Dear Editor,
The decision by those in authority to rescind the ban imposed on Jamaican artiste, David Brooks, aka Mavado seems to have irked quite a few, judging by a letter in the local press (‘The government should not have lifted the ban on Mavado’ SN, September 9). The response by this section of the local populace is all the more perplexing to me given Mavado’s acceptance the world over, particularly in North America and Europe, where artistes are often made to account for negative contributions to society. And even while the ban on Mavado in Guyana was rigidly enforced on our local airwaves and other entertainment areas, the self-appointed pagans of virtue are completely silent in their acceptance of the vulgarity and paedophilic ranting of another Jamaican artiste, Adidja Palmer, popularly known as Vybz Kartel on our local airwaves. We have not heard such calls from that quarter in spite of the bombardment of our ears by Kartel’s profession for his love of having sexual relations with 17 year olds. Songs such as “Rampin Shop,” “Virginity” and ‘“eenage Pregnancy,” etc, do not attract their attention, despite attracting the attention of the authorities in Jamaica and elsewhere.
Even a female Jamaican artiste, Queen Ifrica, was forced to respond lyrically to Vybz Kartel’s latest act where he details his sexual encounter with a 17-year-old and even went as far as outlining the fact that 3 spots of blood spattered on the ground after the teen lost her “virginity.”
Despite all that I’ve outlined above Vybz Kartel remains free to perform in Guyana whilst being banned from the US, UK, Canada, Europe and most islands in the Caribbean, and his music continues to be played on our local airwaves even as we suffer the effects of a rapid increase in teenage pregnancy, gun-related violence, as well as domestic abuse.
On the other hand, Mavado’s worldwide acceptance has brought about a gradual shift in his lyrics, from the gun-touting tunes to more of the mainstream entertaining lyrics, otherwise known as ‘Gal Tunes’ in Jamaica, along with a host of international acclamations, chart-topping success and global demand. His recent album spent weeks at the number one spot of the Billboard Reggae charts along with his single, “I’m So Special,” which also spent weeks on the Billboard Top 100 chart. He also performed on BET’s “Rip the Runway” and the video for “I’m So Special” debuted on BET, MTV’s 106 and Park as well as VH1.
It is also noteworthy to mention the numerous international music awards he has received since being banned from Guyana. These include the Urban Music Awards’ 2009 Reggae Artiste of the Year.
But despite all that I’ve detailed above, there are folks in this little South American country of 83,000 square miles who still are in contrast to their counterparts around the globe.
A Guyanese artiste did a song recently where he made disparaging remarks about the physical disability of one of his colleagues titled ‘“r Limpy.” He received wide coverage via airtime on the local radio. Shouldn’t he be banned also?
Yours faithfully,
Jason Abdulla
