Vybz Kartel's songs will no longer be played on Guyanese radio: the deejay, accused of violent and obscene lyrics, has been banned from the airwaves by the National Communications Network, a state-owned network in Guyana.
Its spokesman, Martin Goolsarran, justified the decision by stating that Kartel's music offered "nothing positive", after combing through the lyrics of his songs, reports the news agency The Associated Press. Other artists could meet the same fate.
At the end of August, Vybz Kartel failed to show up at the government-backed Jam Zone Summer Break festival (having already stood up his fans in 2009). The deejay, who had got off the plane that was to take him to Georgetown, said he feared an assassination or kidnapping attempt. The festival organisers had gone as far as phoning Olivia Grange, Jamaica's Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports, to ask her to persuade the deejay to board the plane.
Vybz Kartel was quick to hit back: "It's interesting," he said, "because this same radio station had organised a concert with me, telling me, and I quote: 'Guyanese want nobody but you.' Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the festival, and that's why they're banning my music. That said, I don't care about this ban because I will never go to Guyana."
And he insisted, again in the columns of the Star: "I refused to go there before being banned, so it wasn't necessary. I banned myself. Big up to the Gaza fans in Guyana but I would tour Iraq before going to Guyana."