Trinidad Dancehall Artist CraigMan Killed, Family Says He Didn’t Live The Life He Sang About

CraigMan is the third Trinidadian Dancehall artist to be killed in a month.

The Trinibad artist, whose real name is Keenan Craig, 31, was killed at St. Paul Street, Laventille on Saturday night. According to a Trinidad and Tobago Newsday report, a gunman approached Craig and shot him in the head and chest at about 9:15 pm.

Craig, a father of one, was reportedly a project manager in the Trinibad genre, which leans heavily on gun violence for lyrical inspiration.  His songs include Chat and Nightfall with Metal Dan.

However, the family of CraigMan is adamant that he did not live the life he sang about, and that his killing was not a case of life imitating art.

“He was that type of person to go anywhere and make a friend. He always saw the good in others so he would go anywhere and make a friend,” relatives told Newsday.

“The song and art form had nothing to do with his death. It is really unfortunate that happened. A lot of people want to express themselves in this art form, what we don’t want is for people to link his music to how he was killed.”

Attesting to Craig’s character, one man said, “Hash it out in music, not in violence. He was not the type to express that physical aspect (of his songs)”

According to the relatives, they had asked the Trinibad artist to move out of his La Horquetta community, but with his free-spirited ways, he stayed.

Craig’s murder follows the death of fellow Trinibad artists Jahiem “Chucky Blanco” Joseph, 18,—who was shot dead by police on September 25 after he allegedly pulled a gun on them—and Josiah “Siah Boss” McClatchie, who was reportedly killed during a shootout with police on September 26.

In March 2021, 18-year-old Trinibad artist Brad Bailey (Bradbadlikethat) was shot and killed after allegedly issuing a threat to a gang. In July 2020, 26-year-old Dancehall artist Rebel Sixx, whose real name was Kyle Roberts, was killed after he was shot several times during a home invasion.