Jonathon “Bizz” Brown

Thursday we touched down in Edmonton and the level got turned way up. Inside the West Edmonton Mall, over 1000 excited fans rammed the biggest venue yet. Busta sauntered slowly on to the stage with a drawn out, swagger heavy strut that only he could pull off. Alongside Spliffstar, he jumped into Ante Up Remix and they both leaned left in unison as they rapped “Stay lopsided bust their gats cross eyeded in the subways they rob trains runnin along side it.” As you’d expect the crowd hit the roof with such an explosive opening song. He stopped for the second night in a row and explained the concept of “Arab Money” to anyone who may have been offended. “If you are offended by this song you misunderstand it.” It was clear he wanted to make a point of explaining the concept. After talking about the beauty of the Arab culture and people, he raised his glass to Barack Obama and said “Finally! Someone with a new perspective.”

The crowd was so alive they almost seemed nervous before the show started. But they loosened up after a few dance groups opened and then 9-0 Nickel sprinted on stage and shocked them out of their frozen state. DJ Dames Nellas got the crowd chanting HIP HOP AIN’T DEAD IT LIVES IN THE NORTH as I stood on stage holding up a t-shirt ready to give away. Peter Jackson followed wowing the crowd with his cadence. He even had a pre-recorded skit that drew praise from Spliffstar. “He asked me where I got idea for that skit. I told him we heard about old skits Busta and him used to do and worked off that. It also probably helped that we’ve been on tour with Naughty By Nature.”

Belly followed Jackson performing his new single “Hot Girl.” With the crowd on its toes, he seemed to slow down the pace of the show and lost a bit of the crowd before sinking his teeth into the first single off his last album “Pressure.” Ricochet of Ill Kidz held down the boards and acted as Belly’s hype man using his incredible voice to up the intensity.

The night was full of positive energy and beautiful people, but unfortunately Busta’s mood was polluted slightly when a fan started arguing and pushing others. Busta had just wished the crowd a peaceful evening so he stopped the music and singled out the unruly fan. He pointed out the irony of the fan’s behaviour and then had him ousted from the venue. After his disciplining was complete, he jumped back into the set and had both dance groups; Fly Girls and an Edmonton Krump group started battling beside the stage.

Even watching the entire show for a second night in a row I was just as enthralled with the show as I was in Calgary. Back On My B.S. in Regina next!