by Takudzwa Chihambakwe
In the last few years Zimbabwe has hosted various Jamaican reggae/dancehall artists, some have delivered and others have found the going tough. But in the case of Busy Signal, it was a display of inimitable class that will leave any serious local dancehall act thinking of how to reach such levels.
Like he sings in his popular track ‘Dreams of Brighter Days’, “…….highest grades we blaze……” it was evident that the brother man was indeed taking his notes from a peculiar source that make him standout from the rest.
Backed by a four-piece band that had a dexterous drummer, precise keyboard player, a solid bassist and a very cool lead guitarist, the Jamaican star got the packed Glamis Arena roaring from the start till the end of his set.
Dropping hits such as ‘One More Night’, ‘Bedroom Bully’, ‘Watch Out for This’, ‘Professionally’ amongst many others, Busy got the crowd dancing, waving and singing to his heavy vibes.
“Busy Signal does not shortchange people, I don’t give 50 percent. No! I give you the best,” were the words of Busy as he took some moments to speak to the jovial crowd. “I have been to a number of African countries but I must say that the Zimbabwean crowd is the best. What we having here is really powerful and wanna say much love to everybody up in this place,” he added.
As he stated in his statement, indeed he was delivering real music. His flawless act made it clear that the band knows its stuff reflected in their clean jacks, smooth transitions from one track to the other and clarity in their execution.
The Jamaican also showed his maturity as a musician by refusing to succumb to pressure from the fans for him to sing his hit track, ‘Dreams of Brighter Days’. He instead told them to relax and he began to sample some of his new material which the crowd gladly accepted.
It was just after 3 am on October 25, 2015 that Busy then sung the track nearly everyone was waiting for, ‘Dreams of Brighter Days’ and the moment felt like it was time to sing the national anthem before a soccer world cup final.
One could feel the emotions rising in the atmosphere. In these tough times Zimbabwe is going through, such a song gives hope to many and the impact was literally tangible.
The song brought back memories from 35 years ago when yet anther Jamaican artist, Bob Marley ushered Zimbabwe into a new day, a brighter day. This was the same feeling the track brewed, and indeed Zimbabwe’s brighter day is coming.
Local artists who performed included Chibaba, Soul Jah Love, Chairman ,Killer T, Mabhanditi front man, Seh Calaz and Dadza D.
First Published in Zimbo Jam.
Busy Signal will be heading to Malawi to perform at the Sand Music Festival, a three day music festival starting on October 30 at Sunbird Livingstone Beach.
THE ZIMBABWE MASS TURF CHOIR