adminMelissa Mpofu in Pretoria, South Africa
In 2011, local music lovers who thronged the Borrowdale Racecourse in Harare to attend the Zarfest — a show which was meant to be headlined by America’s rapper Timbaland were let down after the star failed to pitch up.
Though his management promised that he would make it up to his Zimbabwean fans, they never kept their word.
Three years later, the American record producer returned to South Africa for the Castle Lite Extra Cold Music concert held at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, Pretoria, on Saturday.
The star studded line-up included another US rapper and songwriter Wiz Khalifa, Nas and a host of South Africa’s most talented local artistes Mi Casa, Spoek Mathambo, Black Coffee, Zakes Bantwini, Reason, and DJ Clock with Beatenberg.
South African acts showed they were forces to reckon with as they all put up polished acts. DJ Clock stole the hearts of many when he took to the stage with Beatenberg to perform their hit track Remember You.
Black Coffee had to be dragged off the decks as he was clearly enjoying his mixes and the audience’s vibe and did not want to leave the stage. Mi Casa collaborated with Ladysmith Black Mambazo on a new track My Sugar which was well received by the audience.
Most local acts though had to perform before 5PM as they had to travel to Durban for the Mtv Africa music awards. By then, the venue was still far from being full as most people started trickling in after 7PM. People made it in time for Timbaland’s act which left a lot to be desired.
His DJ put up a good show warming up the stage for him, but there was not much of a difference when Timbaland eventually took to the stage as he used backtracks for his performance. Though there was something which looked like a band on stage, it was not quite useful as the artiste relied more on backtracks lip singing.
Like Zimbabweans, it seems South African crowds are also not up for performances from international acts who do not use live bands as the crowds could be heard complaining after Timbaland’s act.
The crowds clearly felt cheated as Timbaland did not use his mic much, but just had his DJ playing all the songs he produced.
Instead of at least singing, he kept telling people how he was enjoying his performance, yet people were waiting for him to start performing.
“This may probably go down as one of my best performances ever. I’m enjoying and have actually lost my voice,” he said while performing.
Timbaland however, praised South Africa’s Reason saying he was a very talented artiste. The hip hop Do it like I can hit-maker put up a spirited act.
Crowds could be heard exchanging notes asking why Timbaland was on stage interrupting the DJ.
“This guy has robbed us of our hard earned cash. We paid R500 to attend this show and feel it wasn’t worth it because Timbaland clearly took us for a ride,” said one disgruntled fan.
Judging from his lukewarm performance in South Africa, Zimbabweans who felt cheated after he failed to pitch up in Harare should not feel let down at all because all they needed was to be entertained by his DJ, of which his DJ performed in Zimbabwe.
The night though undoubtedly belonged to rapper and song writer Wiz Khalifa who was given a bra by a fan for a job well done during his performance. The star who praised the use of weed connected well with the audience which could be seen smoking the illegal stuff.
Nas and his Illmatic Orchestra were equally competitive as they used the show to celebrate 20 years since their inception. Nas performed a number of tracks from his classic debut album Illmatic.
His band collaborated with Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra which left people crying for more as their act was well choreographed — indeed showing people had a better appreciation of bands.
derick.khumalo