Speaking exclusively with World Music Views, Cara Vickers co-manager to Skeng said the September 25 meeting was a high profile one that spawned a wide range of topics on common interests between Jamaica and the Caricom state.
“We are hoping that the officials lift the band and we can work on repairing the reputation damage and continue engaging with our Caricom neighbors and their dancehall fans safely,” she said.
“(President) Irfan spoke of the importance of role models in entertainment and encouraged education and anti-crime campaigns using music across the nation. We spoke about cricket, soca and opportunities for young men of the Caribbean. The president also spoke with optimism and showed great leadership, inviting me to meet with him and his chief of staff in Georgetown last month,” she concluded.
Mhm. I exited. Immediately 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/NUo46Y2HOv
— throat goat 🙂↕️ (@brxtanyy) May 28, 2022
Subsequently, the Home Affairs Minister of Guyana, Robeson Benn, announced a ban on Skeng and other Dancehall artists from performing publicly in the Eastern Caribbean country.
“If they want, they can go into a private club and behave as badly as they want. But we will not sign off on any such artist or any artist who has a record of promoting vulgar and lawless behaviour including the firing of gunshots in public places. We reject it completely,” Benn said.
Speaking at the opening of the Community Relations Department of the Guyana Police Force, he said both his Ministry and the Guyana Police Force will not approve of any future public performances featuring Skeng or any artist, whose lyrical content promotes the type of behavior seen at the ‘Baderation’ show held in May.
He went further to chastise business persons in the entertainment industry and said he is doing everything in his power to censor songs from the airwaves that are deemed inappropriate for the public consumption.
Previously World Music Views reported that model Tyson Beckford, whose parents are Jamaican, also spoke out against the measures announced by Guyana’s Home Affairs Minister. He commented on Instagram that Skeng, “don’t need Guyanese market $$ to survive! Dem can kiss off. Skeng will be successful regardless of dem people.”
Other comments came from the President of the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation, Wayne Chen upon hearing news of the Skeng ban. He recalled a “Dominican Minister” telling him, “she was protecting her young people from negative influences and wasn’t too concerned about right of free movement of musicians under CSME treaty agreement,” as that country banned Vybz Kartel in 2010.
Guyana bans Jamaican dancehall artist Skeng from public performances. Ban extends to other artists with songs glorifying guns and violence. https://t.co/NpLGV1Fd7b
— Wayne Chen (@wcchen) June 11, 2022
Meanwhile after a performance with Spice and Skillibeng recently in Guyana, the Government and the Opposition threw words at each other over the concert sponsored by the government. The war of words saw both Skillibeng and Spice in the line of fire when the Opposition leader Aubrey Norton said Spice and Skillibeng are the “worst of the Dancehall music” while at the same time inferring that veteran deejays Beenie Man and Buju Banton should have been the headliners.
The event dubbed Guyana Cricket Carnival also had Beres Hammond, Patrice Roberts Ravi B, Machel Montano performing over two nights.
At another press event Norton said his government will always oppose the promotion of entertainment and entertainers who “promote disrespect of women, lawlessness and violence.”
“We have heard good music from Buju Banton. We have heard good music from Bob Marley. Beenie Man has some good music and so it’s not a question of music per se. If we are selective in the artists, then we will promote a culture that instils certain values in young people. But if you bring the worst of the Dancehall music, if you bring those that are degrading and not focused on developing young people with dignity, then we have to oppose it,” he said.
In other news Skeng earned his first U.S Billboard charts singles with his Nicki Minaj collab Likke Miss (Remix). The song first released on the Barbie Queen’s greatest hits compilation titled Queen Radio: Volume 1 on August 28 debuted at No. 18 on the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart this week.
Likkle Miss (Remix) had debuted at No. 15 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart and at No. 12 on the Rap Digital Song Sales chart (September 10).
It has now re-entered the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart at No. 6 and the Rap Digital Song Sales chart at No. 4 this week.
The music video release September 25 has surpassed 3 million views on YouTube.
