Beenie Man Calls For Return Of MOBO Reggae Category And New Slot For Dancehall
Dancehall icon Beenie Man has made a call for the directors of the Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards to reinstate the Reggae category, as well as create a separate category for the Dancehall genre.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, the Girl Dem Sugar shared video clips of his acceptance speech at the 2000 MOBO Awards, where he collected his third trophy and his performance at the 2022 event, which was held on November 30.
“Blessings to @moboawards for having me. London, the energy is unmatched. Love and light… Also, let’s bring back the reggae category! Let’s add a Dancehall category. The existence of life is to push forward and evolve. 💯,” he wrote in the caption.
Beenie, who attended the event with his girlfriend Camille Lee, performed a medley featuring his hits such as Who Am I, Dude, and Girl Dem Sugar.
Beenie’s three MOBO wins came in 1997 and 1998, where he received the Best Reggae Act, and again in 2000 when he copped the Best Video Award for the song Money, a collab with Jamelia.
In November, the MOBO Awards replaced its Reggae category, which was first issued in 1996, with the Best Caribbean Music Act. However, MOBO Awards spokesman David Lim, sought to appease fans of the genre, pointing out that Reggae music and musicians had not been dropped from the category.
According to him, the replacement category was created in order to “be more inclusive of popular genres like Dancehall and beyond” as a means of celebrating more artists who are performing Caribbean music genres.
“The key thing is to celebrate excellence in the wider Caribbean music space and to continue championing rising stars,” Lim told Irie FM.
Skillibeng became the first-ever winner under the new category during the event, ahead of his compatriots Sean Paul, Popcaan, Spice, Koffee, and Shenseea, who was last year’s first-ever female winner in the Reggae category.
Some of Beenie’s followers expressed agreement with him after reading his comments on IG.
“I believe it’s time we begin to acknowledge and embrace the place of reggae and dancehall styles in the conversation. Reggae dancehall is not dead,” brownshugaman stated.
However, there were some who were not too enthused about Dancehall having a category for itself at present, noting that the new songs being released are subpar.
“Dancehall ain’t the same B like y’all time… this new ish ain’t it😏,” one follower wrote, while omar_quiet_blake added: “Yes king man. Dancehall and reggae need to be recognized. @kingbeenieman wish dancehall was still dancehall, the music a water down. When man like you step down, our culture gone out of existence. Good thing the 90’s and early 2000’s are there to still rep for us.”
Then there were others who sought to question his motive for sharing the video and making the comment.
“Beenie Man, yuh coulda shout out Skilli still since a him win the award,” djluaynewlevelz said, while eanpsycho3 added: “Is it that you want to prove a point??? Just asking”.
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