Mavado coming to T&T for concert

Jamaican reggae superstar Mavado (David Constantine Brooks), who had been banned from performing in this country since 2006, is scheduled for a full concert on Trinidad and Tobago soil next week. This was revealed to the T&T Guardian exclusively by Lenard Smith, public relations manager for RF Promotions, who said: “Mavado has been banned since 2006...We tried to bring him and he was turned back by immigration. 

“Since then, we have done some work with Mavado and he is now the kind of person citizens will appreciate coming to Trinidad and Tobago,” Smith added. In an effort to assure the public that the artiste will not be turned back by immigration personnel when he arrives at Piarco International Airport next week, the T&T Guardian was shown an official document which states that the artiste will be allowed to perform here on February 5 with his full band. Mavado will headline the concert A Better Tomorrow.

Smith says one of the reasons the dancehall star is being brought to T&T to perform is to show young people that he has changed from his gangster lifestyle and now promotes peace and love. “Mavado wants to inform the youths who pick up the guns that it is not the right thing to do,” he said. “We are doing our part to help the crime situation in the country and watching the manifesto of the People’s Partnership, we thought it was a good idea.” Smith said Mavado had changed his style of music. He said one of his releases in 2010, Hope and Pray, showed his softer side and his changed lifestyle.

In 2009, at the UCLA reggae festival in Los Angeles, California, this reporter asked the singer how he felt about being banned from performing in T&T and other Caribbean countries, including Guyana and St Vincent and the Grenadines. He simply replied: “Ah them ah politics thing ...me nah deal with that.” Smith said: “Mavado has no ill feeling towards any government and is very excited to come here...He has heard so much about the country from his colleagues and is really looking forward to the concert.”

Mavado and Vybz Kartel feud

In 2008, Vybz Kartel who is on a temporary ban from T&T, engaged Mavado at Sting, a popular sound clash arena in Jamaica. This was the culmination of two years of musical sparring between the two performers. It all started when, towards the end of 2006, Vybz Kartel left the Alliance, a group of singers controlled by Bounty Killer, another famous reggae artiste. Tensions arose after Kartel’s continued association with Bounty Killer’s long-time enemy, Beenie Man. The fire was fuelled when Kartel attended Beenie Man’s wedding to Bounty Killer’s ex-girlfriend, D’Angel.

Kartel said his departure from the Alliance was because of his desire to be a more independent artiste.Mavado and Vybz Katel eventually resolved their differences with a public handshake and several embraces on December 8, 2009, before a television audience in Jamaica. It was a move by the Jamaican government to show the public that the Gully and Gaza feud had ended. According to Smith, RF Promotions were supposed to get the clearance to bring Mavado to T&T for a performance last April.  

However, the general election was called and Parliament was dissolved, so the contract was not signed. Smith did not want to identify the government who signed the document lifting the ban on the dancehall star. He said the concert was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was pushed back to a week later because of a delay in signing a contract with Mavado’s manager who was in England.

As a result, the local promoters were late in presenting the minister with the contract in time for a January 29 concert. The documents were eventually handed to the Legal Affairs Department on January 17. The concert venue, the car park of the Centre of Excellence, Macoya, will have general admission and VIP sections. Promoters of the event say they will be working with the People’s Partnership to raise money for the Children’s Life Fund and are challenging other promoters to do likewise.