YardFlex.com: Alliance fist fight at Mavado's Birthday Splash

December 03, 2006

Alliance fist fight at Mavado's Birthday Splash

By: Claude Mills
Photos by: Carlington Wilmot

Aliance_BountyKillerIdoniaBusySignalKartelMavado_CarlingtonWilmot.jpg

A fist fight broke out onstage during Mavado's Birthday Splash at Arizon Inn, Portmore this morning as members of Idonia and Kartel's entourage threw punches at other members of the Alliance.

Eyewitness reports say that the internal friction within The Alliance triggered a situation where the entertainers were at 'daggers drawn' and punches were thrown, while several patrons, their hearts pounding, ran helter-skelter all over the confines of the Arizon Inn, abruptly ending the event.

But for all the confusion, one thing was clear at 6:40 a.m. on December 3, 2006: deejay Vybz Kartel's association with the Alliance is all but over. All that is left are the ugly details.

The melee was caused when Idonia and his entourage went onstage, and things got tense. One member of Mavado's entourage got into a scuffle with Idonia's entourage, and knives were reportedly drawn. The small crowd, not more than 500 people at best, began to get antsy as the fracas continued onstage.

"Is like a movie, mi coulden believe say ah the Alliance that, the man dem inna the same crew, and ah just pure knife draw, man ah throw punch, and pure vibes, mi see one rass and ah next man ah get into it. Bwoy, the way mi scared, mi nearly dead, first of all, the production wasn't well put together. About 6:25 a.m, they were onstage, setting up a screen, dem not even finish that when all of a sudden, dem call on Munga, then Ras Myrdhak come and blaze a fire, Capleton do a few songs, and after that, they called on Mavado, the birthday boy," one female patron explained to YardFlex.com.

"Busy joined him onstage and they did 'Full Clip' and then Mavado did 'Gangsta For Life', then Idonia went up and did one song, 'Bookam Bookam', and then the man dem start fight onstage. While the fighting ah gwaan, Busy went offstage, and give Bounty the mike, and him do 'Bulletproof Vest', and come onstage but the fighting still ah gwaan, like dem no respect the Killer," she said. "Even Mendez ah try keep the peace and nobody nah pay him no mind."

"Then things just get confusing, mi hear 'No Bling Dawg no' like someone ah say Bling Dawg nuffi get involved, and den Vybz Kartel rounda the gate like him ah come inna the venue, and fi him boys dem ah hold on pon him. Then mi hear Mavado say 'go fi the ting, weh the ting de', and that's when people start run, all Nuffy ah run....then Bounty say 'no no no, keep the peace'. And Mavado say 'look how this man come mash up di ting, mi ah bad man', and Bounty shut him up by saying 'Mi no waan no man say nothing, me alone fi talk pon this' and Mavado shut up. Then Bounty continue: 'me say man fi dead, me say gun no stick, wah do some bwoy? Dem wi dead, dem wi ded, dem wided!" and then him drop the mike and left the stage and everybody lef after him," she told YardFlex.com

Two weeks ago, the XNews announced 'Split in the Alliance!" and on Friday, the Weekend Star followed up that mushrooming conflict when it reiterated on its front page that 'Kartel, not Bounty's boy' and then the final denouement -- this morning's altercation, fist-throwing and promises of deadly violence.

"After the artistes dem leave, people scared to go outside, because dem think gun outside, and to what Mavado had been saying, everybody scared...when mi leave, people ah race inna dem car towards the toll booth, it was unreal...mi no know what dancehall ah come to, but this friction nah done fi now," she said.

The question on everyone's lips given the controversy swirling around the Alliance is: 'If Kartel is no longer a member of the Alliance, why did he come to the event this morning?'.

"Yo, the bwoy dem violate star...mi go deh and lef and den mi come back because mi no fraida nobody...but ah dem violate star," Kartel said this morning when contacted.

Vybz Kartel said other things which, while useful, cannot be printed in this account.

It is clear that as one dancehall critic put it, "Kartel is a god among insects" in the dancehall industry because of his unique style that merges shrewd thuggishness with razor-sharp wit and brilliant wordplay. He has recanted on his promise to renege on his deal with Greensleeves, and has been working with whiz kid Stephen McGregor on a number of tracks including 'Imagine', a five minute magnus opus of a song that discusses world affairs, history and politics, and which will appear on his upcoming album, 'Vybz Kartel Presents Addi the Techa'. Kartel dominated the dancehall last year, earning the 'Deejay of the Year' accolade as he scored numerous chart-topping hit singles such as 'I Neva' and 'Emergency'. He has scored other hits such as 'Breast Specialist', 'Tek Him', Why You Doing It', 'New Millennium' and 'Picture You and Me'. His hit-making has continued with 'Better Living' and 'Tick Tock' this year. In the meantime, Idonia has emerged as Vybz Kartel's protege during the past year, and under Kartel's guidance, joined The Alliance, even though he had had issues with Busy Signal for a number of years. Now, it appears that the negative vibes between Busy-Idonia, Kartel-Busy-Mavado and now Kartel-Killer has translated into a multi-dimensional conflict that could irrevocably split the Alliance forever.

It appears that a seismic shift in reggae dancehall is unfolding before our eyes, and that there is a new chapter emerging in dancehall. How it will end is anybody's guess.

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December 03, 2006

Alliance fist fight at Mavado's Birthday Splash