Words by Jesse Serwer—
Yesterday’s West Indian Day Parade down Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn might have been the apex of a weekend full of Caribbean culture in NYC but, for the dancehall massive, the highlight of the weekend might have came Friday, when the elusive Super Cat took to the stage at Hammerstein Ballroom for his first performance in years, at Massive B and Hot 97’s On Da Regae Tip concert. (Watch video of that here).
One of the most legendary and influential dancehall artists of all time, the Original Heartical Don Dada has been a ghost for the last decade, making only a handful of public appearances. His last previous stageshow performance was all the way back in 2008, at Miami’s Best of the Best. (Who knows, though—with his Jesus-length hair and beard, an almost unrecognizable Cat could easily move incognito).
In fact, the last time Super Cat had any sort of consistent presence at all within the music business was a full decade ago, when the deejay briefly signed to the Neptunes’ Star Trak record label. Producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo had planned to executive produce what would have been the first new Super Cat album in eight years, dropping the track “The Don of All Dons” with Jadakiss and Styles P as an appetizer on their compilation album Attack of the Clones. But the partnership was not to be, and the parties parted ways shortly thereafter. But not before Star Trak A&R Cipha Sounds commissioned Federation Sound‘s Max Glazer to put together a mix previewing the planned release.
The Original Heartical Don Dada Super Cat featured a pair of freestyles, “Weedman” (over the beat to Kardinal Offishall’s “Bellydancer”) and “Wha U’ Name?” (over Jay-Z’s “Excuse Me Miss”), along with a journey through Cat’s classic tracks including the dancehall and hip-hop mixes of “Ghetto Red Hot,” “Dem No Worry We” and “Dolly My Baby.”
To date, the mix has somehow never made it online in full, until now. Max just happened to pass us a sealed copy of the CD a few days or so before Super Cat’s surprise return produced this pic of the two of them. Listen/download below, and welcome back the Don of All Dons.