New York Radio "Bun a Fire" on Jamaican Artistes
"Enough is enough," says DJ Roy

On September 9, 2002, one of New York's top radio jocks, DJ Roy, hit the airwaves with a vengeance. He had decided enough was enough and lashed out at a number of Jamaican artistes for their double standards, which he felt was having a devastating effect on the New York entertainment industry.

It didn't take long for the rest of Caribbean brokered radio to join the cause, and so for all of that week there was a unity among these radio personalities who came out strongly against the "injustices" of some of the Jamaican artistes. Each jock garnered their own set of supporters, as the phone lines were flooded with callers voicing their disgust at the situation. Their cup had finally been full and it was now overflowing.

THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL'S BACK:

What led to this outburst? What was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back?

On September 8, hip-hop/R&B New York radio station Hot 97 hosted a big reggae concert at the 5,000 capacity Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, featuring a lot of the top Jamaican acts, including Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Sean Paul, Spragga Benz, Elephant Man, Tanto Metro and Devonte, to name a few. The event turned out to be an overall success.

The concern was, all the acts performed for free and on tracks (no bands) and made none of their usual horrendous demands on the non-reggae radio station.

Reportedly, Hot 97 just made a call to these acts and they all agreed to come up for this event at no charge, traveling economy class, performing on tracks, no per diem, no first class treatment...none of the high, outrageous demands these same artistes usually make on Caribbean promoters and the radio stations that build their careers, thus making it more expensive for concert goers (the people who build their careers) to support.

The thing is, Hot 97 is a corporate owned company that heavily focuses on North American programming. They only dedicate three hours per week to Jamaican reggae/dancehall music, from 10:00 pm until 1:00 am each Sunday during Bobby Konders and Jabba's programme. Outside of that, the station only rotates one or two top Jamaican songs during its regular programming. For instance, Sean Paul's current hit "Gimmi Di Light" and Tanto Metro &
Devonte's "Give It To Her."

On the other hand, Caribbean radio, such as IRIE JAM 93.5 FM, Link-Up 93.5 FM and Black Emperor Radio, among others (all on WRTN­-New York's only Caribbean FM formatted station that accounts for more than 85% of Reggae music on the FM dial in the tri-state area) are brokered programming that, ever since their inception, dedicate 100% of their airtime to promoting and airing Jamaican reggae/dancehall music, news, interviews and whatever relates to the Jamaican and wider Caribbean culture.

But in the long history of these stations, the Jamaican artistes, with the exception of a few, of course, have never done a free show for them, and when they do agree to "do a thing," these artistes make horrendous demands.

As one Caribbean radio producer said in an interview with XNews, "We have nothing against Hot 97, they are good people and they have their market that they cater to. That's their thing. But their interest is not reggae. Of their overall programming, maybe 2% of that is allotted to reggae/dancehall. They play Jamaican music, and only the latest, on a Sunday night at bedtime, when not many people are listening."

"We, on the other hand, play reggae/dancehall, old and new, 7 days per week, at least 12 hours per day and 24 hours on a Saturday. Our thing is brokered radio, meaning we have to pay for our airtime. We have to pay to be allowed to promote these same artistes and their music. We put our livelihood on the line for them. If it weren't for brokered stations like IRIE JAM, Link-Up and Black Emperor, Hot 97 and these other stations would not have heard of these artistes."

The producer continued, "These artistes consistently dis Caribbean radio and promoters who made them who they are in this market. They make all the high demands and rack up big expenses with us, but for someone who does relatively less for them, they give the world. They have no regard for New York Caribbean radio and promoters who live and die by the industry and can make or break them--certainly in this market."

ROY SPEAKS OUT!

According to DJ Roy, who works with IRIE JAM 93.5 FM and Black Emperor, "Enough is enough. I've had it and I will speak out against it. First of all, I don¹t want anything from these artistes so I'm not afraid to speak my mind. And this is not just from me, it's from everyone but most people are afraid to speak out because they are afraid of these artistes."

He continued, "No one was against the Hot 97 show. We all promoted it and gave it nuff love because we wanted it to succeed for the sake of the industry. But it was just unbelievable the double standards the artistes had in how they dealt with them, and how I've seen them deal with stalwart Caribbean radio and promoters."

"They make all sorts of demands on career promoters. The big fees, running up to US$25,000; the big entourage that the promoter has to fly up; first class airline tickets; every artiste has to carry his own band; limousine service; five-star hotel; per diem; one whole heap of tickets for the show...you name it. And nuff time these are just club events and the venue may hold 1,000 people."

At the end of the day, the disc jock stated, promoters are forced to charge high fees at the door. "Gone are the days of the $25 and $35 shows. Now events are running $50 and $60, if the promoter intends to make any money at all, and often times they don't. This is very taxing on the patrons," he voiced in his interview with XNews.

Roy said from the thousands of calls that have been coming in since he started to "blaze the fire," he can tell the Jamaican artistes that people in New York are fed up and they are planning to start boycotting these high priced events.

