Hip Hop Headlines RBC Ottawa Bluesfest on Saturday night

Ja Rule, TLC, and a crazy set by Grandson were the highlights on the eve of the last day of RBC Ottawa Bluesfest 2022 edition.

Hip hop fans rejoiced as they were treated to a healthy dose of their favorite genre last night in Ottawa. Starting us off on the big stage was local rapper Big Zee who was brought it to replace Bone Thugs-n-Harmony “due to unforeseen circumstances”. Were we disappointed to miss what some refer to as one of the greatest hip hop acts of all time? Yes. Did their replacements delight the crowd anyway? Also yes. Big Zee was up first followed by a bevvy of local up and coming rappers being introduced to the big stage. Big Zee is a Canadian rapper, singer and songwriter born in Cyprus, raised in Dallas, Texas but now calling Canada home. His style is a mix of gritty rap and melodic R&B and he got the crowd up and pumped for a night of dancing. It’s always nice to see veterans giving a little push to less seasoned artists.

Next up on the big stage was Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, better known as TLC. Of course the L of the trio, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes sadly passed away in 2002 so they are now performing as a duo. The group enjoyed much success primarily during the 1990s. They scored nine top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four number-one singles: “Creep”, “Waterfalls”, “No Scrubs”, and “Unpretty”. Having sold over 90 million records worldwide, TLC is the best-selling American girl group of all time. While we awaited their arrival on stage, their hypeman-meets-DJ hybrid played ‘90s hip-hop tracks to get everyone in the mood and it worked. But we all know what we came for; the mega-hits ‘Waterfalls’ and ‘No Scrubs’. They delivered and the crowd roared their appreciation.

We were then torn between staying to see Ja Rule and checking out the up-and-comer on the River Stage, Grandson. In the end, we decided that we couldn’t miss the man with the lover boy gangsta persona described best by the rapper himself – every thug needs a lady. He swaggered up through the crowd and onto the stage to the cheers of his fans. They sang along to all his hits, and at times when normally a female voice would have played a part, the crowd filled in the void.

Although we caught very little of the Grandson show on the River stage, it was apparently the shocker event of the festival. Torontonian Jordan Edward Benjamin, known professionally as Grandson, is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and musician. Grandson’s music focuses on modern-day issues that are less recognized by the media and public and his live shows are legendary. On Saturday night he put on the performance of the festival, splitting the crowd in two to help him sing verses, climbing the rafters high above the stage and jumping off the drum kit. He even had water bottles handed out to the crowd so that everyone could spray them at the same time. Next time he’s in town we’ll be there ready to catch more of the action!

Sunday night is the last night of the festival and tickets are still available to see the headliner The National and Canadian girl band The Beaches.

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