Dancehall maestro Serani completed a very successful weekend in the US for Labor Day weekend, starting with a benefit concert in Brooklyn for Haiti, followed by a show-stealing performance at HOT 97's On Da Reggae Tip event, that lit up social network sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Fellow artists and industry movers and shakers, as well as a slew of fans all expressed how hard Serani went at the sold-out Reggae Tip, held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, lauding him for best performance of the night.
"I think my performance surprised some people because I think they might not know how hard and how often I've been working," said Serani. "I've been pretty much touring straight for two years non-stop and I've worked really hard at my stage craft. We've also been focusing on markets that could be described as non-traditional for Dancehall acts and really been trying to break those as well. I've been to Europe three times already this year so we're just trying to get the music out there on a wide scale. Every artiste did very well at On Da reggae Tip and it was a great platform for me to showcase how far I have come."
After rocking a Spanish club in Queens after Friday night's Reggae Tip show, Serani made the dash from New York to Orlando for the inaugural staging of Reggae Fest at the prestigious Hard Rock Cafe inside Universal Studios. Perfhttp://www.outaroad.com/mt-static/images/formatting-icons/bold.giforming alongside Shaggy, Rupee, Barrington Levy, Gyptian and others, Serani gave another performance that had the packed venue singing along to his songs.
Trekking back to New York on the Sunday, Serani appeared at BB Kings for Bobby Konders & Jabba, before demolishing Webstar Hall for a show hosted by HOT 97's Mr Cee. With little sleep Serani then joined a host of Jamaican acts on Monday's West Indian Labor Day Parade through the streets of Brooklyn, that attracts a crowd estimated to be in excess of one million people.
Serani leaves for the UK and Europe this month for several shows, before appearing at Miami Carnival in October. Serani has recorded tracks such as Pleasure on 2 Hard's Circus riddim, single Slumber Party and I Forgive You on DASECA's new Exodus riddim, as well as First Anniversary on hot producer soon-to-be-released Split Personality riddim, the follow-up to the monster One Day project. The video for Slumber Party, shot in Europe, will be released this month.
His dancefloor smash "Skip to My Luu" featuring Ding Dong and Razz & Biggy has also started receiving some spins on commercial radio Stateside, which his management team are hoping will grow into adds to playlists on commercial radio, following in the footsteps of his classic No Games and She Loves Me. Serani is working towards the release of his sophomore album in March 2011.
