Afrobeats chaos adds drama to World Beats marathon at St Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival

NIGEL CAMPBELL

From early in the day on May 13, the picnic vibe was prominent at the St Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival, as evidenced by beach chairs, blankets and a general vibe looking for entertainment.

But African excellence was dashed by a report of an “altercation” between event organiser St Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) and one of the Afrobeats stars backstage, cutting their performance short and resulting in the non-performance of both Joeboy and advertised headliner Kizz Daniel.

Reports from an SLTA official said after hearing an Afrobeats artist, the DJ/hype man for the Afrobeats stars, freely used expletives to exhort the crowd, “Make some f---ing noise,” a high official of SLTA gave a stern warning to stop cursing onstage, since children were present at the family-oriented event.

The DJ apologised to the audience, admitting he had been unaware there were children present.

But after a second Afrobeats act cursed onstage, the official pulled the plug on the rest, including Joeboy and Kizz Daniel, who never left his hotel room.

A subsequent Instagram post from Joeboy offered an explanation: “We were not given a memo that we couldn’t use any curse words on stage...I was willing to perform but I was told I couldn’t and one of the promoters threatened to call security on us and also get us arrested.”

Up to the time of writing, no statement from SLTA was forthcoming.

Drama aside, the continued diversity of music made this event a grand experiment in building audiences. The main stage for world music featured Venezuelan band Alfredo Naranjo Quintet to add a Hispanic element to the Kwéyòl atmosphere of zouk and the African modernism.

World Beats night was a draw, as initial counts estimates more than 10,000 people were in Pigeon Island National Landmark park. Two stages graced the park to handle the number of acts appearing, with the second stage, dubbed the Bacchanal Stage, allowing popular local DJs Hollywood HP and Scady to accompany a number of Dennery Segment and bouyon artists. This focus effectively branded this stage as a kind of sales point for the upcoming St Lucia Carnival in July, with costumed dancers supporting, and featured carnival ads on the video screens.

St Lucians Kayo and Michael Robinson brought a popular and chauvinistic Lucian vibe as a precursor to the Africans and Kassav'. The modern R&B of Kayo may have been lost on the throngs beyond the front of stage yearning for zouk and original Afrobeats, not an inferior clone born in the West Indies. A relatively flat response was the result.

Robinson, however, was a hit, despite some onstage and offstage petulance. His onstage rant making the point of the live-performance editing of St Lucian artists was noteworthy. Music industries need indigenous talent to grow. Themed nights can be overdone by generic descriptives like “World Beats,” when every genre is thrown in to satisfy segmented niche markets. Collectively, this may not work, as modern music industries have narrowed down the listening habits of many via streaming.

There may also be a disadvantage to having such a large audience for a multi-genre show with two headliners defining the way to go. Two stages may allow smooth transition and continuous music, but audiences are now segmented. That crush of humanity may serve tourism goals, but the artist often gets left behind, and as the shows get longer, it seems as though the teething problems are self-inflicted.

The Afrobeats segment began with backing band Kingsmen showing their worth. First up was Oxlade. It has been noted that many Afrobeats artists are recording artists, not necessarily performing artists in a live situation. It was apparent here: there was a 60-foot-wide stage, but he was only using eight feet. His body language unfortunately said, "I can only fit on a cellphone screen, not a large stage with thousands spread out wide and deep.”

Afrobeats aesthetic follows a "bling bling" culture of early-2000s hip hop. Sweaters and shades in the heat of the Gros Islet night mimicked a kind of urban hipness and cool that is passé. Audience reaction was narrowed to one hit song and a hype man's exhortations; the DJ got more reaction by playing hits by other Afrobeats acts, who weren't present, than the artists here.

The performance aesthetics evolved with CKay, who was next. Better use of the stage was welcomed, but the same thick woollen sweater as a costume aping hip hop for an African in the tropics was bizarre. His voice was not strong – very nasal, without projection – and further emphasised the disappointingly low performance standard of these artists.

A media colleague here said they were “one-hit wonders for an audience that only now on hit.”

Luckily for Ayra Starr, and the audience, she has two major hits, Bloody Samaritan and Rush. Knowledgeably and teasingly dressed for dry-season weather, she sang and danced and had the audience, who looked like mainly young women, in the palms of her hands. This worked.

No one wanted to lose their space front and centre to see Kassav’ next; it was humorous to listen to the young people pressed against the media-pit barrier singing word for word the Dennery-segment tunes played and performed on the Bacchanal Stage, but not moving from their spot. International visitors were present as a roll call identified, "Anybody out there from..?”

Then came the advice, “If you sitting on the ground in the park and you get trample, don't blame the zouk.” Kassav’ entered, and for more than 90 minutes, St Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival was transformed.

Kwéyòl is an official language in St Lucia, and Lucians have the advantage of understanding the importance of Kassav’, beyond the hype. If language is the barrier to TT people's expanding their understanding of the beauty of Caribbean music, then they are doomed. This performance would be lost on them, except that the music and driving rhythms could transform any dormant being with a soul.

This intense and moving performance was a tribute to band founder Jacob Desvarieux, who recorded a duet in 2019 with Machel called Dancè. Long-time lead singer Jocelyne Béroard was a smiling presence who made the transition from Jacob’s passing easier to accept. Continuity was guaranteed. And the whole thing was in Kwéyòl. The old choreography may signal a kind of nostalgia, but this band is still slick, clean and fun. This music and band is no passing fad, and it showed.

Tomorrow: The Ultimate Celebration, featuring Sting, Shaggy and more.