by: Mark Dixon
It’s been close to three months now since I last saw Mr. Beenie Man himself hosting BET’s Top 25 Video Count Downs on a Saturday afternoon. But I can not seem to get it out of my head on how he behaved while hosting one of BET’s most watched segments. To me, Beenie made a total fool of himself when he was “dancing around”, and saying stuff that Jamaicans themselves would find it very difficult to understand.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that a Dancehall artist was able to get a few hours of air time on BET. Which is in fact a perfect way to help an artist promote his or her music / talent and possible open doors that would have never been open in the near future for them. But why as a grown man / well established musically and lyrically gifted artist as far as I see it would conduct himself in a manner that could only be described at childish. It’s great that he was enjoying himself in the spot light. Why do it at the expense of possibly becoming the laughing stock of the entertainment communities. I’m sure that when Beenie Man went home to watch himself on BET behaving the way he did – He must be asking himself the question: What the Crap was I doing?
Besides making a fool of himself – I must give Beenie Man the credit he deserves for not featuring only Dancehall Reggae videos on his top 25 count down. I’ve seen other celebrities hosting BET top 25 count downs and it was very noticeable that they were mostly choosing videos belonging to their record label or is affiliated with them in some way shape or form.
But, regardless of how he conducted himself Hosting BET’s Top 25 Count Down. Beenie is still a very gifted and talented dancehall artist and should be seen as one of the pioneers of dancehall music and how far it has reached today. If it wasn’t for the likes of Beenie, Buju, Bounty Killer, Tiger and other dancehall artists, one could safely say that the Truth which is reggae music wouldn’t have been so widely accepted by other cultures if it wasn’t been presented to fans with the realness of what it is.
Notice! Let it be known that the content of this article was not written with the intention of damaging the artist’s reputation or how the public perceives him. What I intended was to bring to light of the fact that Dancehall Music is no-longer seen as music for only Jamaicans to listen and dance to and also how artist should not conduct themselves when hosting an event or doing an interview. Other cultures are now recognizing the time, effort, and sacrifices dancehall artist make each and everyday to promote their art and to which we as fans of dancehall music are very greatfull of.
