Teejay, Sean Paul Perform At Madison Square Gardens Hip-Hop Celebration Concert
Dancehall artists Sean Paul and TeeJay performed at the Hot 97 ‘50 Years Of Hip-Hop’ show at Madison Square Gardens last night during a sold-out show, which also featured French Montana, Wu-Tang Clan, Mary J. Blige, Diddy, and EPMD.
TeeJay, whose real name is Timoy Jones, shared some photos of himself alongside American rapper Coi Leray as well as French Montana during Friday’s proud moment.
Sean Paul also shared a series of photos on Saturday, writing in the caption: “NYC it’s always a blessin being back in the Big Apple RRR!!! Nuff luv n respec to all these legends and those who continue to contribute to the culture #HipHop50 #DancehallNahStall.”
It has undoubtedly been a series of wins for TeeJay this year. His hit song Drift and its accompanying dance has opened windows of opportunities for him. In a release, he explained that he just took a risk by deviating from his regular tunes when he voiced the track.
“You know, it’s pretty simple to explain. It’s not that lyrical because I realized people only want a melody and something to dance to nowadays. I got the beat from Panda the Producer and wrote it in less than an hour,” he said.
The release added that the singer was “personally invited by the legendary Funk-Master Flex to perform on his set for the Hip Hop Forever event.”
Last night’s timely show was as yet another one of the music fraternity’s attempts to celebrate Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary. Supporters of the genre have seen several tributes at different major award shows, showing respect for the culture and those who have helped to keep the legacy alive for the past five decades.
In June, Spice, Skillibeng, and Dexta Daps were all part of the tribute at the BET Awards. More fittingly, DJ Kool Herc, the Jamaican has been dubbed as the Father and founder of Hip-Hop will, in November, be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and honored with the Musical Influence Award.
Herc will become the third Jamaican to be inducted into the Rock Hall, after Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff, who were honored in 1994 and 2010, respectively.
The induction ceremony will take place on Friday, November 3, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Kool Herc will join the likes of Missy Elliot and Willie Nelson, both artists who have recorded with multiple Dancehall and Reggae artists in the past, as 2023 inductees.
Meanwhile, The Marketplace Entertainment Centre for the Arts, popularly known as Club MECA will host its own Hip-Hop anniversary celebrations on the weekend of October 12. In an article published by the Jamaica Gleaner MECA’s CEO, Michael Dawson noted that it would have been remiss of them not to honour the genre’s milestone.
“Hip hop culture has Jamaica in its DNA, literally, with the legendary Jamaican Kool Herc as its founder so we must honour them and the genre. The genre has numerous foundation artistes including Heavy D, Busta Rhymes, Slick Rick, Pepa – our Caribbean cousins Doug E Fresh and FUBU’s Daymon John and rap legend Notorious B.I.G. who became and still is a dominant force,”Dawson said.
“He added, “And we have Nicki Minaj and Rihanna and many others emerging from our region and following in the footsteps of the legends before them so we absolutely have to celebrate the music in a special way on local soil. I think with our history of celebrating Jamaica’s rich cultural legacy, MECA is the perfect spot to do also pay tribute to the genre birth here.”
At the time of publication, Dawson said that they are finalizing specially invited guests.