No bad blood between Beenie, Shabba

No bad blood between Beenie, Shabba

Shereita Grizzle

STAR Writer

Ever since news broke that dancehall artiste Beenie Man was supposedly barred from performing on a stage show in Trinidad on the weekend because veteran dancehall deejay Shabba Ranks allegedly threw a tantrum, many have been speculating whether there is a rift between the two deejays.

However, Beenie Man's brother and manager, Blue, has come out to clear the air around the issue, stating that his brother was not barred from performing on the show 'Unplugged', which also featured Cobra, Tanya Stephens, Maxi Priest and Chakka Demus and Pliers.

no beef

He also stressed that there is no beef between Beenie Man and Shabba Ranks.

Blue told the STAR that his brother was contracted by the show's promoters, Island Mix Promotions, to replace the ailing Barrington Levy for the event. He explained that popular band Ruff Kutt was hired for the night and that Beenie Man was scheduled to work with them.

"He was to perform with Ruff Kutt, but when we got there, there were issues," he said.

"It turned out that Shabba Ranks was the one who hired them and therefore he could not work with them. He (Beenie Man) did not perform, but was not barred from performing."

Blue added that the show's promoters were shocked that a band issue would hinder Beenie Man's performance.

"They (the promoters) were shocked because they didn't think it would have even been an issue, as both artistes have worked with the band before," he said.

When the news of a possible rift between two deejays first surfaced, many believed that what went down in Trinidad on the weekend could have been stemming from a comment Beenie Man made in a television interview some time ago.

In the interview, Beenie Man was asked if anybody else could get the massive turnout that greeted Shabba at the airport ahead of his Sumfest appearance in 2012.

At the time, Beenie Man replied saying, "of course, anybody can get that, you haffi just pay for it."

His comments angered many Shabba fans and later the King of the Dancehall returned to say that his comments were taken out of context.

"I was saying that to do a motorcade costs money because you have to pay for transportation to take persons to the location and back home. It takes money to organise that. I was not saying that people were paid to go see Shabba."