Fat Joe

Although it was his first official appearance in Jamaica, international hip hop artiste Fat Joe said he felt a strong connection with fans while onstage at Fully Loaded's 13th anniversary, held at James Bond Beach, St Mary, on Sunday night.

Following his 35-minute performance, he said the audience's response "flattered me".

Fat Joe, born Joseph Cartagena, was the headline act at the event, which ended prematurely after Bounty Killer's angry exit from the stage. And while most fans were upset with Bounty Killer, there will be some still talking about Fat Joe's amazing performance, even though there were doubts he would connect with a Fully Loaded audience that has always given foreign acts a lukewarm welcome.

Crowd response

Fat Joe admitted that the crowd's response did cross his mind, but he never let it affect his performance.

"It was good to be performing here tonight. Of course, the fans were very supportive. I felt their emotions. I was like so flattered," he said.

"I realised that they were standing for long out there, and I had to perform well. Not to be arrogant, but I knew I had enough hits and it played out well tonight. The crowd was so great."

He said promoter, Sharon Burke, never had to do much to convince him to perform, as he would normally hear a lot of good comments about Jamaican audiences, which he was very eager to experience.

"Sharon is one incredible lady," he said, just after he was engaged in a long embrace with her.

"Jamaica has a lot of beautiful people. I always heard good things about them. She never had to say much when she phoned me because I was honoured to be a part of this show," he added.

Deafening scream

While onstage, the rapper, who released his first album, Represent, in 1993, found it difficult in the early stages to get the audience's attention. But after he sang the words of What's Luv, which was a massive hit in early 2002, and featured superstars Ashanti and Jah Rule, the crowd released a deafening scream. Fat Joe then followed up with New York and We Taking Over, but the crowd wanted more. Sensing their anticipation, Fat Joe then performed the 2004 smash hit Lean Back.

"I had to do it. They were waiting for it," he said.

While he performed the song, most sections of the crowd were rocking according to the instructions given.

In the end, the Bronx, New York native said he was delighted to have experienced performing in Jamaica. And although he has performed to larger crowds, he rated the response at Fully Loaded as one of the best.

"It was great performing here. I never had any problem. I always wanted to know what it was like, and now that I have seen it, even though I have performed in front of larger crowds, (here) is definitely one of the best," he said.

Fat Joe (left) and Sean Kingston (right) hang out backstage with an unidentified man at Fully Loaded. - photos by Roxroy McLean