Venue, checked! Sound, checked! Light, checked! Best DJ in the business, checked! Best radio station on the airwaves, checked! and Best artistes in the game, also Checked!
If all these are properly checked, nothing can absolutely go wrong when you are organising the biggest outdoor party in Ghana.
Joy FM and DJ Black simply exceeded that. “We talking upper echelon Joy FM simply leads that club” [M.anifest’s ‘Damn you Rafiki’ rephrased to suit this occasion].
Saturday night – April 7 – at the University of Professional Studies (UPSA) Hostel had everything a perfect party had to offer. Like a woman blessed with the right contours and well-placed assets, DJ Black’s Open House Party was simply an ace!
By 7 pm, everything was already in place for a party that goes live at 8 pm. After fine-tuning the sound, DJ deck and making sure the stage and lights were on point, the show went live at 8 pm.
As the show got into to full gear, the students emerged in the numbers to occupy every inch of space the forecourt of the UPSA Hostel had to offer.
Singer Feli Nuna was the first to hit the stage to give students a fair idea of what the night had in stock.
Dressed in a light strawberry-coloured top with well-measured tight jeans to match, she wiggled and gyrated to the delight of thirsty students who were getting their party chromosomes fed. The ‘bad girl’ knew what they liked and fed them with some of her hit songs, including ‘Gelaway’.
After that ‘steamy’ performance, it was obviously clear to the students that the night was definitely going to be memorable.
Next was Tema-based rapper Stay Jay, who was introduced by the very beautiful Joselyn Dumas (if you were not there to see Joselyn, you simply missed. You can try calling a friend or relative at UPSA to give you the full gist!)
Stay Jay kicked off his performance with his smash hit ‘My Baby’ which featured Mugeez of R2Bees. Apart from performing other hits like ‘Shashee Wowo’, he laced his performance with some impressive freestyles.
Now the floodgates were open for back to back performances from the tall list of acts billed to perform at the event.
And here comes King Sark!
The entry of rapper Sarkodie might have caused an earth tremor! With loud cheers and screams, he was ushered on to the stage to do what he does best and boy, did he deliver!
Swaged up in a dark jacket, dark shades with light blue jeans and dark Timberland boots to match, one of the talented rappers of our time got down to business, delivering hit after hit. He later removed his jacket, probably because of the heat his performance had generated!
His performance was a perfect mix bag of what his music repertoire had to offer. He dished out hit tracts like, ‘RNS’, ‘You Go Kill Me’, ‘Original’, ‘Pizza & Burger’ and ‘Push’. The list was simply endless.
Then came Kidi, followed by Kuami Eugene. These Lynx Entertainment boys knew what the ladies wanted and they served it hot! From his new one, ‘Adiepena’ to ‘Odo’, Kidi was in his element.
Kuami Eugene on the other land kicked off his performance with ‘Rewind’, a collaboration with label mate MzVee, followed by ‘Boom Bang Bang’, ‘Angela’ and ‘Confusion’. Come and see the ladies!
4×4 dead?
What happened after the performances of these two young talents was interesting. Two members (Captain Planet and Coded) of the music group, 4×4 mounted the stage separately and interestingly didn’t acknowledge each other.
Captain Planet was first to perform and after performing a couple of songs including his smash hit, ‘Obi Agyi Obi Girl’, he swiftly left the stage and walked pass Coded, who had earlier turned down an invitation by the organisers to join his label mate on stage.
As soon as Coded hit the stage, he went straight to perform his controversial hit song, ‘Edey Pain Dem’. He simply dropped the mic after his performance!
Attempts by Myjoyonline.com to get Coded to explain why they refused to acknowledge each other proved futile.
The Open House Party, which is in collaboration with the SRC and JCR UPSA, was, however, still lit!
There were back to back performances. Lil Shaker and Kojo Cue, Wanlov the Kubolor, Efo Chameleon, Darko Vibez, Dopenation, Strongman, Eno, D-Black, Wisa Greid, and Dahlin Gage.
2016 ‘Artiste of the Year’, E.L burst on to the stage with such alacrity! He was simply poised for action. He got the packed crowd singing and rapping along to every song he performed.
The tall rapper, dressed in an all-black attire, served some of his hit songs, including ‘Koko’, ‘Mi Naa Bo Po’ and ‘Lalafalama’ hot and they simply loved every bit.
The last act of the night, Teephlow came to prove to everyone he wasn’t there to single but to rap! Something he does with aptness! His level of dexterity when it comes to rap left many in awe.
This could be seen on the face of a fan, who wore a red pullover hoodie. As Teephlow did justice to his songs, including ‘Phlowducation’, the fan, just like others, was simply amazed at the lyrical might of the rapper, who is in contention for the ‘Rapper of the Year’ at the 2018 Ghana Music Awards.
Teephlow brought the mammoth Open House Party to a perfect end just some few minutes to 1 am.
Apart from DJ Black and Joselyn Dumas, the event was also attended by some of Joy FM’s stars, including Israel Laryea, Daniel Dadzie, Kojo Yankson, Sammy Forson, George Wiafe, Kofi Ansah and Benedict Owusu.
After an epic night, which had the cloths of the thousands in attendance soaked in sweat, one patron simply shouted: “DJ Black you are a legend!”
