A hot and humid night did not deter music lovers from bumping shoulders to get a glimpse and an earful of Naïka’s brand of Caribbean-RnB fusion. The city, having just endured conditions akin to a chicken cage at the Angine de Poitrine show, was now braving the heat to dance and sing along to music that was at least equal in hotness to a 30-degree Montreal evening. A testament to people’s ingenuity and to Naïka’s popularity was perhaps the thirty or so people who climbed atop a shipping container bar to get a better view, as well as their reluctance to leave their spots when the barmaid gave them a scolding. All around, others had similar ideas, standing atop the concrete base of lighting poles, sneaking into the elevated VIP terraces, all in order to see her more clearly.
As the show began, the stylish artist wasted almost no time in removing layers from her person, revealing a very weather-appropriate outfit. I will defer any personal thoughts about this moment to the lady standing behind me who exclaimed “she’s so pretty!” A volume spike in the crowd as a whole seemed to second this.
As concerns the music itself, Naïka would offer for those in attendance selections with elements of dub, kompa, reggaeton, and rock. Truly, most everything in her repertoire seems to prioritize being danceable, melodic, and vibey. Often the camera would pan to audience members singing along to her tunes.
I particularly enjoyed her performance of “For Gerard” which some will remember from a viral video in which she explains that the intro was sampled from an album recorded by her great-uncle, who was adept at whistling. Another highlight for me was “Layers” which she prefaced by saying that it was for all people of complicated origins and backgrounds, as she often felt like she had difficulty belonging in one place or another. It’s little wonder why she might write a song like this when you find out that she was born in the USA but has roots in Haiti, France and Madagascar, and grew up in multiple countries during her youth.
During the entire show, her band really held down the fort and functioned as a rock solid base on which she could impress vocally but the band too had moments to shine. In particular the guitarist Christopher (she did not provide us a last name during the intros), had more than a few impressive minor mode solos squarely in the rock idiom which were complemented by what were mostly caribbean and latin grooves on the drums.
Indeed, her brand of Pan-Carribean RnB is difficult to describe and is, of course, better experienced. I believe the crowd fundamentally understood this as they sang, danced, and scrambled to find a decent view well into the night.
