A few seconds after the stroke of 7, the band stirred to life and played strains of Total Praise. The event then officially began with the choir coming out to a medley of lyrically “remixed” Jamaican songs including “I am Blessed” and Prince of Peace based on a resampling of Damion Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock (which by the way is also a resample). The very capable worship leader then took the choir and the audience through an amazing set of staple praise and worship songs which eventually led us into Kanye’s appearance on stage at around 7:30. He launched into powerful, never before heard Psalm of Rap as I would call it. It was almost surreal hearing this new voice from Mr. West. It really is a different experience to be there live and experience it.

After that first song, the worship leader took over and launched into a series of resampled “old school” RnB then more staple praise and worship songs such as Total Praise. After this segment, Kanye shared some of his journey and the story of how he brought the choir together. The section after this took on a much stronger worshipful intent as the time got closer to 8:30. In wrapping up, the worship leader thanked the government, the police also rightfully declaring that there are no patties like the patties you can get here in Jamaica which was met with resounding applause! He then asked the massive crowd if there was something they wanted to hear…Jesus Walks was the relentless chant from the crowd and Kanye obliged as he launched into an abbreviated version of the anthem that put him on the map in the early years of his performing career. The entire space was now truly on fire with his performance. And so the show closed on an unforgettable high, one minute to nine o'clock. On his 2005 album Late Registration, the late Bernie Mac is heard saying “wake up Mr. West, wake up!”. It would seem Kanye is “throwing off the covers”. The questions ricochet from corner to corner, is this genuine, is his transformation real, is he truly emancipated from his former life? What was very clear though, was to not let much focus be on the marquee artist as much as he was the reason so many people showed up. So yes, Mr. West may have been the magnet, but after experiencing this concert this writer can safely say, he really was not the centre. Someone else was.