In their quest to fight and win popular traditional lyrical wars, dancehall artists and their advisors have forgotten to consult the laws in Jamaica that determine what the legal boundaries and rights are for such warriors.
To the surprise of the genres two verbal hot shots, Vybz Kartel and Mavado, it has been reported that police are not only considering filing charges following the 25th anniversary of STING, they have video evidence to support their claims and will definitely be pursuing said charges. According to The Star, crime chief, Detective acting Deputy Superintendent Carl Malcolm said, "Having viewed the tape [of the event], we are now in the process of going full fledge at pursuing charges against Mr Palmer and Mr Brooks and any other entertainer who we find in breach of the act.
The act referred to by the acting Deputy Superintendent is the Town and Communities Act legislated to protect citizens of Jamaica from exposure to profanity and threatening words in particularly the public arena. Kartel and Mavado whose real names are Adidjah Palmer and David Brooks respectively are not the only ones being scrutinized on the videotape. Police are interested in all persons deemed to have violated the law while performing on the STING stage at Jamworld in Portmore last Friday.
STING was for the most part incident free and there was a massive presence of security and law enforcement there.
Police are not disclosing their timeline for the laying of charges, but they have revealed that it all depends on when their videotape reviewing process has been completed.
Dancehall artists in particular are being urged to remember that even though they think only sticks and stones will break bones, words do also act as weapons, attacking, discouraging and influencing minds. And legislators who work for the Jamaican people arent having it not in public anyway.