Let’s face it. There aren’t too many people with the stage presence of George ‘Fiji’ Veikoso.
With his charisma, wit and powerful vocals, Veikoso stole the show at the second night of the Biggest Reggae and R&B Island Vibes 2014 in Suva last Sunday.
When the 44-year-old entertainer walked on to the stage at the Vodafone Arena last weekend, there was a pervading aura and air of excitement that bubbled through the crowd.
The legend had come home once again.
And Veikoso did not disappoint, instantly delivering Warrior of Love which was received ecstatically from the grateful crowd of admirers.
Ironically Veikoso delivered the song first made famous by Rootstrata, the ground breaking reggae band that emerged from Raiwaqa, a suburb only a few hundred metres away from the stage he performed on.
Veikoso said he felt “excited and humbled” when asked by Infinity Events Group to perform in Fiji.
Stricken with gout, Veikoso has been pushing himself to the limit over the recent weeks while trying to accommodate crowd-standing performances.
Prior to the Suva event, Veikoso was in Auckland the day before, performing at the Raggamuffin Music Festival.
He flew off for another show at American Samoa the morning after his Island Vibes show in Fiji.
I asked Veikoso what his secret was to which the legend replied, “There’s no secret. It’s just strictly determination besides not too many people can call what I do a job or career for that matter”.
Determination combined with raw talent to burn is also taking Veikoso places and allowing him to join forces with major players on the world music scene.
In terms of major players, think of US pop star Chris Brown and singer-songwriter, actress and model Pia Mia.
Brown, Pia Mia and the artist Tyger have indicated their desire to work with Pia Mia on a song Veikoso collectively penned with Compton based hip-hopster J Boog, who is of Samoan-American descent.
“They will be remaking a hook that me & J Boog wrote together called Let’s Do it Again,” Veikoso said.
Further details could not be obtained except that this is definitely one song to watch out for.
J Boog, Sammy J and Drew Deezy all performed alongside Veikoso at the Island Vibes show and the smoothness of their collaborations had to be seen to be believed.
Jamming alongside his fellow Pacific Islanders, particularly those with the same reggae, hip-hop genre, was very fulfilling for the Fiji-born artist.
“These are true artists that I am honoured to collaborate with and I continue to do that with anyone that I feel is a true artist,” said Veikoso.
Similarly, he is also joining forces with Drew Deezy who also came on stage and sang with Veikoso, giving locals a feel of things to come.
Drew Deezy is a prominent Samoan-American from San Jose California who is very well known on the West Coast with singles like I Don’t See Nothing Wrong.’
“I am currently working on POLYTAPE 2 with Drew Deezy which is a very exciting project for me,” Veikoso revealed.
The Hawaii-based entertainer said “we are on the brink of becoming our own genre internationally”.
He also let out that he is also working on an all island sigidrigi project.
Veikoso currently ranks as one of the most popular entertainers in Hawaii.
He also added that he would be easing up on music commitments towards the end of the year to focus on more pertinent issues like his health.
“Yeah, I’m gonna be taking a break to get healthier after December 27,” said the artist, whose imposing physque only added to his stage presence.
But that doesn’t mean Veikoso will be taking his foot off the pedal.
The artist has “to be releasing a lot of work in 2015”.
Veikoso also said that was likely to return to Fiji to perform around the same time next year.
His tip to his Fiji fans and those bent on a career in music is “be serious about your passion and always find the joy in what you do”.
This is advice Veikoso has personally taken to heart and the primary reason he has achieved all that he has on the internatiuonal music scene so far.
