Foota Hype Blames “Greedy” Veteran Dancehall Artists For “Horrible” Sting 2022
Foota Hype says the promoters’ efforts to have a more robust line-up for Sting 2022 were crippled by greedy and selfish veteran Dancehall deejays, who demanded they be paid exorbitant performance fees, with one artist wanting close to J$10 million.
According to Foota, being caught between a rock and a hard place, Supreme Promotions’ Isiah Laing and Heavy D, were forced to draw for mainly the millennial generation of newbies, as they did not have the budgetary support to meet the demands of the veterans, many of whom owe much of their popularity and wealth to Sting.
These artists Foota insists, are the real agents of destruction of Dancehall music, as in sticking to their hefty fees, they kept grumbling and whining about Supreme Promoters’ supposed misdeeds of the past.
“One artiste want US$60,000 (J$9.2 million). One degge-degge artiste want US$60,000, which part? Weh Laing fi find dat fi gi yuh? Yuh naw get it a farrin! Suh how yuh fi deh pan di grung, dung a di factory, an want 60 thousand US. Yuh fi guweh!” Foota said angrily.
“Wi reach out to multiple artiste, and they would not do it… a choo oonu nuh know wha a gwaan round di scene enuh. Oonu nuh know how horrible it was and weh di people dem guh through fi meck Sting keep,” Foota said on his Instagram live on Tuesday.
Additionally, he said Laing and Heavy D must not be faulted for contracting Queenie and Amari to clash at the show, as they were left with no choice, since the veteran artists had turned their backs on the event.
Foota said that by virtue of their actions, including their unwillingness to reduce the fees they demanded, despite knowing Sting was in rebuilding mode, and Supreme Promotions could not afford it, Laing and Heavy D were placed in a precarious position, and only turned to the trending Amari and Queenie out of desperation.
“How yuh mean seh Sting nuh fi have Queenie an Amari? Don’t you realize seh desperate time draw fi desperate measures? Dem know Queenie and Amari wasn’t gonna do sh-t, but dem haffi guh a dem lowest point fi create some likkle attraction,” he said, seemingly alluding to Bounty Killer’s “puppy show” remarks about the clash between the two women.
“A dem ting deh a mash up di music. If oonu want fi hear wha really meck Sting horrible as it is, weh oonu seh it horrible, is the artiste dem. Di artiste dem cause wi fi have a horrible Sting. I am going to be honest. Is not Laing fault. Is not Heavy D fault, is di artiste dem fault. Di artiste dem a mash up di culture. They are destroying music in Jamaica as we know it, OK,” he said.
Foota said that all the veteran deejays knew that it was a lack of sponsorship that had kept Supreme Promotions from staging Sting over the last seven years, and so should have provided the support to the show which propelled their careers in its heydays.
“Di res a di year dem, is dat no money nuh di deh fi keep Sting. Laing dem couldn’t keep it; dem try! Dem couldn’t keep it,” he said.
“An dem a fight fi come back. Oonu shoulda gi dem di help. If yuh a guh charge three million, seh ‘yow gimme 1.5; tun up back Sting’, an di next year when it build oonu beat dem. Oonu a charge excessive amount a money. Oonu know Laing don’t have it. Oonu know Laing don’t have it!” he emphasized.
“Oonu fi help Support Sting, book or don’t book… How much millions dem man deh meck? First thing, from yuh dominate Sting, January to di rest a di year a you a book out a farrin all bout. How much money dem meck offa Sting? Suh you a tell mi seh Sting deh yah at its lowest and oonu couldn’t gi Sting a strength?” Foota declared.
Nevertheless, the selector said that the fact that Sting was still held, in spite of the lack of support from the veterans, was a great triumph for Supreme Promotions.
“An di bigga picture is Sting keep. A di biggest win dat enuh, fi Jamaica and di music. A di biggest win, is dat Sting keep,” Foota said.
The Calabar High School old boy went on to reveal that a proposal regarding a showdown between Beenie Man and Bounty Killer, akin to VERZUZ was also shunned by both deejays.
“One a my idea weh mi did have fi Sting – an mi can speak it now like how Sting pass and gone – I was saying to Heavy D and Laing seh: listen mi, wha gwaan wid Killa and Beenie what day an dem get dem likkle jump off, before dem guh fren up back and beat Ishawna, let this Sting be the settlement of all argument; di final clash fi Bounty an Beenie; di Jamaican VERZUZ. None a dem naw teck no talk from Laing. Dat would have been a big seller for di show,” he said.
In ripping into those he considered Dancehall’s most influential artists, Foota said that the event was not about Sting promoter Isiah Laing, but was about the furtherance of the Dancehall culture, as Sting is considered an institution in the genre.
“Suh mi nuh waan nuh deejay weh a talk bout throw shade pan Sting an a talk bout Sting dead. Neva seh dat; don’t bite di hand weh feed oonu! Sting propel oonu to be bigga giant. First ting, when oonu si Sting a crumble, oonu shoulda come togedda as legends of Sting and decide fi teck a likkle pay cut an meck Sting work,” he said.