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Of all the places I expected to see Busta Rhymes, an after-party for the MAGIC trade show in Las Vegas was not one of them — & yet, there he was, bouncing around on stage at the Hard Rock Hotel’s Body English nightclub.  I was there by pure chance: some fortuitous browsing of the Las Vegas Weekly had alerted me to the show’s existence only a couple of hours earlier, & before I knew what was happening, I was throwing on clothes so I could run downstairs to experience the madness.

Body English is decorated like a bachelor pad on steroids.  There’s an enormous chandelier which changes color, leather couches galore & huge VIP areas all around the perimeter of the club.  It’s a really fun place to go for an experience verging on the ridiculous, & in this respect, it never disappoints.

This is Las Vegas, after all, so it is never quite as simple as turning up to a show, watching someone perform, & leaving again.  No, of course not.  I stood at the side of the stage, in front of one of Busta’s personal bouncers who others affectionately referred to as “the big man”, & must have been at least 7 feet tall.  To my left was Suge Knight, who could also be nicknamed “the big man”, but for very different reasons.  He stood emotionless behind over sized shades, seemingly there to soak up the atmosphere & nothing more.

I didn’t quite know what to expect from Busta’s performance, so imagine my delight as I watched him jumping around the place & running through a set list that was obviously designed for maximum crowd-pleasing potential.  The show involved mandatory crowd participation, with Busta halting his DJ multiple times to yell at the audience & encourage them to get involved.  “Y’all are performing for US just as much as we are performing for you!”, he bellowed.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a hip-hop show without everyone who isn’t on stage trying to impress those around them with their rap skills.  Another of Busta’s bouncers — not “the big man” this time — rapped along with Busta for the entirety of the set.  You might think he would be busy scouting the audience for someone waving a gun, perhaps, but I suppose you have to keep yourself entertained somehow.  The person I couldn’t take my eyes off, though, was the balding 40 year old white guy pressed up against the stage, who spat lyrics with unparalleled sincerity & passion.  He even “raised the roof”, unprompted.  Mad props, my friend.

I knew the night was complete when Busta took a moment to give a shout-out to Ron Jeremy, who was chilling in the VIP area & enjoying the show just like everyone else.  Oh, Vegas.  Nowhere else can even begin to compete.

Words and photos by Gala Darlling

2.29 (14 votes)

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