Jones was the headline act for the first Magnum Xplosion event in Trinidad & Tobago since the on-set of the Covid – 19 pandemic, which was held at the Queen’s Park Savannah last Saturday night and attracted over nine thousand dancehall and Trinibad music fans.

“Stop killing one another,” Jones paused singing to say during his 40-minute set. “My name is Teejay, The Up Top Boss and true me sing badman song, this is just entertainment! Ghetto youths, me wha uno make nuff money, take care of your family seen, yuh understand.”

Launching next into his “Up Top” hit single, the singer/songwriter had the massive crowd singing his lyrics and following his instructions throughout his performance. Taking the stage around 2 am, “Teejay” displayed his singing skills as he sent shivers through the venue with an acapella version of Sam Cooke’s classic “A Change is Gonna Come” while offstage. The “Drift” singer and recent Warner Music signee then ran onstage with “Haunted” and soon stripped off his jacket and threw it to fans in the crowd much to the audience’s delight.

Valiant had already warmed the crowd up just before Teejay with his charismatic presence and engaging delivery shining through a few threatening sprinkles of rain, but Skeng before Valiant literally wet the stage, the monitors, the fans and himself with various liquids sprayed from colorful bottles. We were informed, however, by his many screaming fans that "Skeng Is a rock star" and that is what a rock star does.

Jada Kingdom experienced similar fan adoration taking the stage at midnight and expressing satisfaction with the turnout and the energy of the assembly, she quipped rhetorically; "Me love how the crowd looks! None ah we in here not no losers, don't it? Cause one ting we ah go try how much time, no matter if ah million times, don't it?"

Launching into "Win" she grooved and waved for the sea of cell phones recording every moment.

Rheon Elbourne and Jahllano delivered a stirring tribute to K-Lion after "Jashii" ripped up the start of the main segment, opened by the 2023 Magnum Top Performa, "Jubba" and the Magnum Spotlight Winner, Ola "Kesi" Tempro, who were both warmly received by the growing audience filtering into the spacious arena lined with bars and booths, promotions and giveaways, food and beverages readily available, enhanced by the brilliantly visible Magnum and Campari activation centers of activity and engagement.

Spokesperson for Purple Robe Entertainment and Ultimate Promotions, Lyndon Gomez thanked the fire and police services for the cooperation in making the event safe and successful, especially given the challenging pouring and intermittent rain showers which occurred throughout the day.

"We faced a number of challenges on the day of the event in particular," Gomez admitted, "but managed to rise above them all and execute an event, which lived up to and some say surpassed expectations and fulfilled the mandate and objectives of our corporate partner and title sponsor of the Magnum Xplosion series, who are now in talks with us to invest in the talent of Trinidad & Tobago for the next five years with the Xplosion series and other initiatives designed to provide opportunities for talented singers and entertainers in the genre.

"We sincerely thank and appreciate all team members who assisted or provided services to the production of this event and look forward to working with key stakeholders to grow and nurture the entertainment industry in Trinidad & Tobago and throughout the region."

Magnum Tonic Wine's Project Manager from Jamaica, Danielia McLean, was in attendance and expressed great satisfaction with the event. “It’s always a pleasure for us at Magnum to be able to join in the celebration of dancehall music." She said. "In Jamaica, dancehall is more than just music, it’s a way of life and we are honoured to be able to share that with our Trinidadian family. Tonight, was an incredible showing and we are awed at how well-received all the artistes were here. Many thanks to the Summer Stage team for having us on board and we look forward to many more years of partnership as this event grows year after year.”

Follow @summerstagett and @magnumtonicwinett for more info on the series.