No 'groovin' for Busy Signal - Artiste angry set cut short at NY show

Platinum-selling reggae-dancehall artiste Busy Signal walked out of the highly publicised Groovin' In The Park event recently, which was held in New York, after he felt his set was cut abruptly.

Busy Signal, who was both embarrassed and disappointed that his first show on US soil was cut short, told the 40,000-strong audience that R Kelly could not perform if he was not allowed to do his set.

He then stormed off the stage, while boos echoed around the venue aimed at the organisers.

"I think some time crunching was going on and I don't know why they managed it so bad that it reached me. They didn't manage the time right and I am very proud of the way I handled it. I asked the 40,000 people at 'Groovin' if they liked what was taking place and they said No," Busy Signal told the media.

In a release sent to THE WEEKEND STAR, Chris Roberts, founder and CEO of Groovin' In The Park, expressed disappointment at the abrupt ending to Busy Signal's set.

He also admitted that he was crunching time to make way for other acts to perform like R Kelly.

However, he rubbished allegations that organisers had anything to do with Busy Signal's set being cut short, claiming that any instructions to disturb the artiste's set must have been given by persons not affiliated with the official production team.

"At some point during Busy's set, it seemed that an unauthorised individual or individuals were trying to tell him to cut his show. We are still investigating as to who this person or persons might have been, but we are sure this flagrant discourtesy was not from city officials, city police, or from Groovin' executives," he said.

SOMETHING AMISS

Roberts said he realised something was amiss and raced on stage to persuade Busy to stay on.

"But in understandable frustration, he abandoned the microphone and walked off the stage. He ignored my plea to continue with his performance. This is supported by a careful review of the video footage," he said. "The production stage manager Derek Lewis, a veteran with almost three decades of technical expertise with managing some of the biggest shows internationally, verified earlier that there is no evidence that any plugs were ever pulled or in any other way disconnected during Busy's performance."

Roberts also noted that he has spoken to Busy Signal since the incident.