In a perfect display of gratitude for a man who has stayed solid in an industry that has led many astray, patrons braved a heavy downpour on Sunday to celebrate Agent Sasco’s milestone 25th anniversary in music.
It poured for more than an hour but, rather than run for cover, the massive crowd gathered at the UWI Mona Bowl put their umbrellas up and stood in solidarity with a deejay that has led by example for two and a half decade
“Unuh stan’ up inna di rain? As much as the rain a fall. If this is not a demonstration of gratitude I don’t know what is,” Agent Sasco said as he made his entrance in the downpour. Fighting back tears his entire set, the deejay spoke of his journey in dancehall and expressed that, despite talks of the lack of appetite for positive music, his fans braving the elements is testament that clean music still has its audience.
“I’m grateful. When I decided to transition from Assassin to Agent Sasco, mi know it never did ago easy. Mi sing a song weh say, ‘Mi need faith like J.O.B to get me through this job. Mi need faith like Job.’ Seet deh, 25 years,” he said.
“Yuh have some songs weh people see mi in the streets and dem thank mi fi dem songs deh because these are not necessarily songs weh ago get nuh big forward inna dance a night-time, but mi sing dem same way fi di people who might not be going to dance a night-time because dem haffi get up and go a work,” he continued as he paid tribute to the working class through his hit single, Late.
A product of Kyntyre in Papine, St Andrew, Agent Sasco shared that as he celebrates his musical anniversary, nothing about his concert was coincidental. Telling a touching tale about his praying mother and how her many lessons kept him grounded in a fickle industry, the artiste said Sunday his mother would have celebrated her 77th birthday. He shared that his late mother died the same year his first daughter was born and that he is forever thankful for her love and lessons.
“Mi grow right up the river deh so and mi mother woulda wake up, sometime all 3 o’clock, and pray till daylight. She was dat kinda mother deh,” he said. The Banks of the Hope singer then invited renowned gospel singer Glacia Robinson to the stage for a tear-jerking rendition of Mama Prayed.
On a night that gave patrons more than they could ever bargained for from a concert, there were too many outstanding moments to highlight them all. However, there was perhaps one moment that stood out more prominently than any other. Eliciting a flood of emotions from the audience, Agent Sasco invited his younger daughter Lauren to the stage to perform their single, Caterpillars Can Fly. Dressed in angelic white, Lauren, more popularly known as LC, stunned the crowd with her vocal prowess.
But, as if the father-daughter duet wasn’t enough to unravel the audience’s emotions, Lauren paid tribute to her father and her late grandmother’s memory with a sweet but powerful rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Waters. It was a veritable passing of the musical stage baton in her father’s footsteps.
But before the audience became undone by the emotional tributes from Sasco and family, his musical family showed up and showed out for their colleague and brother. A host of entertainers performed alongside the deejay, each piling on the compliments as they celebrated his milestone with him.
The show saw appearances from the likes of Romain Virgo, Spragga Benz, Bounty Killer, Professor Nuts, Tanya Stephens, Lila Ike, Kabaka Pyramid, Jesse Royal, Protoje, Kevin Downswell, and more.
The showers having become a distant memory by night’s end, patrons left the venue fully satisfied, freely giving Agent Sasco his flowers.
“This night was priceless, worth every penny I spent, including the $3,000 I paid for an umbrella,” said Sydonie Mayers, as she spoke to the Jamaica Observer. “Agent Sasco is one of those artiste that deserves every bit of blessing and support and that’s why, even in the rain, people stayed. No one ran for cover, no one left their spots. He is a man who has proven time and time again that positive music has its place and that it pays to be a stand up individual in dancehall. Like I said, he deserves it all.”
“I got wet and I know I’ll probably get sick after this but the show was simply amazing,” another patron who identified himself as Conroy said. “Agent Sasco is the true definition of a solid artiste and you could see and feel how loved he is. The support he received from not just us as patrons but his brothers and sisters in music is deserving. I am happy I was here to witness this.”
