D'Angel and hubby-to-be Beenie Man during The Doctor's set.

Though the feud between dancehall stars Beenie Man and Bounty Killer is nothing new, the name-calling took a turn for the worse when each of the deejays decided to take a jab at the other's mother.

Bounty Killer, one of the bigger acts on the Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest Dancehall Night, also known as Stormfront, entered the stage at about 3:30 am wearing a black blazer with the words 'cross, angry, miserable' written all over it and black pants. The Killer, after doing a number of tracks, made subtle hints that he was addressing Beenie.

The Killer didn't mince words during his performance.

"My life is like my fingerprint, it unique. all who no follow nobody say bullet, bullet," said Killer, the crowd now excited at the prospect of a 'trace-off'. An energetic performance of Cyan Believe Me Eye would come before the name-calling continued. Bounty, now boosted by the crowd's appreciation of his set, commented that Beenie Man had previously disrespected 'Ms Ivy' (Bounty's mother) and that Beenie's mother is living in a house that leaks.

The name-calling went a bit further when Killer asked: "Who ah the bigges' gyal clown inna Jamaica? After me dash weh ole rubbish oonu go back go pick it up like janitor," the artiste said, before asking, what is 'King Queer's' problem.

Headliner Beenie Man refused to let all his rival's comment go unanswered, responding just a few minutes after he began his own set.

Chuck Fenda set off fireworks with his Cry For My People and Gash Dem.

"There is a war going on between me and Killer because of my expected wife," the doctor said, the crowd now more pumped than when Bounty performed.

"Is not my fault make Jamaica love me, is not my fault," he added.

Beenie then addressed his mother's living conditions, which Bounty brought up several minutes before.

A barefooted Cham didn't let a hoarse throat stop him from delivering on the big night.

"Killer say me mother house ah leak.me buy a six-bedroom house give me mother. Killer and fe him mother live in ah two-bedroom apartment," Beenie said.

The Doctor, dressed in a red silk coat with matching silk pants and shirt, did a reprise version of Lady Saw's I've Got Your Man, saying: ".Angel lef' you cause she tired of the tongue you got."

Ironically, Beenie declared that he was not in for the arguments, since he came to perform for his fans. But despite his disclaimer, he further responded.

"Oonu ah talk bout bullet bullet. done the war thing, say breed it, breed it," the entertainer told the audience, who shouted "breed it, breed it" back at him in jest. He then invited his pregnant fiancée D'Angel on stage, where the female singjay did two tracks, including One Man and Gyal Haffi Move - a song in which she unapologetically declares herself the wife. The artiste, who is some five months into her pregnancy, wined on her 'hubby-to-be' even as she flashed her engagement ring, putting her hands to her face to ensure that all saw it.

The 'front teeth, gold teeth, gun-pon-teeth don gorgon' Ninja Man - another of Bounty's nemeses - made an appearance during Beenie's set. Beenie affirmed his star status with King of the Dancehall, calling attention to his Grammy and lucrative international career. Overall, the deejay gave a high-energy performance, especially on tunes like Swing It Away and If Ah Me.

The ever-energised Elephant Man also gave a favourable performance. The energy god was up to his regular sound-box climbing antics. Dressed in a white feathered Indian chief costume, Ele opened with No Junjo Nuh Deh Deh before a brief performance of Bad Man Forward, Badman Pull-up. The man who brought back dancing to the dancehall even had some little girls enter the stage - at 4:00 am - to Dutty Wine. The fiasco would not stop there, as older women joined in the head-bopping movements.

Shortly after, Ele and the kids brought out placards which called for world peace, and he even tried to sing. Needless to say, he failed miserably at the We Are The World rendition. Ele exited the stage without doing more of his popular dance-inspired tunes.
Atlantic recording artiste Cham also gave a noteworthy performance, despite a hoarse throat. Though his usually commanding sound was affected, he still racked up a couple forwards with Babylon Bwoy, Many Many and Vitamin S. Deejay Assassin made a cameo on stage with Anywhere We Go and superbly delivered the hit track. Cham's power-packed performance was topped by the mega hit Ghetto Story, which earned more than a few fire blazes and screams.

The artiste seemed to almost change his persona before the rendition, taking off his shoes and socks and pulling his shirt from his waist. And then the chaos started, as a delightful eruption among the audience was maintained for at least three minutes. There were the usual gun fingers pointing upwards, as well as 'bullets' everywhere.

It was a night of eruption since the poor people defender, Chuck Fenda, also had patrons in a frenzy. His Cry For My People and Gash Dem were celebrated by fireworks and even bigger blazes and confetti, courtesy of Red Stripe.

"Me a defend the little youth of the future and them say me a push violence. weh me fe do when man ah rape six-year-old?" he said, speaking of the ban placed on the latter song some months ago.

Female deejays Macka Diamond and Spice gave a fair showing, however, it was not their best.

Spice was one of the night's early performers, entering the stage with six dancers clad in pink, hooded sweaters and boy-shorts. The self-described female jockey, sporting a form-fitting catsuit accented with rhinestones and pink, knee-high, leather boots, led off with Fight Over Man.

Her performance was, however, marred by off-key singing in parts and loss of breath. What she lacked in vocal quality, she made up for in her entertaining. She showed off her versatility with Artiste A Look Me.

"The entertainer them ah say me too pretty fe deejay, the whole ah them a look me," she said before going into the track. She reverted once again to a very ordinary performance, slowing her set with Power Of Love, during which the audience stood in silence just watching the deejay sink further into bad singing.

The guys of Voicemail, however, had better luck with their throats, as they delivered a fair performance. The group urged the crowd to dance with their tracks Get Crazy, Wacky Dip and Bring Yuh Body Come. A part of the group's set included a skimpily-clad dancer who stepped to the Dutty Wine and showed off her curves with other moves from the dancehall.

Despite the petty squabble between the two biggest acts on Stormfront, most artistes represented themselves well and hammered home the point that an artiste is only as good as his last performance.

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