TONY Matterhorn, Kiprich, Iyara, Specialist each emerged victorious in their lyrical battles with their musical rivals Twin of Twins, Merciless, Deva Brat and Hurricane, respectively, at an incident-free Reggae Sting at Jamworld in Portmore, St Catherine yesterday morning.

Tony Matterhorn left no stone unturned as he trampled the ‘Twins’.

During the first few minutes of the encounter, the twins seem set to emerge the winner as they threw lyrical blows at the selector-turned-artiste. The boos directed seemed like motivation for Matterhorn as within minutes his new-found lyrics had the twins stuttering and stumbling over their lines. In their bid to make a comeback, the twins hurled a string of expletives towards their rival but were booed by the audience. The twin action was also reprimanded by the show’s promoters.

Judging by his military-styled outfit, it was clear that Kiprich was ‘prepared for war’. With tonnes of lyrics, ‘Kippo’ silenced the ‘Grand Dadda’ Merciless in approximately seven minutes.

“Grand Dadda, mi have a gift fi you. Carry out him gift,” Kiprich instructed a member of his entourage, who emerged with a white casket bearing the name ‘Merciless’. On seeing this, the crowd roared with excitement. The defeated Merciless was then escorted from the stage by MC Nuffy.

It was clear that Bounty Killer came fully prepared for a showdown with Beenie Man. However, even though he was spotted inside the venue, Beenie Man did not accept Bounty’s challenge. The crowd vented their disappointment at Beenie Man’s cowardice stance with outbursts of boos.

Aidonia, Khago, Jahvinchi and Ryno all gave outstanding performances, but it was the ‘Gaza Prefect’ Popcaan who ruled this year’s staging of ‘reggae’s greatest one-night show’. Dapperly clad in an all-white outfit, the protégé of Vybz Kartel proved he was lyrically inclined as his mentor. During his first few minutes in his set, the young singjay returned the ‘lyrical blows’ that were earlier directed at him by former Empire members Jahvinchi and Ryno. With that aside, the artiste directed his attention towards his female fans by delivering hit songs such as Only Man She Want, Party Shot and Ravin. Not only were there deafening screams throughout his performance but patrons ignited what seemed to have been hundreds of aerosol spray torches. In the general area, several banners bearing the Popcaan’s photograph and name.

Earlier in the night Etana, Gyptian, I Wayne, Zamunda and Tommy Lee gave good accounts of themselves.