/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC-JAMAICA: Rappers’ Scrap Gives Reggae Another Black Eye

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Howard Campbell

KINGSTON, Jan 6 2004 (IPS) - Another violent incident at one of Jamaica’s best known annual dancehall shows has again shone a spotlight on what many critics consider a musical style that celebrates violence.

An onstage scuffle between dancehall rappers Vybz Kartel and Ninja Man at the event known as ‘Sting’ on Dec. 26 has also left the future of one of reggae’s most outrageous shows hanging in the balance.

The event, attended by about 20,000 people, was to be a grand 20th anniversary celebration for the Sting, but ended in fisticuffs, bottle throwing and the sound of gunfire.

The ugly melee was carried on television later that day and outraged Jamaicans and some commentators, who have called for sanctions against the show.

The organisers of Sting, who have consistently been criticised for promoting violent behaviour, say they are reconsidering its future.

“We are seriously considering that Dec. 26, 2003 will be the last Sting,” said Howard McIntosh, an executive of concert promoters Supreme Promotions, at a press conference three days after the fracas.

Vybz Kartel (real name Adidja Palmer), one of the new wave of dancehall stars, attacked Ninja Man (Desmond Ballentine) during the latter’s performance.

The latter retaliated and several members of Kartel’s entourage joined in to assault Ninja Man, who suffered facial injuries in the exchange.

To make matters worse, the promoters announced shortly after the attack that Bounty Killer, one of the show’s headliners, said he would not perform because of the “bad vibes” between Kartel and Ninja Man.

The announcement enraged a large section of the audience, who pelted the stage with bottles and stones. Gunfire was heard and promoters immediately cancelled the remainder of the show.

Police report that 23 people, including a woman in an advanced state of pregnancy, were injured.

On Dec. 30, both Vybz Kartel and Ninja Man were arrested and charged by police with creating a public disturbance. Kartel was also charged with assault and illegal possession of a firearm.

Ninja Man was released after posting bail. Kartel, who police say is being investigated for alleged involvement in two murders, was released after five days of interrogation.

Both men are scheduled to appear in court Jan. 13.

The Vybz Kartel-Ninja Man square off is the latest in a series of incidents that have marred Sting since it was first held in 1984. Billed as the “Greatest One Night Show on Earth”, it has never failed to grab headlines through the unpredictable behaviour of its fans and performers.

Over the years acts including roots icon Bunny Wailer, singer Maxi Priest and the deejay Super Cat have been pelted with bottles – a sign by patrons that they are not impressed by a performance.

The controversial Ninja Man, a perennial favourite at Sting, always grabs the limelight. At the 2002 show he handed over an illegal handgun to a police officer, claiming he made the gesture to encourage gunmen to bring in their illegal weapons.

Though this action drew a national outcry, Ninja Man, who had been released from prison two years earlier for illegal possession of a firearm, was not charged.

Numerous dancehall DJs have had criminal charges brought against them for violating Jamaica’s laws against excessive use of profanity. “Lyrics about sex, violence and rampant homophobia dominate dancehall music,” according to the CaribPlanet website.

“One of the biggest dancehall hits of 2001 was TOK’s ‘Chi-Chi Man’, a hate song advocating violence and death to homosexuals,” it adds.

But in a 2001 interview, Norman Stolzoff, author of ‘Wake the Town and Tell the People: Dancehall Culture in Jamaica’, said, “I realised that Jamaica is not a monolith. It is not, ‘Jamaicans love slackness or gun tunes’. There are various positions within Jamaican society and different viewpoints about lyrics and dancehall in general.”

Still, the latest episode of violence at Sting has drawn public ire, though many hardcore dancehall fans hope the event will not be banned.

Ian Boyne, a columnist with the daily ‘Gleaner’ newspaper and a staunch critic of dancehall, says the authorities should seriously consider pulling the plug.

“Sting is an institution patented for the bigging up of the gunman and obscenity. Next year if the promoters, as I expect, go on with their show, they might provide us with live shooting of artists,” Boyne wrote in his weekly column Jan. 4.

Interestingly, the man behind Sting is Isaiah Laing, a former police officer and one of Jamaica’s leading crime fighters.

Laing left the J.C.F. in 1997 after a much-publicised legal battle with commissioner Trevor MacMillan. He has since directed all his energies into Sting, which started as a small show but has grown to become the concert of choice in Jamaica during the Christmas season.

It celebrated 20 years in 2003, outlasting even the internationally recognised Reggae Sunsplash.

As criticism of Sting flies at a frenetic pace, the 46-year-old Laing has kept a low profile and not made any official comment on the future of his show.

Having weathered the storm in previous years, many expect Sting and its resilient boss to be back for another round of song, dance and whatever goes, next Dec. 26.