Yesterday, Bajah and The Dry Eye Crew did a free show in Hudson Square. After my first exposure to this reggae style dance hall , rap group hailing from Sierra Leone about 3 weeks ago, I was aching to see them spit live, so yesterday was my lucky day.
I can already tell you now that the key word for this post is going to be ENERGY. Lets start with most of the audience upon my arrival; not so much of it, mainly bc this was sponsored by City Wine, which obviously has its key demographic its targeting, and lets just say, the first people i struck up a conversation with, ( I have been talking to just about anyone and everyone concerning my Aug 21st 4TheLove Music Fest at Don Hills,) didn’t even know that Bajah and his crew were performing.
No worries, I thought, they weren’t going on for a few more minutes so I’m sure a more real crowd will surface. After finding my friend Inge and meeting some of her friends, I realized there were in fact some real music lovers in the midst of this event, I felt better.
Bajah had a very very legit band playing with him, which I didn’t expect: bassist, guitarist, drummer, ( Grammy award winner), trumpeter, and some chick killin the keyboards. And let me just say now before I forget, that they were awesome! One of the best ‘back up’ bands I’ve ever seen at a show, and none of what I am about to share with you about Bajah and his Crew would be true without them.
Two minutes into show, standing about 50-70 feet back from stage, (quite unlike me, but I was with Inge and Co. and she was quite cool), and then almost like a magical spell straight out of Harry Potter, I was drawn to the front, completely uncontrollable. Bajah and The Dry Eye Crew came out with so much ENERGY off break with their first song, at 5:30 in the afternoon, playing behind a restraint, in a parking lot, it honestly felt a bit unreal. This energy they were giving out to those in attendance was amazing, and I had no choice but to move my lanky self right to the front and try and absorb as much energy as i could from these talented musicians from Africa.
From the time they started their first song until they finished their last, every member of the band was dancing, moving to the music, jumping, doing the Jacky Jacky, non-stop, no exceptions, and again this dance energy was contagious. Slowly, more and more people started moving to front and busting out their best 1,2 step, and we’re not talking about anything too fancy here, this is reggae, not too hard to vibe with.
I was in a trance, loving every minute of it. They did most songs from their CD, tried to teach everyone how to “Jacky Jacky” which is the title of a song, with a dance to go with it. One of the back up rappers explained it in laments terms, “You go to the right, you go to the left, its the Jacky Jacky.” Riiiight. Great explanation, but its easier to grasp when watched, it is basically what he said, plus they just released a video, so now you and your friends can learn to Jacky Jacky too. How exciting!
Covering Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes,” got a great reaction from the crowd, they obviously put their own Dry Eye Crew stamp on it by adding their own hot fire rap to Simons reggae-ified melody. Really great song.
It helped me better understand the band seeing them live because by listen, its hard to tell who is rapping what, but with a live show its obviously evident that each of the three rappers, Bajah, AKlazz, and Dovy, have a slightly different style, which compliments the bands sound, superbly. One, I think AKlazz, was more of a reggae singer/rapper keeping the feel very chill; one gave off a dance hall vibe, more upbeat with the music, helping me keep my rhythm; and Bajah, who also sang, delivered his raps very deliberately and with a lot of force, taking care of the hip/hop rap feel for the band.
In case you have been skimming, I would like to point out how much energy these guys had on stage, even now at 3:30 in the morning, it still gets me quite excited,( not like that, odd cause it is 3:30 in the morning), just thinking about being there.
If you missed it too bad, you really missed out, but hey they are playing again this Friday at The High Line Ballroom, tickets avail via their website.