Reggae Prospective "Meet & Greet Dancehall Legend Beenie Man?" by Ank J. SteadySpear : anksteady@iota.tv
An Artist Obligation to Supporters
First
I would like it be known that we not a fan/fanatic of any artist or artists
whether music or other wise. We are supporters of great expressions of
the arts. A while back I used to express that Beenie Man a local Jamaican
reggae dancehall artist was a bit above the rest than most contemporary
reggae artist; because of his spin on the reggae dancehall craze. Now
I see I was wrong. My eyes are now open. Often time's fame and fortune
will elevate an artist to a new height of loathsome. As some artists get
the spotlight on their career they will forget the people and the media
that support them on the rise of new found glory and fame by being poor
show person. They would not turn up for events or arrive late for a performance
thus exposing audiences to a lousy time.
On October 21, 2000 a press release and signature signing was arranged and scheduled to take place at Runway Fashion a local clothing store in Stone Mountain area of the United State of Georgia in America. Under the banner of Caribbean Connections this event was set for 3:00pm to 4:00pm; that's what the email message I got from Kisha Dennis, my contact. She was my main point of contact after introducing my self and indention's of our online art forum.
Being a Jamaican I figured the starting time of the event might be a bit late. What transpired was very unprofessional like wise very insulting to the press media who came to record the event. This Jamaican saying best fits the mood of the event "dem nu hav nu manaz mon".
My self and the rest of IOTA Magazine press crew arrived about 3:15pm to a good bit of loyal supporters. In quires, I found out that the event was to start at 2:00pm and so far there were no Beenie man or promoters of the event on site to greet the gathers of supporters. On the other hand sales of the concert tickets at the store was doing well. So well that after 4:00pm Runway Fashion had sold out. I asked about availability of press kit that was mention in my contact email but they had none. In proceeding I asked, whether Beenie man was still coming... no one had any ideas if yes or no. It was later that I learned through other media individuals that the event was cancelled.
Later on the evening program of WCLK 91.9 FM, 6pm-9pm Reggae shows one of the announcer expressed her discontent by boycott the word, the name and the event that night featuring Beenie Man. The event was presented by Street Life Entertainment in association with Island Coast Entertainment and Guinness as Fall Fest 2000, with shocking vibes crew performing live in concert. I had coincided with the boycott thus decided that I would write my experience about these money hunger corporate artists and their lackeys.
I remember a time not so long ago in New York where dancehall was only being played in certain basement nightclubs in Brooklyn. Sometimes in these basement clubs in early morning the cops and fire department might appear to shut down the place because of what they say were code violations. Or maybe a shoot out that night might cause many to flee to other basement engagements because the night was still young. I was a night club photographer back then while in college studying photography and art education, so I moveed with the crowd I had to pay the bills. Back then when any dancehall reggae artists came from Jamaica the media coverage of meeting and greeting was held at local record stores, one such store in Brooklyn is located at the top of Church and Utica Avenues. Later as local Caribbean Radio Stations became broadcasters of these events; mainstreams nightclubs throughout New York started to follow. One such club was the famous Reggae Lounge at the bottom of Canal Street in Manhattan. This was the spot were reggae dancehall artists such as Wolf-man, Lt. Stichie, Professor Nuts, Super Cat, Nickadmus, Mr. Bailey or The Admiral, Jose Wales, Charlie Chaplin, now and again you would have many other foundation crew passing through and the vibes would be massive.
Now you have artist like beenie man and their hurry come up crews that would be puppets for a larger picture. The discontent I felt by the dismissing of the media on October 21, 2000 left me to wonder and ponder? If beenie man was scheduled to appear in prissy area of commerce, would he be a no show... I think not but because it was a local area it was ok to just blow off everyone without a word. One thing is certain on that day my support for the reggae dancehall artist known as beenie man came to an end. I will throw out all CDs bearing the marking of beenie man, if the radio I am listening to becomes a patristic to beenie man then I will turn off my radio or change the tuning to a different station.