Mavado prohibited from performing in St. Vincent

Jamaican dancehall artiste David Brooks, who goes by the moniker Mavado, is prohibited from performing in St.Vincent and the Grenadines.{{more}}

This has been confirmed by Commissioner of Police Keith Miller.

When contacted at press time, Wednesday, January 9, 2008, Miller disclosed that he would be holding a press briefing to inform the nation on the reason for banning Mavado from performing here.

Meanwhile, a statement by the management of FM radio station Hot 97 read: “On behalf of the promoters of the advertised show “Best of Both Worlds” slated for the 19th January, we regret to inform you that the show has had to be cancelled due to failure to obtain Police permission for the event. The promoters have been told permission was not granted due to the “lyrical content” of the headline artist MOVADO.”

The statement also said that the management of Hot 97 is disappointed on a number of different levels.

“We are disappointed for the artist who was looking forward to performing in from of his many fans for the first time here in St.Vincent and the Grenadines. We are obviously disappointed for the thousands of fans who were eagerly awaiting the arrival of one of reggae’s biggest attractions. And most of all, we are disappointed at the direction this decision may represent for the presumption of innocence within our society,” the statement continued.

The statement added that Mavado “has performed at over 100 shows outside of Jamaica in the last two years and until his scheduled performance here in St.Vincent, has never been denied entry to perform. He has performed throughout the Caribbean, Europe and many parts of the United States without incident. Most, if not all, of these countries have similar laws as regards what is and isn’t allowed to be said at a public venue and furthermore they exercise a similar vigor to our own society in enforcing their laws”.

A section of the press statement is questioning why was Mavado presumed guilty before his arrival.

“While his style and content may not be to everybody’s taste, surely the law should be upheld in the event of it being broken and not before. The artist would have encountered this situation countless times prior to now and modified his performance to suit,” the statement indicated.

Last week SEARCHLIGHT broke the story that law enforcement officials were considering banning Mavado from performing in St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

A reliable source told SEARCHLIGHT that the law enforcement officials were concerned that Mavado, who sings fiery gangster lyrics, would have been taking the stage here on the heels of a year when the country witnessed its highest murder rate.

Mavado becomes the second Jamaican artiste to be banned from performing here.

In the mid 1990s, Dorothy Smith, popularly known as Lady Patra, was also banned from performing in St.Vincent and the Grenadines.