The Showmanship We Crave, Yet Misinterpret!

Chris Brown

On the recent Chris Brown Concert in Accra, Ghana, someone tagged me in a post about the whole concert and the weed smoking(supposed). I did not answer because I did not attend the concert and aside the smoking, no one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE had made enough sense to give me a clear enough picture of what happened at the Stadium that night. 

In the Monday March 11th to Wednesday March 13th Edition of the graphic Showbiz, I read, for the first time that the show had too many pluses. Just too many and the writer gave a vivid picture of what happened. Now let's assume that Graphic Showbiz is MY most authentic entertainment news source in Ghana so whatever they write, I believe is close enough to the truth. 

In the article titled "The Real Chris Brown Show", I read that indeed, what happened with regards to the weed smoking was actually an act. It was part of the entire stagecraft and showmanship the dude had planned to dish out to Ghanaians. For a generation of people whose major, and I dare say, only source of live stage performances have been clouded, over the years with "DJ DJ track two, hol'on hol'on DJ track eight. . . " with no artistry whatsoever, I am personally not surprised that this stagecraft was thrown into the gutters for just one part of it which was actually a part of the entire stagecraft to be washed and dragged in mud. 

In the article, some paragraphs read as . . ."yes, he asks if there are weed smokers in the audience. Yes, he goes ahead to pick up a prop that's supposed to represent the substance. A tiny thin cigar. A prop which has been proven beyond every reasonable doubt it isn’t weed. At this point, a pre recorded voice tells him :dont do it Chris. . . " In responding to this voice, Chris demonstrates the inner conflicts we all go through as human beings by saying "if anyone's tripping on you for smoking weed f**k'em". The voice returns to tell him, "what are you doing Chris? That s**t will make you go crazy". At this point, C Breezy was playing the stubborn role. he ignores the good voice, proceeds to take two puffs of the cigar while a chain of weed related songs by other artistes play in the background. After the puff, he demonstrates the negative effects of smoking the item, breaks into a destructive cough, falls to his knees, throws it down, kills the light and proceeds to perform the next song that is actually against weed smoking"

All the commentators and early bloggers on this made it seem like Chris just pulled out a weed and started smoking for no apparent reason. Seriously, those who attended, and those who were loud all over with the smoking bit. . . did you witness the prelude to the smoking? Did you realize the drama? Did you listen to the song that came after the smoking? Did you witness the cough?

People constantly crave for showmanship. We get showmanship and we misinterpret one aspect of the entire drama. My God, what is happening to our sense of art appreciation??? And see how they all forgot that Samini, Sherifa, DBlack, EL, Efya and R2Bees gave good enough performances!!!