Entertainment

Mary J. Blige sizzles, LL Cool J fizzles at Sumfest

By: Brittany Somerset

MONTEGO BAY – LL Cool J was this year’s international hip-hop headliner at Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest, filling the slot that 50 Cent occupied last year.

At a press conference before the event, when asked by a reporter how LL manages to stay on top of his game after approximately 20 years in the business, LL replied, “When you love something, it is never complete.”

He defended questions regarding exploitation of women in rap videos by stating that women who appear in these videos have a choice whether or not to be in them, and that they are compensated well for their participation. He elaborated, “As long as there is a market for this type of imagery from a demanding public, then the public has to accept part of the responsibility for this imagery.”


LL Cool J

He further stated stopping the exploitation doesn’t begin with the rap videos, but rather around the family dinner table, in the home, and concluded his comments with just as women have the choice not to appear in the videos, similarly viewers have a choice not to watch them. His comments were greeted with a consensus of agreement and applause. He praised Jamaica as “Bob Marley country” and stated, at the risk of sounding cliché, he grew up on Bob Marley and has had about 19 copies of Bob Marley’s greatest hits CD stolen from his house over the years, a comment which drew appreciative laughter from the assembled media personnel. He was excited to participate in Sumfest, stating he has been to Jamaica several times for vacation, but this would be his first time performing.

While on stage, he seemed to be having problems with his oversized, diamond encrusted belt and kept fiddling with it, while his lyrics were being played, regardless of the fact that his lips weren’t moving, causing viewers to speculate whether or not he was lip synching.

At one point, he called several female fans to the stage, and they quickly began clamoring up the 5-foot riser, some flashing cellulite and panties in their quest to get up on stage with him. He danced with all of them on stage, yet seemed slightly repulsed by their attempts to wind down on him and gyrate against him, preferring to keep the dancing women at arms length. One female fan started wiggling her backside against him in true Jamaican form. Slightly taken aback, he said to the audience, “Well that was a bit much!” If any of these girls had hopes of piquing LL’s interest with their dirty dancing techniques, they were clearly barking up the wrong tree. In between singing his old hits like, “Around The Way Girl” and “I Need Love” he licked his lips repeatedly, as if he were suffering from tardive dyskinesia.


LL Cool J

While LL’s performance was definitely well-received at Sumfest, this year’s top foreign attraction was clearly Mary J. Blige. Drawing an equal number of screams and cheers from men and women alike, the crowd absolutely adored Mary.

In between her classic, trademark, heartfelt Rhythm and Blues songs, Mary gave poignant speeches about times in her life when she felt completely down and out and how the audience, her fans, were her therapist, and she was theirs. She passionately expressed conquering her demons towards those who “rolled their eyes and kissed their teeth” at her, and mimicked a detractor’s taunts of “Who do you think you are, Mary?” by emphatically answering, “Who do I think I am? I think I AM SOMEBODY!” which was greeted by thunderous applause from the audience, who were in complete agreement that Miss Mary was indeed somebody.

Several members of the audience were brought to tears by Mary’s inspirational words of encouragement and continued to scream for her long after she left the stage.

Related Articles

Back to top button