Entertainment

Ninja Man fires up Compari Fuel crowd

By KANDRÉ MCDONALD, Freelance Writer

WHEN NINJA MAN walked on stage shortly after 5 a.m. last Saturday at Windsor Lawn in St. Ann's Bay, the crowd became ignited with excitement.

Ninja Man walked across the stage in front of Elephant Man and Mr Lex, who were on stage at the time performing, and stooped at the front of the stage posing for the crowd. They yearned for him to get a hold of the microphone. When he got the microphone, the mood in the crowd took a swing. The patrons who looked drowsy and who were barely reacting to Elephant Man, seemed to have forgotten that they were standing for hours.

These patrons at the third staging of Campari Fuel 2005 finally had a reason to shout, roar, laugh and push their 'gun fingers' in the air to meet the early Saturday morning sun as it crept over the mountains. The Ninja had arrived.

Though not booked to appear on the show, it was Ninja Man that actually took the cake.

First and foremost the 'Don Gorgon' addressed the Kartel issue saying that he is taking five years from the 'Alliance'.

Kingfish was then put under the microscope. "A war a gwaan a August Town and Sizzla sen' come tell mi seh him waan some gun fi barrow, now mi hear seh Kingfish tek it weh," he said. He then launched into a tune that said Kingfish will have to return his guns, and the patrons went out of control.

Freestyled

Ninja Man then freestyled about issues that Elephant Man brought up, and when asked to address the homo-sexual issue Ninja said plainly; "Mi naah nuh time fi talk bout nuh b.... bwoy, a wi mek dem important cause wi talk 'bout dem too much." The crowd loved him.

His focus was now on the new artistes in the music business. "Whey day yah as soon as a artiste buss him a par wid a whole heap a man, mi nuh like that," he blurted out as the crowd cringed with laughter. He then did a tune titled Naah Walk Wid Nuh Bag a Man as the crowd absorbed every bit of it.

Ninja not only injected life into the proceedings but also into Elephant Man's performance. The 'Energy god' was going at it hard but the crowd's reaction was telling a fatigued tale.

Soon Ninja Man and Elephant Man were calling for Beenie Man and Capleton, whom they claimed were in the crowd, to share the stage with them for the early morning ride. Neither of them materialised, however.

There were also performances by the Fifth Element Crew, Lady Saw, Macka Diamond, Spice, Little Hero, and others. The other person to 'run the place' during his stint was selector Fire Links who 'dropped' a fiery set.

Links' stint was almost disrupted by a member of Fantan Mojah's crew. Mojah pushed through the crowd with his entourage and a member of his crew was about to step on the stage when Links glanced at him and said: "Hey Rasta a who yuh a romp wid?" The flag bearing Rastafarian then disappeared.

When Mojah finally got the microphone it took some doing to get it from him. He overstayed his time and insisted that the patrons listen to him as he went about his social, religious and political commentary, something the crowd did not welcome.