Popcaan Packs Gambian Stadium For First-Ever Performance In The Country
Popcaan’s ‘raving’ Gambian fans lived up to the promise they made in October to ensure that he got a capacity crowd at the Bakau Independence Stadium in Banjul on Saturday night, in what was his first-ever performance in the country long known as “The Smiling Coast of Africa”.
Popcaan was greeted like an Olympic champion at the Banjul International Airport, upon his arrival on Friday, and later during a motorcade prior to the show.
As he had promised he performed with his full band, for more than an hour, at the event which was held under the auspices of Absolute Entertainment. The Bakau Stadium reportedly has a 40,000 capacity. Standard tickets for the event were $1,000 Gambian Dalasis or about $18USD.
Hours following the event the Numbers Don’t Lie artist thanked his Gambian fans for what he described as a historic feat. “Thank you again to the smiling coast of Africa and @AbsoluiteEGm! We made history in the Gambia last night!” he tweeted.
He also shared a drone shot of the jampacked stadium grounds on Instagram and praised his Gambian fans for their turnout. “Lead by example, Gambia unruly roll out super heavy 👊🏿👊🏿👊🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿 thank you!!! #UNRULY,” he noted.
He also told his fans that he had lost his phone and that he was seeking their help to find it.
“Thank you Gambia it was a historical night now to my loyal fans find my iPhone and bring it to my hotel” he tweeted, evoking teasing messages from fans who said “unruly Gambians” must have snatched the device.
Thank you Gambia it was a historical night🙏🏿🙏🏿🔥🔥 now to my loyal fans find my iPhone and bring it to my hotel🤣
— Popcaan (@PopcaanMusic) January 16, 2022
Popcaan has been having the time of his life goofing around with monkeys at his place of residence during his trip.
In one of his videos, he appeared to have been videoing one of the primates when the animal jumped up and snatched an apple out of his hand and sprinted off, with an amused Popcaan in tow.
In another video Popcaan is seen shopping in a craft market, sporting a beaded necklace, then asking for his “lion stick”.
The impish artist also visited a location where he and a throng of Gambians stood in the presence of several stoic crocodiles. He hilariously captioned the video “Unu doe grimey 🤣😂”, using a line from Skillibeng‘s Crocodile Teeth.
The Gambia is the smallest country in West Africa. It has a short coast on the Atlantic Ocean but is otherwise completely surrounded by neighbouring Senegal. Slightly smaller than Jamaica, it has a square mileage of 11,000 square kilometres and a population of approximately 2.3 million.
Other contemporary Jamaican artists who have performed in The Gambia include Spice and I-Octane. However, the other artist, who is known to be well-loved in Gambia, is Sizzla Kalonji.
On Sizzla’s first visit to The Gambia in 2008, the country’s president invited the Black Woman and Child artist and his delegation to his Juramba Farm in Kanilai. Both men had spent the day, among other things, harvesting rice and discussing issues regarding repatriations, reparations and education, according to media reports.
Back then, Sizzla had also expressed a desire to become an honorary citizen of Gambia. He had also made a commitment to be a musical ambassador for Gambia and to serve as a bridge between the country and the Diaspora. He had also advocated that the President establish a Gambian Embassy in Jamaica.
The August Town native was also invited to be guest of honour at the wedding of Minister of Information and Communication, Honorable Fatim Badjie and was presented with an award by the Major General of The Gambian Army during an official meeting with the Jamaican and his delegation.
Sizzla later released a 12 track album titled The Gambia in 2012, under his Kalonji Records imprint. In May 2014, he was honoured by the government of The Gambia when he performed at a series of events in the country and served as cultural ambassador for the 11th staging of the Gambia Roots International Festival in Banjul.