"If that's not bad enough," Roy continued, "the artistes don't even want to help promote the shows. When they land they demand their money and then they head off shopping. The promoters have to beg them to do radio interviews to promote the event, but they won't, especially if they consider it a "small" radio station. I hear nuff a them say they don't do interviews on small stations (the only ones that are promoting them and the event), only the big stations. And some even say that is not what they are here for.

"Bounty Killer don't have one tune playing on Hot 97, but I hear that him sey that is the only station he will do interviews on, because he doesn't do interviews on small stations. The same small stations that play his tunes, the same small stations that cause him to be so popular, the same small stations that made him to be in such high demand, the same small stations that the patrons listen to and come out to the events that him charging big money to perform on."

Roy said the excessive demands the artistes are putting on promoters is killing the business, coupled by the fact that they have ceased to be professionals.

"Gone are the days when artistes took pride in their work," he said. "They approach their work now with such scant regard. They don't dress anymore, they just show up on stage in any old thing like them just done kick some ball; they are never on time; they give mediocre performances; everybody want their own band which is total foolishness. Patrons spend the big money to go to an event and spend most of the time enduring one whole heap of long band changes. Then them same one [the artistes] come 'round and say them tired to do flop shows when they are the ones causing the events to flop. Putting on a show now is suicide for the promoters."

The disc jock emphasised that it was a hand in hand thing. If the industry is going to survive, everyone has to work together or else everyone will suffer. He admitted that there was a time when artistes were grossly underpaid and he was one of the first ones to hit out against that, but now they are taking it to new extremes.

THE RECORD SHOPS TOO.

Visibly annoyed at the whole thing, the disc jock stated that it wasn't just career radio and promoters that the artistes were dissing; the die-hearted reggae record shops were also getting a piece of it.

"Look at Moodies Record Shop that sell the most reggae records in New York, more than any other one store. A lot of artistes say they won't go there to do record signings for their fans because "that a small store." They will only do signings at big chains, the big stores them that don't sell a fraction of the reggae records that Moodies sell," he said.

"This is getting ridiculous. Look at it, a venue that can hold say 800 people and every artiste want him own band. But the whole a them go Hammerstein Ballroom that hold 5,000 people and all a them work on tracks.

"When are the artistes going to give Caribbean radio, promoters and those who have been doing so much for their careers a break?" he asked. "What happen to career promoters like George Crooks and Caribbean Blends, and perhaps most importantly, the event goers? Why can't you give them a break? They have done more for your careers than Hot 97 or any of these
so-called 'big' names."

Roy said too many people with the power were afraid of these artistes and it was about time someone spoke the truth. "Most of these artistes are hypocrites. They are always speaking about truths and rights and justice, which they don't practice," he stated. "And if anyone speaks the truth about them, the artistes them start fire bun them. Well now me a fire bun them."

The veteran disc jock was quick to point out that not all the artistes were like that, but most of the cream of the crop. "Multi-platinum super artiste Shaggy will always be amongst the top and he'll always go places, places where some of these artistes will never go because of their attitudes," Roy told XNews. "Shaggy in his prime gives free shows. No matter if Shaggy is down or on top of the world, he remains humble and grateful and remembers where he is coming from. Baby Cham is another artiste you can work with. These artistes work hand in hand with the industry so that everyone can survive."

He also added that there were some promoters who had to take some of the blame, stating that promoters need to stop booking artistes that they can't pay. "If you don't have the money to pay them, then don't book them," he said. "Don't wait on the gate receipts to pay them 'cause that may never materialise and often the results of actions like these give Caribbean show
promotion a bad name."

ACROSS THE BOARD:

In the case of other Caribbean radio presenters, the vibe was the same. Especially peeved at the situation were the producers of these brokered radio, who have to shell out the big bucks to pay for airtime to promote these same artistes.

Chief among them, the President of IRIE JAM 93.5 FM radio Robert "Bobby" Clarke, and from Link Up 93.5 FM, President David "Squeeze" Annakie. Both producers openly expressed dissatisfaction at the disrespect of these artistes, and said frankly it now boils down to a situation of working with those who will work with them.

According to Robert Clarke, "first of all, the exception to all of this is Robert Livingston, Shaggy and the Big Yard family who go out of their way to work with Caribbean radio. I have a lot of respect for these guys and I will always work with them. They are true professionals and they make this business worth the effort and the headache. But what I just witnessed with the Hot 97 show was a wake up call."

The feel now among Caribbean radio in the Big Apple is that the constant "raping" of the New York market by these mercenary artistes has to end. And unless the atmosphere changes and the artistes give a positive response to the current situation, they will be forced to take drastic action. This could very well lead to a change in the format of radio programming, with each station venturing into a more lucrative market that they are confident they will get the support from.

Hence, stations that are now 100% reggae/dancehall will cut that percentage drastically. This could be very detrimental to the Jamaican music industry, that depends on these stations to market their products in that part of the world. Without reggae radio in the Big Apple and the ensuing support for the Jamaican music culture - a bridge that is vital to link reggae to the rest of the world--can these artistes survive? Can they crossover into that career-making market that eludes so many of them?

The death of reggae/dancehall in New York and the tri-state areas could produce a domino effect that would be... well, unthinkable!