“Remember Remember the 10th of December” that was what Rass Motivated told us in his teaser video about the Music Matters Awards 2011(MMA 2011).

The MMA 2011 is a contest for upcomming talents that want to bring their career to another level. It was a contest of 12 Artists/bands that were to perform for a 5 men jury who would give them feedback after their performance. At the end of the night they would bring forward their top 3 artists. This number 1 price was a price of € 15.000, you can imagine that this is something that as an artist/band you could have good use for. There was also a audience price, worth of € 1.250. To win this price, the audience should make as much noise as they could by screaming,yelling,jumping. So in total you could win € 16.250. A nice price to win don’t you think? So now that we know what our big artist can win, let me take you trough the evening itself.

I arrived at Rotterdam itself around 17.30 because I was getting picked up by the biggest fan of Rass Motivated, his sister. I got to give it to her, she really shows some real unconditional family love for her brother and supports him to the fullest which is really something to respect and appreciate. We went to the Zuidplein Theather in Rotterdam, where we were to meet the rest of the “Motivated Movement”. For an artist that has just brought out his EP he really has a big fan base. I think we were there with atleast 150 fans, getting ready to support him.

So after meeting the whole Motivated Movement, I met up with my cameraman, Vieira, we were working together for the first time that night. His footage will be placed a little later on the website, still we did great work that night so you can look forward to 2 little interviews and a full coverage of Rass his performance. Also the Music Matters crew really showed appreciation for the attention that they were getting and really treated us well that evening.

So, 19.30 the show started with a little introduction of the judges, the artists, a performance from the MMA2010 winner. Just before 21.00 Rass Motivated made his appearance starting with a surinam song ‘Bar a doti wan odi’ to warm up the crowd. I don’t know if he had noticed it himself, but the crowd was fired up just by the way the announcer announced him. After he warmed us up he started jamming with his compilation that he made from his EP. That night we were not at a MMA but we were at a real reggae concert from a big artist who did everything what an good artist does. From the sweet way of singing like we remember from Bob Marley till the positive and almost endless energy that artists like Capleton and Sizzla show on stage by jumping up and down on it. MADDDDDDD if I have 1 word for this performance. The beautiful thing to see was that not only the Motivated Movement felt the vibes, but the judges, the rest of the crowd and even the Xperience band that was playing for him. They gave him a couple of minutes to perform but he made it feel like an hour. The beautiful thing about reggae music and what Rass Motivated stands for is that the music is not one sided, it is multicultural and endless.

After his smashing performance the judges were more clear then you could imagine. They agreed all that he was already the best of the evening, but how could you disagree. They really loved it, they were even dancing during his show. With that verdict he had an comforting feeling to go back into the dressing room and wait untill the announcement of the winner.

In between the shows there was a little break and in that break Vieira and I took the time to get a little interview with our Dutch star. He told us that the energy was blazing in the crowd and even his background singers J-mi and Queenah really wanted to go back on the stage again and mash it up some more.

After waiting long and seeing a couple of good performances from other artists finally it was time for the prices. The first price that was to be determined was the one from the audience. So, that means that every artist came forward and then on the count of 3 we had to start making as much noise as possible to get him/her the price of € 1.250. Let me tell you, when I tell you that you had 100+ surinam people yelling,screaming,jumping up and down….my god(!!) really was something special. After first selecting a top 3 we had to make some noise again to determine the number 1. So we did and yes….WE DID GOOD!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS RASS MOTIVATED WITH WINNING THE AUDIENCE PRICE OF € 1.250 !!!!!!!

This means he was the favorite of everyone that was present there that night except….for the 5 judges. Their verdict was about to come and they started by naming the Top 3. After they mentioned the numbers 2 and 3, Rass was still not mentioned…..then….

THE WINNER OF THE MMA2011: RASS MOTIVATED

Oh my god, at that moment…all of his fans ran up on the stage before he actually managed to receive his price to just congratulate him and celebrate with him! Really, that kind of positivity and love that we have in reggae music is something we have to caress because it is something unique and we have shown that to the city of Rotterdam on the 10th of December.

A great evening which was followed by celebrating it at Jamrock in Rotterdam that night as some kind of an afterparty.

Rass Motivated now is musical ambassador for 1 year for the city of Rotterdam, which means we will see him much more on stages and other places where music is of a meaning.

The WorldaReggae Family congratulates Rass Motivated and his whole Motivated Movement for the devotion, love and respect that they preach troughout music. We will see you in 2012!

Upcoming: Interviews,performance, and some more interesting video’s. Stay tuned