Dancehall artiste Popcaan is challenging reports by St. Thomas Police that his concert was duly shut down because he was in breach of the time allowed for the event to run.
On Saturday, the artiste expressed frustration that the police were “badmind” after they entered the stage and told the artiste that he was in breach of the permit for the event. Cops claimed that the artiste had gone past 5 am. However, on Sunday, Popcaan produced a receipt showing the breakdown of fees for the permit.
The receipt stated the time as 5 pm to 6 am. It included costs for several cops to be at the event, which included a whopping 153 personnel on the ground, including an assistant commissioner of police, three superintendents, two DSPs, eight inspectors, 14 sergeants, 21 corporals, and 104 constables.
The cost for the permit was $2.3 million. The artiste captioned the receipt, “Everybody is saying I’m disobeying the law. Read what time the police gave me on this paper! 5 pm to 6 am! Me nuh need fi explain myself to [no] one. So some people should just stfu.”
He, however, quickly deleted the post after many pointed out that the receipt he posted was not a permit for the venue but another cost associated with paying for security for the crowds.
The artiste is upset at spectators commenting on the event being locked off by police. Popcaan accused cops of fighting against the event, which is put on for the benefit of the community in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
“We give you till 5 o’clock, it’s time to go,” a police officer said to Popcaan.
Popcaan also responded, “Hold on nuh Uncle, what ya nuh, that’s why St Thomas can’t better cause unnu fight everything weh we do. We nuh like unnu, St Thomas can’t better wid them thing yah… unnu too badmind bout yah.”
“We give you until 5 o’clock. It's time to go!” said a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force as the lawmen tried to end dancehall artiste Popcaan’s Unruly Fest at the Phillips Field Sports Complex in Yallahs, St Thomas.
?: @Shanel_Lemz #GLNREnt #UnrulyFest pic.twitter.com/I85qd49ZoB
— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) December 23, 2023
It’s not the first time Popcaan has aired out the police as the artiste sued the Jamaica Constabulary Force earlier this year after he was reportedly flagged as a high-risk person, which impeded his travel through the UK. The JCF, however, denied placing a red flag on the artiste’s profile despite his lawyer, Bert Samuels.
