Cardi B has walked back a claim that the Jamaican government offered her money to headline the canceled BCR weekend.
The about-face lands in the middle of a heated national row over hurricane relief, one ignited by Beenie Man’s comments on British television.
The rap star first made the allegation during an Instagram Live. She addressed a man named Ryan directly and referenced an email that she said told her team the government had invested in the festival, which had been scheduled for October.
She soon withdrew the claim. “I want to apologize to the government of Jamaica,” she said. She explained that the information had come to her from the BCR promoter.
The timing could hardly have been more sensitive. Jamaica is already arguing over whether money raised after Hurricane Melissa is reaching the people it was meant for.
That debate went international when Beenie Man told UK television that relief funds were not getting to victims. He suggested that money arrives and then disappears, and he called it a regular occurrence.
The response from the top was swift. The Prime Minister rejected the claim outright. “It is a lie that was told on Jamaica by someone who benefits from Jamaica,” he said.
Desmond McKenzie went further and took a personal swipe at the deejay, mocking him for supposedly going 20 years without a number one hit. Buju Banton then entered the fray with jabs of his own aimed at Jamaica House.
Critics have also cited an Auditor General finding that only 1.8 percent of funds received had been spent, a figure that has sharpened questions about the pace of recovery.
For Sonjah Stanley Niaah, a cultural studies professor at UWI, the issue comes down to accountability. “I think that we have as citizens of this country the right to ask about why this relief has been so slow,” she said.
She said she had not heard about the Cardi B episode. Still, she noted how such a claim would land with the public.
If Cardi B was offered money by the government to be able to headline a show, yes, that’s going to be coming up as a red flag for people,” she said. She pointed out that questions about unspent money also extend to Hurricane Beryl.
Stanley Niaah placed the backlash from Beenie Man, Buju Banton and Tanya Stephens in a broader frame.
In her view, entertainers feel the state does not consistently back the very culture that built Jamaica’s global profile. These artists, she said, are clear that “culture is the currency that we have.”
She was also critical of the government’s tone. “I don’t think it was appropriate to say to Beenie Man you should know better,” she said, describing the response as “a little high-handed.”
She argued that the artist deserved answers rather than a rebuke. “Beenie Man should be provided with the information,” she added.
In her assessment, the deejay was not acting out of hostility to his country. She rejected any suggestion that he was being “anti-Jamaican.”
She argued that entertainers who carry the flag abroad every time they perform have earned the right to speak on major national events.
She also challenged the idea that Beenie Man’s remarks had damaged Brand Jamaica. She said the country’s sporting and musical stars built the foundation of that national brand. The more pressing task, she said, is doing the substantive work to position it properly.
Looking ahead, she warned against treating the controversy as something that will simply fade. “I certainly hope that the government doesn’t think that this is going to be a nine-day wonder and it’s going to die,” she said.
She noted that another hurricane could arrive while some Jamaicans still lack proper roofs over their heads.
