Beenie Man joins Nick Cannon for ‘Wild ‘N Out’

Beenie Man took to the stage at the Barclays Center in New York on Sunday to head the Caribbean team on the widely popular Nick Cannon’s Wild ‘N Out series.

Known for being an improv series on MTV since 2005, this special edition was a live stage performance, and the Girls Dem Sugar artiste did not disappoint as he had the attendees on their feet cheering from start to finish. The show was seen as a major entertainment and cultural event, with Beenie Man making his appearance as the first-ever Caribbean team captain. Beenie Man, who was joined by fellow dancehall artiste Gyptian, fused the dancehall flavour with comedy for a solid evening of entertainment.

THE WEEKEND STAR spoke to him following his performance and asked about the connection between battle rap and dancehall deejaying. Beenie Man said the link between him and Nick Cannon was made several years ago.

“It came about from the movie King of the Dancehall. I was passing through on set, and the casting director introduced him to me. When we met, he said he was a big fan of mine and sang Sim Simma. He wanted to use the song in the movie and also have me in it to narrate a part with me talking about the character he played called ‘Tarzan’. That is how we linked up. For the Wild ‘N Out [show], the producer reached out to my team, and we said yes, let’s do it,” he said.

Backstage conversations with Cannon, he said, were light and humorous as their personality are very similar.

“The experience was great. Working with Nick is always smooth because he is a writer, director and a boss, and so am I, so we are compatible. He told me to be great is to be the greatest within yourself, you know!”

The pair did some freestyling beforehand, but the best part for Beenie Man came at the live show, which took their energy and creativity to a whole other level.

“When we touched the show at the Barclays Center, it was just brilliant. It was an amazing idea to have myself and a comedy show put together. The show was at full capacity, and the crowd reaction was beautiful because my freestyle skills are not average … it’s above average. I am great at building lyrics on the spot. I haven’t written a song on paper since 1989 … everything comes from my head,” he said, while ‘bigging up’ show promoter Rip Micheals and Nick Cannon “for having me create some history with the Wild ‘N Out brand”.