Armed with a string of hit songs that have trended on social media over the past year, dancehall artiste Skippa was a hit with the college and university crowd in attendance at last Friday’s staging of Fanatic.

Held at Big Wall on West King’s House Road, the turnout at Fanatic was a bumper-sized crowd which sang along to every tune Skippa delivered.

The very popular Hugo, Most Wanted, Like Bob, Hell Boy and the current sensation
Mozart, all connected with members of the audience.

And Skippa appeared to be having fun, as the female members of the audience made several attempts to touch him. He interacted with them while giving patrons what they came out for — entertainment.

Prior to Skippa taking the stage, DJ Deva Kidd got the ball rolling as he unleashed a healthy serving of rhythm and blues, hip hop, and dancehall delicacies.

Chris Brown’s Loyal, What’s My Name by Nicki Minaj, Work Hard by Wiz Khalifa,
Hustling by Rick Ross, and Clarks by Vybz Kartel all had patrons in a dancing mood.

Kevi the Kinetic, with Zess in tow, worked up a sweat with Kartel’s Underwater, Gyal a Bubble by Konshens, Nigy Boy’s breakthrough hit Continent, RajahWild’s Go Go, Kraff’s Nursery Rhymes, among others.

Up next was Kryptic Live alongside Flamez, who took the proceedings yet a notch higher with Shabba Madda Pot, TOK’s Chi Chi Man, Gaza Kym’s Amen, No Boring Gal and
Fi Di Jockey by Aidonia, Bruck Off Yuh Back by Konshens, Cardi B’s It’s Up, CT Scan by Vybz Kartel and Ace Gawd’s 2018 hit Mark X and Axio.

The females were in for a treat when DJ Mac and Worl Baba took over, as they crunched out Kartel’s Bike Back, Roze Don’s Unch It, Valiant’s Lumbah, Shh by Intence, Jim Screechy by Spice and Life A Di Party by Najeeriii and RajahWild.

DJ Vinchi and Fyahman were not to be left out of the mix, as they kicked off their segment with grime music from the United Kingdom before rising temperatures with soca treats by Machel Montano, Fay Ann Lyons and Lyrical.

Icona Pop’s I Love It (I Don’t Care) and Kesha’s We’re Gonna Die Young were all thrown into the mix for good measure.

Justin Campbell, a director for Fanatic, said the turnout at the event was above expectations.

“This staging of Fanatic, we basically brought back the longing Hope Gardens aesthetics that people have been longing for. It was definitely more compact and more crowded, and the patrons loved it. They came to see Skippa, they haven’t seen him anywhere else, and we were able to bring that dream to life. I didn’t know that Skippa had such a strong fan base, but he clearly does. His performance, for me, was the highlight of the event,” Campbell told the Jamaica Observer’s Splash.

He said a lot of work went into this staging of Fanatic, giving props to members of the team and the owners of Big Wall, whom he said assisted them with the logistics and ensured that things ran smoothly.

“We had a safe party with no cars stolen and no patron was hurt; it was incident-free. The event was originally to take place at another venue, but things changed. The team had to go into emergency mode and seek another location. So much went into it on the ground, arranging shuttles, arranging different parking lots. But the great thing is the team was able to pull it off,” said Campbell.