The entertainment community in New York was ignited by the invasion of one of Jamaica’s most prominent dancehall/reggae artist Konshens, this past Labor Day Weekend.
Arriving in New York on Friday, August 31, Konshens was scheduled to perform at one of New York’s biggest Reggae shows, Hot97 Reggae Tip. Performing for his first time on Hot97 Reggae Tip Konshens dealt with the stage like a seasoned veteran. Being introduced by New York’s Hot97 radio personality Jabba and Bronx Dream Team ‘Platinum Kids’, Konshens would open his set with fans favorite “Bad Gyal”. The females began to scream as he made his entrance onto the stage, followed by his hit single “Gyal A Bubble” . From the begining of his set to the end, Konshens had the 4000 filled to capacity venue jumping.
On Saturday, September 1, Konshens next stop was Brooklyn, the heart of the carnival fever during New Yorks Labor Day weekend. He was the only Jamaican artist on the line up, scheduled to perform at the annual Soca event called Brass and Glow, held at Pulse 48 Nite Club. It was about 2:15 am and when asked “who are you here to see” the crowd would respond in unison, KONSHENs. Immediately you heard, from off stage, “How da Party Ya Look So”, and the rest was pure jumping and waving. The crowd sang every single song word for word and would request an encore when he sang “Simple Song”.
After his performance Konshens stopped to take a few photos and was immediately rushed in the vehicle to another event he was scheduled to headline in Bronx, NY at the Garage Nite Club, hosted by Platinum Kids. Arriving at 3:30 am the venue was filled to capacity with women. With no time to waste and eager to give his fans a full performance, Konshens headed to the stage. He would interrupt his set to say a small prayer, “Father, thank you for all the beautiful woman, Amen”. Ten minutes into his set he requested to have a female fan on the stage as he performed another crowd favorite “Differently”. Konshens and his female fan would role play the song and the crowd loved it so much that he performed it 5 times before saying “How da party ya look so” the women sang every word of Gyal a Bubble acappella, which left Konshens amazed.
The weekend was not over for Konshens, on Sunday September 2, he was ready to go again. Konshens would start his night at 11:00 pm and head to New Yorks #1 Hip Hop and R&B station Hot97. He was accompanied on air with Mr. Vegas, Christopher Martin and the Doctor Beenie Man. They were interviewed by Hot97 Massive B; Bobby Konders and Jabba. Immediately following the interview he headed to Webster Hall for the 5th Annual Five Alarm Blaze hosted by Hot97 Mr.Cee. One of the more memorable performances of the weekend Konshens came on stage to sold out crowd of screaming fans and received an encore performance at the end of his set.
“I flew in from Illinois for the weekend and I came to 5 Alarm Blaze with eight of my friends to see Konshens perform and he didn’t disappoint us one bit, it was an awesome performance” said a fan leaving 5 Alarm Blaze.
Konshens weekend would come to an end at his final performance for the weekend, Massive B Labor Day Shutdown at BB King Live in New York City. Konshens was called on by one of the veterans in the business and one of the strongest performers of the entire labor day weekend Mr. Vegas. Mr. Vegas would sing Bruk it Down and the crowd was in a frenzy and then you heard “we nuh frighten fi nobody” and the rest of the night was history. With a stage full of women expressing themselves, Konshens ignited the historical BB Kings with song after song and receiving forwards for each one. When asked about how he felt after his jam packed Labor Day weekend of performances in New York, Konshens replied “I am grateful for the love…Big up all my fans especially the girls”.
Konshens is back in Jamaica just finished shooting a video yesterday with brother Delus for their collaboration single “Live Mi Life”. He will then head to London, UK on Thursday where he is scheduled to perform, for the first time, on several shows with Mr. Vegas as Bruk it Down meets Gyal a Bubble. Then he heads back to the US as he returns to Connecticut for Diva Nikki Z show on September 14 and Banky Hype event on September 15 in New Jersey.
