Who Had Barbee Cut Out Of Sean Kingston's Dutty Love Video & Why?

By Marvin Shadi
Dirty South Hip Hop

The battle of the Barbies began this past August, as a proverbial shot was fired that echoed throughout the West Indies, and then into America. The American born Jamaica raised young superstar Sean Kingston, called on Pop-Reggae starlet Barbee, widely known and loved throughout the islands, to be the primary female in his new video "Letting Go". "Jamaican Barbee," as she is called, was chosen by Sean's own mother for the role of Kingston's love interest in the video which has over 5 million views on YouTube.

The young singer looking to cross over into American pop jumped at the chance to be seen in this major production which was directed by none other than veteran video director, Little X. Young Money raptress Nicki Minaj was also featured and both of the "Barbies" were in attendance to do their "ting" in the video which was being shot in Jamaica, assuring a heavy public turnout. But when the video was premiered on BET, the principle Barbee had been strategically and mysteriously removed from over 30 frames, throughout the video. The Jamaican community, here and on the mainland, were outraged with their "original" Barbee being purged from the video while having to watch the Trini-American Barbie chat a rap in patois. The question on everyones mind is, who had Barbee cut out of the video and why?

HHW: Where are you from?
Barbee: I was born in New York and went to live in Jamaica, my mother's homeland and also Nigeria, my father's homeland. I also did some growing up in the Bronx.