Last Friday night, history was made as some of Africa’s biggest stars came together to shut down Brooklyn. The Barclays Center was on another level thanks to a line up including Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Jidenna, Davido, Diamond Platnumz, Seun Kuti, Machel Montano, Flavour, Don Jazzy, Timaya, Stonebwoy, Ayo Jay, and Praiz. The spirit of African music engulfed the room as fans danced relentlessly all night long. It’s seldom that a concert would generate more dancing than singing but it truly felt like a party as the performers were definitely pulling out some of their best moves as well. Host and R&B sensation Banky W kept the momentum up as he addressed societal tensions while assuring fans the night was geared towards celebrating life despite the hardships we are all facing in our communities. Aside from witnessing back to back elating performances, we learned that Soca King Machel Montano and Nigeria’s own Timaya may have a joint project in the works. Rapper Wale was also scheduled to take the stage but he had to cancel due to the arrival of his first born child.
Tiwa Savage was the only female slated to perform and she definitely held her own, wrapping her set with the massive hit “Eminado” along side Don Jazzy. The young phenom Davido was all the way turned up and brought the crowd to one of their liveliest peaks as they all uniformly gyrated their skelewu.
Wizkid as expected, brought the night to an electrifying end with all his sauce. Aside from the fact that he has too many hits… he has too many hits. Just when you thought the Starboy was going to come down off his high, he brings out one of the Kings of New York, Swizz Beatz. Unfortunately, time was not on his side as he wanted to keep the show going but DJ Tunez, his official DJ, had been unplugged by show coordinators.
Though the event was called “One Africa,” the room was filled with an assortment of music lovers from various backgrounds who attended to enjoy the feel good vibrations. Fortunately, the show was wildly successful and will serve to pave the way for more shows of this nature to be welcomed in the future.
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Photo Credit: Ishmail Alghali
