PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Nov 28, CMC – A United States based Trinidadian Soca artiste says he has gone on a hunger strike to protest the appearance of Jamaican singer Vybz Kartel (Adidja Palmer) to perform here on Carnival Friday next year.
Kevon “Yankey Boy” Heath said his action is to protest Vybz Kartel’s performance at the concert in Trinidad on Fantastic Friday, when the highly popular Soca Monarch show is scheduled to be held.
In a statement posted on his Instagram page, expressing his disgust, Yankey Boy said that while he loved Vybz Kartel and could not wait to attend one of his concerts, he was not in support of him performing at a concert on Carnival Friday night.
He said the issue that he has with this move started during Labour Day in Brooklyn, New York.
“We Trinidadian truck was playing dancehall, females in costume putting up gun finger in the air. That’s not right; that’s not Soca, that not representing for we culture, then I see the same thing happen in Miami,” he said.
He said the Soca Monarch show is a platform for upcoming artistes to showcase their talent and that the Jamaican singer could have performed any other day.
“It have talk up in the air that they want to bring back Soca Monarch, they going and kill the Soca Monarch … The youths who are under me and above me who like culture going to see Kartel, which mean we not about culture”.
But in a statement, One Caribbean Music Festival, said Vybz Kartel is billed to perform on Friday February 28, 2025, “as part of a Caribbean musical cast at a signature event entitled the “One Caribbean Music Festival” in Trinidad & Tobago.
“This Carnival Friday event features a stellar cast of superstar performers from across the region representing 80 per cent Soca and 20 per cent other genres of musical performances,” the promoters said.
“The One Caribbean Music organization consists of a group of individuals with a deep love for all Caribbean music. We are following the long tradition of well-loved events that have invited performers from all over the world to participate in the greatest show on earth,” it added.
“We further advise that the recent video being posted to social media platforms with Vybz Kartel’s confirmation that he is performing in Trinidad & Tobago on February 28th, 2025, is NOT an official video released by the event organizers. We understand that our fans are excited to share the news.”
It said the event will be launched officially in the coming weeks “as our cast is confirmed, and we will share all the relevant information on the full concept and cast in the coming weeks. “Rest assured that Soca music will be represented by the best of T&T and the Caribbean for Carnival 2025 and on the night in question,”One Caribbean Music Festival added.
The issue has generated much debate on socila media and the airwaves here with Soca artiste Fayann Lyons-Alvarez, sating that she and her “team, cannot count the amount of times we have been included on reggae shows, it’s Jerk festivals …
“The kind of closeness that we have with these men and women, it’s very hard for us as artists who understand what we do when we get on the road, meaning everybody just trying to get their culture and their country recognised and acknowledged … it’s kind of hard for us to see our carnival grow to the magnitude that it’s being included in Jamaica and say we don’t want allyuh (sic) here,” she said.
Lyons-Alvarez said the ‘Music Festival’ was a show and not Vybz Kartel taking over the Carnival.
“I’ve seen many major celebrities come to Trinidad in one form or the other, and we are still here, and we are going to continue being here,” said the former chairperson of the International Soca Monarch show.
“In 2019, how many people came and supported, and then how many people came the next year and the year after that? In fact, Soca Monarch has not existed in any form for a couple of years, and I ain’t see no outcry. I’m just saying if you miss your baby, we should see some energy for you missing your child,” she added.
CMC/ag/ir/2024