with amazement like Shabba Ranks. To him Shabba was his true inspiration to music.

Kapa Shanti said that his first performance in front of a live crowd was in a five-man competition. He finished fifth place. He felt so cheated although he knew that he was nervous and his legs were shaking like Elvis Presley’s. However, all in all he did not allow that experience to sway his musical desire.

His next big show was at Syracuse University in the USA when he opened for Machel Montano. There he got the confidence booster from the favourable crowd response to his performance. That was followed up by calls from various promoters to open for more and more big name artistes.

That list included Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, Pinchers, Sparrow, and many others among them Guyanese artistes Natural Black, Zebulun, First-Born, Yonnette Hooper, and Redemption.

Kapa Shanti has been recording continuously and recently he collaborated with Pinchers and Keisha Martin from Jamaica to produce a song to help raise funds for Haiti to help with the rebuilding process.

He has recorded several singles including the more popular songs such as Money and No Mata.
You can find Kapa Shanti at www.myspace.com/kapashantigt, and also on www.facebook.com/kapashanti. As he prepares to head Guyana’s way for the upcoming   Guyanese Music Splash on April 19 at Thirst Park and the Guyana Artistic Music awards on April 25 at the National Cultural Centre he is encouraging Guyanese to look out for his soon to be released album titled ‘Pressure DI Poor.’

By Mondale Smith