Press Play.

Robert Nesta Marley, the immortal reggae icon once said “One thing about music, when it hits you. You feel no pain”. Those words never felt truer as I felt the pain flutter away from my knee during the musical showcase that was displayed at Kingston’s waterfront. Musique was an auditory sensation, unlike anything I have witnessed. The standard procedure where a mic man is a conductor for the audience was thrown out the window. The disk jockeys were the ones solely in charge and they electrified many shocked patrons bringing forth songs that were hidden away in many mp3s, cd players and cassettes (for my younger audience, these were all used for storing music and yes it is indeed very outrageous).

DJ Courtney bowled a Yorker as his set warmed up the patrons shaking them from their icy stupor. His innings was outstanding as he batted away the years with timeless hits from artists who were relevant in the age BC (before computer). These songs revealed my youth but the older audience that was present relived theirs as they strutted moves that would make Bogle proud. DJ Courtney was a wonderful all-rounder as he scored runs with hits such as ‘Vybz Kartel – Virginity’ and ‘Movado – Come into my room’. These tracks got rousing ovations from the women as they expressed themselves with a PG-30 rating. DJ Courtney walked into the pavilion with a bat in hand as he led Musique to a great start.

DJ Stamma was the next disk jockey in the crease, his musical selections didn’t stutter as he hit several sixes in the first over of his innings. He directed his segment to the ladies as he encouraged many of them to consider getting a next child. With songs such as ‘Crazy Over You’ by Ras- I and ‘ I want you in my arms’ by I-Wayne he pressured the women to lose themselves as their seductive dancing launched the fragrance called lust into the atmosphere. This new fragrance affected all patrons in the venues as everyone made themselves available to the opposite sex; couples, couples to be, couples who were on loan. DJ Stamma continued churning out sexual statements in a paragraph of love as tracks such as ‘Protoje – Bout Noon’ and ‘Sizzla – Give me a try’ closed a chapter called passion in the Book of Musique.

“With the lights out, it’s less dangerous, here we are now entertain us” DJ Richie Ras transported everyone back to their awkward emo high school days where we all locked up in our rooms and listened to Nirvana. His set carried consisted of Linkin Park, Queen, The Fray, Green Day he basically went for the entire “I’m an emo kid’ playlist and delivered it to the Musique patrons. We all rocked out, doing the most awkward but zealous of air guitars, loud screams of “hook it to my veins” were heard around the venue as we all partied like rock stars. His set continued with much fervour as the waterfront was transformed into Mas by the Sea as soca injected the patrons with vigour. Many patrons considered joining the Avengers as they felt like Hulk and them on the rampage like hooligans. DJ Richie Ras was impressive and continued the great vibe within Musique. As the final batsman marched unto the musical field, shrieks of “Let’s go Franco”, “Franco, mi cya wait!” were heard within Musique. DJ Franco stood tall at the crease and played his first song, Musique was in shambles! Dj Franco scored an outstanding soundtrack from a movie stuck in the past which starred the Musique patrons as the leading actors. Hits from Baby Cham, Bounty Killer, Buju and Lady Saw made all the patrons turn into the cast of Glee as they sang and danced the night away. I too was caught up in the festivities even though most of the songs were not in my age group, I still made the most of it. His songs received multiple pull ups but it was only where a bad man came forth that we heard the full extent of his musical arsenal.

Musique was it, simply said.