When I walked into the Espy’s Gerschwin room to check out Jamaica’s Lady Saw, there was an intimate, earthy vibe going on I’ve not typically felt at very many gigs here in Australia. The gathering crowd were mostly made up of dedicated reggae fans, including more Jamaican people than you would see at your average Melbourne reggae/dancehall night, not to mention a lot of white kids with dreadlocks down well past their arses. Not the kind that you can just grow in a year to upset your middle-class parents! Anywqay, things were getting started early, the selectors were dropping a nice variety of classic reggae 45s and the smell of weed smoke was well in the air. Personally I felt noticeably sober, but the tunes were good and the bass was big and warm and I found myself dancing to songs that I felt like I’d known my whole life.
The crowd began to develop and as it did, I noticed there were far more women than men in the room – something that I wish would happen at the hip hop gigs that I often hang out at (but it’s a stretch to think that it’l lever happen). Eventually the tour DJ for Lady Saw turned up on stage and dropped a bad-arsed electronic ragga riddim. Going by the name of Missy, she looked strangely incongruent: a white American blonde chick sipping a glass of white wine, while standing behind the decks doing very little. For a moment I wondered if everything was going to work out OK, but as soon as Lady Saw stepped on stage all was forgiven.
Decked out in a very short one-piece hooded black dress, along with D&G sunglasses and knee-high boots, the self proclaimed first lady of dancehall certainly made a strong impression. Then it started – as a rapper, I just couldn’t believe this woman’s voice. She could switch from half time rapping in strong patois into full-time ragga flows, and then into soulful but raw choruses that made you want to cry. It probably took a few songs for most of the Australians in the crowd (at least those who don’t listen to Jamaican music all day) to get used to the accent, and get the gist of her lyrics. Towards the end of the second song I saw flickers of shock, surprise and embarrassment appear on the faces of some of my fellow crowd members as they began to realize that Lady Saw was indeed rapping (with great fondness) about her vagina. It wasn’t hard to catch on to this fact because she kept touching it!
I’m not sure how descriptive I can get here, but the lyrics blew me away with their rawness, honest and candid sexuality. I have been exposed (pardon the pun) to Lady Saw before, but seeing her live, complete with sexual gestures and electric sexual stage presence (and her grabbing at her crotch every time she made reference to it) took the whole thing to another level. This woman makes Lil’ Kim look like a catholic school girl, and yet she’s got a huge amount of class and integrity. Although I’m destined to sound like a pretentious clown, I do think that Lady Saw needs to be taken in a post-feminist context rather than just seen as another rapper using shock tactics. It should also be pretty clear to anyone who truly listens to the content of the lyrics that Lady Saw is more about reclaiming female sexuality (albeit in a highly aggressive and confrontational way).
On of the tricks that Lady Saw is famous for is shutting down any hecklers and making fools of men on stage. This show was no different. Within the first 10 minutes a wannabe MC had made his way up on stage and proceeded to grab a spare mic and spit some pretty average ragga-style sex rhymes. This sort of thing is extremely common at the smaller shows played by touring US rappers, and is usually resolved by the threat of physical force – either from the rappers themselves or the security, and has become part of the entertainment ( a little like streakers at the cricket). But Lady Saw’s shutdown methodology was quite impressive: basically, she gave this guy his few minutes of fame, then made a signal to Missy who cut the track and announced out loud “Ya nah impress me boy!” That was it, wack MC served with nothing more than a derisive laugh, eventually the kid got the picture and stumbled, emasculated, off the stage.
Later in the show she invited up two guys and two girls up on stage to demonstrate the ‘Backshot’, which is essentially dry-humping doggy style in time to the music. The dancing was entertaining in itself but after about two minutes she killed the riddim and began to castigate the male dancers for their lack of simulated sexual prowess. It was truly hilarious and as two more blokes slunk of stage she called out: “Don’t worry about it. You’ll be on YouTube tomorrow!” Despite 80 per cent of the lyrical content relating to sex and sexual organs (e.g. Pretty Pussy), some of Lady Saw’s lyrics are extremely personal and heartfelt. None moreso than No Less A Woman, a song about her miscarriage and subsequent adoption of two children. This was performed acappella, it was amazingly captivating and emotional and I think more than a few tears were shed as she poured her heart out on stage.
Eventually the whole thing concluded to uproarious applause and Gaz’s Rockin Blues took over with wicked dancehall and classic reggae tunes. But all I could think about was going home to buy Lady Saw’s new album off her website! Quite an impressive show to say the least, and one of the best obscure discoveries on the Big Day Out lineup.
fricster says...
The only thing I knew about Lady Saw prior to BDO was a clip of "chat to mi back" on YouTube. So I was absolutely stunned and amazed by her incredibe show at the Lilypad - she was funny, wild, outspoken, and talented. She had the audience laughing, cheering dancing - she had blokes up on stage and quickly dispatched back into the audience when they were not "man enough" for her. I am sorry to have missed her at the Espy - cos just one show at BDO was definately not enough Lady Saw for me!
PresyeRaff says...
Noh mi nah tink seh the kid was whack coz all de girls dem screamed to see such confidence and deadly seductive flows, nearly took Lady Saw out..but gatta respect someone on their show no matter what..after all de boy was just giving a hand where you gat no supporting acts for such a big name like LadySaw...Anyway to cut a long story short Im a naughty boy and nah care weh anybody say..lol..I never tekk offence and Im de one who walk deh pon stage coz mi really enjoy de show n not to disrespect anyone..catch me deh pon www.youtube.com/presyseraff n mekk a fair judgement of my flow..n if u know anyone with the footage please holla at de boy, will pay a couple of grand fe dat..seen Mc PresyseRiffRaff