Skeng Performs In Guyana Two Years After He Was Banned

Dancehall artist Skeng returned to Guyana on Saturday as headliner of the ‘Real All Black’ concert held in Linden, almost two years after being ‘banned’ from performing in the country.

The Protocol artist, whose real name is Kevon Douglas, was wheeled on stage in a surgical gown before kicking off his usual high-energy set. In true Skeng fashion, eventually, he was only in his jeans. 

The set included hits like London, Likkle Miss, and Shalala. Newcomer Kaka Highflames also made a cameo appearance with the popularised Flames Rock.

The show—which also featured Mafi and Plumpy Boss— was not without hiccups. 

According to the Guyana Times, the country’s police confiscated prohibited items from patrons, including 213 lighters, 27 pairs of scissors, nine ski masks, six pen knives, and one screwdriver.

Pre-show searches became even more important in Guyana after chaos erupted during Skeng’s set at the 2022 staging of the ‘Baderation’ Dancehall concert, organized by Hits and Jams Entertainment in Georgetown. He was forced to cut his performance after overzealous patrons began recklessly firing gunshots in the air and throwing bottles.

Mere weeks after the drama unfolded, Guyana’s Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn declared that artists akin to Skeng were banned from country. At the time, he said he had directed his Ministry and the Guyana Police Force to withhold their consent and approval for any future public performances featuring Skeng or any artist, whose lyrical content promotes violence.

“If they want, they can go into a private club and behave as badly as they want.  But we will not sign off on any such artist or any artist who has a record of promoting vulgar and lawless behaviour including the firing of gunshots in public places. We reject it completely,” Benn declared back in 2022.

Benn had also indicated that he intended to get Skeng’s music removed from the airwaves in Guyana after an individual called the country’s capital “Gun Town.”

In response to the ban, the Protocol deejay’s team said it was taken aback by the drastic measures, citing that he had never encountered anything like that in other countries. The team argued that the issue truly lay with slack security measures.

“Our Team was also placed in danger and had to take precautions to ensure that we were not injured. We are of the view that the security measures that were put in place could have been more stringent in order to prevent the gunplay and other acts of violence,” the management team said in part in a release at the time. 

Earlier this year, Guyana blocked ‘Trinibad’ artist KMan 6ixx from performing in the country.

Guyanese President Dr. Irfaan Ali, during the opening ceremony of the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference of the CARICOM Heads of Government in February this year, addressed the issue while calling for “a collective approach to ensure Caribbean music reflects a culture of unity and promotes positivity.”

“For some, this may seem a soft issue, but this is fundamental. Only recently, [Trinidad & Tobago] Prime Minister Rowley and I were having a conversation when many young people, brilliant young people, questioned the decision of not having a certain artist perform in the country [Guyana] because that artiste is on an Interpol red list,” Ali said.

“We do not need lyrics that promote violence in this region. We can promote good lyrics and lyrics that will move people in a positive direction and move people to think and act positively.  As leaders of this region, we have to take this situation seriously and ensure the lyrics of the region are the lyrics of Bob Marley and the lyrics of positivity and the lyrics of positive living and positive change,” he added.