Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn has announced that Jamaican dancehall artiste Kevon ‘Skeng’ Douglas has been banned from performing publicly in Guyana, while saying that authorities would take a similar stance against those promoting vulgarity and gun violence at public events and on airwaves.
“No artiste like Skeng will ever come again into this country; will not come again into this country under the signature of any person from the Ministry of Home Affairs or from the Guyana Police Force, will not come on a public stage,” the minister told a Guyana Police Force (GPF) Community Relations Department meeting.
Benn said that artistes can perform at private clubs “and behave as badly as they want” but that the GPF “will not sign off on any artiste who has a record of promoting vulgar behaviour, such as the firing of gunshots in public places.”
He added, “We reject this completely.”
Several calls by Stabroek News to Benn to clarify the announcement were futile yesterday.
However, the representatives for Douglas responded to the announcement, saying that they believe the government is trying to cast blame on the artiste for an incident which also put him and his team in danger.
A police investigation was recently launched to identify persons who discharged shots during Douglas’ ‘Baderation’ concert, held last month at the National Park as part of the Hits and Jams independence carnival events.
The show had come to an abrupt end in the wee hours of the morning, shortly after the artiste took to the stage. He had performed three songs and gunshots erupted and glass bottles were thrown into the air.
Referring to his fans as “aye gunman” and “murderer”, Skeng, who had stripped into his socks and shorts, bellowed, “Dem nah run dem block! When mi pull up, dem haffi run lef dat (gunman). Nine ball inna di clip, compact …Protocol, we have hundred strap! Molly get pop, whole place get hot. Rinse out everything outta di glock hollow point dat a lodge up inna boy head back!”
Gunshots from patrons would send the artiste and his management team running from the stage, even as the chaos took over.
The Guyana Police Force would issue a statement the next day informing that investigators were reviewing CCTV footage and social media videos in the hopes of identifying the perpetrators.
The incidents that occurred raised questions about the security at the event.
Benn yesterday said that persons took advantage of the opportunity given to bring the artiste here and that songs promoting violence would also be banned from airwaves.
“We are ambushed by situations where people take advantage of opportunities provided for them, for the entertainment business where they bring in artiste into this country and put on a public stage disgraceful music, words and behaviour. And It engenders, perhaps, the only type of behaviour one would expect from what they saw on these stages by one called Skeng recently,” Benn said.
With Skeng on Thursday releasing a new video and a local personality saying that Guyana was a “gun town,” Benn sounded the warning that some music will not be heard on public airwaves.
“I would send this warning to the fellow pushing out a new line about Georgetown as a gun town and I am going to move to have it removed from airwaves and removed from social media.”
It is unclear how the GPF will remove the music from social media spaces given that it has no control over those platforms.
Meanwhile, the Jamaica Gleaner on Friday said the artiste’s management released a statement in which they said the “daring gunplay and chaos that abruptly ended a stage show” was not indicative of “character or artistic beliefs of the artiste.”
The statement sought to highlight that Douglas is entitled to artistic expression.
“Mr Douglas’ musical expression is merely an artistic expression and nothing more. He has performed in several cities prior to and subsequent to the incident in Guyana and we have not received the kind of response that was received in Guyana,” the statement said, while also highlighting that the incident also left the artiste vulnerable to immense danger.
“Our team was also placed in danger and had to take precautions to ensure that we were not injured. We are of the view that the security measures that were put in place could have been more stringent in order to prevent the gunplay and other acts of violence.”
The Gleaner report added that the artiste’s team believes blame is being wrongfully placed at the feet of their client and says they are looking forward to being given the opportunity to perform in Guyana in the near future to eliminate “any bad taste that has been left in the mouths of the authorities.”
“We remain committed to our fans in Guyana, throughout the Caribbean and worldwide. The management and Mr Douglas are aware of the negative effects of gun violence and do not and will never condone same anywhere,” their statement read. “We would appreciate the opportunity to perform in Guyana again, to remove any bad taste that has been left in the mouths of the authorities. We remain resolute and supportive of our Caricom partners and the exchange of our unique Caribbean culture.”
