12. Lady Saw
I had to put Lady Saw. I went to see a concert of hers in New York a long time ago, and it was one of the most life changing live shows I’ve ever been to. It was on Mother’s Day, in Flatbush somewhere, and she arrived extremely late and you could see something was going on. When she got on stage she was mad, saying things about the promoters – it was unclear, but it became apparent she was late because of an issue. She started a song and took off her wig and threw it on the floor – and it was for sure not a staged act, it was just out of this moment she was in, and this frustration she was feeling. A woman performer coming on stage with that liberating energy, I’ll never forget that. Her artistry is insane, and her whole show just had so much empowerment of other women, there was so much playfulness – she got a man on stage and humped on him. She had so many beautiful things to say about women, about motherhood. She was using her DJ almost like an orchestra, stopping and starting the DJ, and her voice was way way above the beat. All these things are in the DNA of dancehall, but I had never seen it live before that. There’s a very raw energy there. It made me feel stronger and freer.
