Skeng And Many Dancehall Artists Are Now Banned In Guyana, Says Minister
“I have to say here and now, that no artist like Skeng will ever come again into this country.”
That’s the word from Guyana’s Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn, who has effectively banned the Protocol deejay and many other Dancehall artists from performing publicly in the country. The Minister said he has directed his Ministry and the Guyana Police Force to withhold their consent and approval for 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.
Benn was speaking at the opening of the Community Relations Department of the Guyana Police Force on Friday morning when he made the announcement.
“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 declared.
Benn has also indicated that he intends to get Skeng’s music taken off the airwaves in Guyana, after an individual called the country’s capital “Gun Town”.
“I was sent this morning a video of the fellow putting out a new line about Georgetown as the “Gun Town”,” Benn said. “I’m going to move to have it taken off the airwaves and removed from social media. We want to hand over to our children a better country and better life than we have had. That is what we want.”
Skeng’s latest song is Gang Bang, the video for which was shot in Trinidad.
“We are ambushed by situations where people take advantage of opportunities provided for them, for the entertainment business, where they bring in artists into this country and put on a public stage, disgraceful music, words, and behaviour. And it engenders perhaps the only type of behaviour, one would expect from what was seen on the stage from one called Skeng, recently,” the Minister had also said.
Besides Skeng, the Minister did not name any other artists.
However, Crocodile Teeth deejay Skillibeng is reportedly expected to perform in Berbice, Guyana in August, according to News Room Guyana. “We are going to try to put systems in place for persons who are carrying licensed firearms to have those firearms secured at a convenient location where they can be retrieved after the event,” Regional Commander Kurleigh Simon said earlier this week.
“We have taken note of the last public show they had at the National Park and what transpired and we don’t want to be caught up in that, so we are putting systems in place to ensure the region is policed before, during, and after that particular event (Guyana Cup),” Commander Simon explained.
On May 27, 2022, Skeng’s ‘Baderation’ Dancehall concert at the National Park came to an abrupt end after several patrons began recklessly firing gunshots in the air and throwing bottles.
Mhm. I exited. Immediately 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/NUo46Y2HOv
— britany 🇬🇾 (@brxtanyy) May 28, 2022
Shaneil Muir and Young Bredda also performed at the show, which was organized by Hits and Jams Entertainment as part of their lineup of Genesis X Utopia events.
According to videos that made the rounds on social media, Skeng, whose given name is Kevaun Douglas was performing Protocol for the sizable crowd, which influenced supporters to ‘buss’ literal shots to show their approval. The Jamaican entertainer, who was fully immersed into his set, was then whisked away by members of his entourage as some patrons scampered for safety.
The Police Force reported that they had launched an investigation into the incident and one person was arrested with an illegal firearm at the event. Following the show, the promoters met with other stakeholders and changes were implemented for future concerts including a ban on glass bottles and the use of security scanners.
Skeng is not the first Jamaican artist to be banned in Guyana.
In 2008, Mavado was briefly blacklisted based on his then association with Bounty Killer, who had headlined a show at the National Park that was marred by sporadic gun salutes, two weeks prior.
In 2011, Vybz Kartel was forbidden from being played on the local airwaves for some of his more obscene and hardcore lyrics. In retaliation, Kartel said he would never return to the country.
“I refused to go there before the ban was imposed so that ban wasn’t necessary. I banned myself. Big up the Guyanese Gaza fans but I would sooner tour Iraq than go to Guyana,” Kartel was quoted as saying by the Jamaica Star.