Ashanti showed love to her Jamaican fans as she and Ja Rule took the stage together at the throwback dancehall event Mega Yush held on Saturday night.
The event was a premium party experience that included drinks and food as patrons turned up fashionably dressed. The evening was officially set off with only one main performance from Ashanti and Ja Rule around 1:30 a.m. and lasted for about an hour.
Despite minor sound hitches, the performance was electrifying as fans sang along and screamed at the artist, who both came prepared and sang/ rapped their lyrics.
The performance started with Ashanti’s DJ paying homage to Jamaican culture with several songs by Jamaican artists, including Skillibeng’s “Whap Whap” and “Crocodile Teeth, Skeng Don’s “Protocol,” and a special tribute was also made for the ladies “Talibhan” by Skeng and Stalk Ashley and Popcaan and Burna Boy’s “Toni-Ann Singh” off his ‘Love Damini’ album.
The artists ensured that fans knew they did their homework as they also ran off Super Cat’s “Ghetto Red Hot,” Damian Marley’s “Welcome to Jamrock,” and Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”
The performance started with Fatman Scoops “Be Faithful” to hype up the crowd before Ashanti came on stage wearing a signature black, green, and gold cheeky bodysuit while Ja Rule was dressed for the tropical weather with leather shorts and a white mesh merino.
The artists performed their tracks “Mesmerized” and Always On Time” while they also gave fans solo performances, with Ashanti delivering a sexy performance with “Happy” and her song “Into You,” which was originally recorded with R&B artist Fabolous.
Ja Rule also performed his track “Livin Up,” “Put It On Me,” “New York,” and “Im Real,” which was originally recorded with Murder Inc. labelmate Jennifer Lopez while Ashanti delivered vocal excellence as she shared her range and talent with the tracks, “Only U,” and “The Way That I Love You,” “Rock Wit U,” “Foolish,”
Towards the end of her performance, both of the artists expressed appreciation for their Jamaican fans as Ja Rule shared that this was his first time in 10 years, while Ashanti also expressed gratitude for the love she receives from fans noting that she has been to the island almost half a dozen times.
On Twitter, fans reacted to the performance.
“Ashanti was in her melodies, raw as ever and Ja Rule rapped all his lyrics. They surpassed what I expected. Yush kickstart di christmss,” one partygoer tweeted.
“Ja Rule and Ashanti did not disappoint this morning. They still got it man!” another person wrote.
“I hope they realize that there was nothing but love for them out here!” another fan wrote.
On Twitter, Ashanti also revealed that her hair was done by local hair stylist Neahlis while her make-up artist was Dominique Mitchell.
In another tweet, she wrote, “We love y’all!!!!!”
At the end of the show, Ashanti also played a preview of her new “Gotta Move On” song, a remix of the track by Diddy and Bryson Tiller.