The Opposition Spokesman on Culture, the PNP’s Damion Crawford, is not happy with the recent announcement by Guyana’s Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn that dancehall artist Skeng is banned from performing at public venues in the country.
The Guyanese Minister announced last week that “artists like Skeng” can’t perform at public venues but may perform at private venues. The ban came after reports of revelers bussing shots in response to Skeng performing his song “Protocol,” which sings about men loading up guns.
On Wednesday, Crawford, an opposition senator, said that Guyana’s position is “ridiculous” as the decision to walk with guns or even shoot them off had nothing to do with Skeng.
“I don’t see why Skeng would be banned for a Guyanese person breaking the law. the Guyanese person behaves himself like a vagabond and fires some shots in the air, why should Skeng be banned for that person instead of that person …..[inaudible] It’s like saying you’re banning Jamaica rum because somebody had a car accident for drunk driving. That is foolish and ridiculous,” he said.
Meanwhile, Crawford also criticized Prime Minister Andrew Holness for singling out Skillibeng and others in his latest comments to the public, where he said that it was embarrassing that another country is banning artists due to the content of their music.
The Prime Minister had said that there was a time and place for songs like “Whap Whap” by Skillibeng and others but that the island should not allow the music to define the perception created of Jamaica.
The Prime Minister did not go further, but social media users agreed with the Prime Minister that many countries felt Jamaicans were loud and aggressive, and the music also promoted criminality.
Crawford, however, seemingly called the Prime Minister a hypocrite as he claimed that artists like Skillibeng’s music have played in the PM’s political campaigns.
It’s unclear if that claim is true even though the PM has often shared his love for good clean dancehall music and even had Alkaline‘s “Champion Boy” and Nesbeth‘s “My Dream” as his victory songs at the 2016 general election.
