Kandre McDonald and Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporters
MANY OF Jamaica's entertainers are simultaneously hitmakers and lawbreakers. In the international world of entertainment, sex sells and crime seemingly pays, if the videos which get prime rotation on Black Entertainment Television (BET) are anything to go by.
In the 'Ivy League' genres many rappers and rockers have their albums debut or rocket to number one on several charts despite of or due to a pending court case. On the local music scene things are a tad different, but not dramatically so.
Over the years there have been many instances where local entertainers have been on the wrong side of the law. The charges have been murder, rape, the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and breaches of the Dangerous Drugs Act, as well as the Town and Communities Act, amongst others.
Some entertainers have been proven innocent in a court of law, while others have had to make their beds in prison cells.
Dwight 'Bushman' Duncan will have his day in court, as he was allegedly held with an illegal firearm at the Harbour View Roundabout in St. Andrew last weekend.
Rodney Pryce, aka 'Bounty Killer', has had his brushes with the law and has had to answer to charges of assault, obstructing the police and resisting arrest in July, 1997.
Many other entertainers have been punished by the law for assault. Among them are singer Leroy Smart, who was thrown in jail after allegedly beating up fellow entertainer Candyman. Harry Toddler, who claims to have become a Christian, made his way to the police's 'Wanted' list following the reported beating of his former girlfriend. Risto Benjie broke down in tears after being found guilty of assaulting an employee of record producer King Jammys.
Popular entertainer Garfield Vassell, otherwise called Zebra, lost his freedom in May, 2001, after being sentenced to three-and-a-half years imprisonment at hard labour after being found guilty of two counts of assault with intent to rape.
Popular entertainer Wayne Parkinson, who is also known as 'Baby Wayne', was nabbed by detectives allegedly smoking a coke pipe. Gregory 'The Cool Ruler' Isaacs has also been brought before the courts on numerous occasions for breaches of the Dangerous Drugs Act. On February 7, 1997, at about 4 p.m., Isaacs' car was stopped and searched and drugs found in his possession; in November of that same year he was again found with narcotics.
Peter Tosh was legendary not only for his music, but for his run-ins with the law. His first recorded such encounter came when he refused to get out of the road while he was part of a street protest against apartheid in Spanish Town. On one occasion he was beaten badly by the police and reportedly left for dead on the floor of the Half-Way Tree police station.
Some of Jamaica's top deejays have also been caught by the long arms of the law overseas.
Deejay Beenie Man had to present himself in court in March of 2001 to answer to possession of marijuana charges in Virginia, in the United States, while Mad Cobra was arrested in Barbados in April of 1998 and charged with using indecent language. Cobra was fined BD$6,660, but Beenie Man was freed of the charges brought against him.
Earlier this year, Stephen and Julian Marley, singers and sons of reggae icon Bob Marley, were conditionally freed of drug-related charges when they appeared in court in Florida.
The brothers, appearing before Judge Steve Parsons in the Gadsden County Courthouse, were charged with possession of 20 grammes of ganja and possession of drug paraphernalia. On the other hand, Lady Luck did not smile on entertainers such as Alozade, Mickey Spice, Ninja Man, Zebra and Jah Cure, amongst others. Deejay Michael 'Alozade' Sterling was sentenced to nine months in prison last year for attacking police officers in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court, where he appeared to face charges of using profanity on 'Dancehall Night' of Reggae Sumfest 2001.
Jah Cure is serving time for rape.
Desmond 'Ninja Man' Ballentine has had his fair share of encounters with the law. He has been charged with murder, rape, the illegal possession of a firearm and assault. The 'Don Gorgon' has, in his most recent encounter with the law, been freed of charges stemming from the 1999 murder of a Kingston taxi driver. However, luck failed to present itself on July 2, 1996, when he was found with an illegal firearm and ammunition. This earned him a year in the General Penitentiary (now the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre).
It is a year that the 36-year-old deejay says he will not forget, as it brought home the reality of life and forced him to pull up his socks. "Mi did well bad and the whole world know that. Being in there (prison) mek me know seh it a nuh place fi guh back. Being incarcerated let me look at life more positively," reminisced Ninja Man.
It has been eight months since Alozade's stint in the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre and while the deejay has placed the unfortunate mishap in the courtroom and its outcome behind him, he says many have held it over his head.
"Some people in the business don't want to let bygones be bygones; they still use it against me," explained Alozade, who told The Sunday Gleaner that several corporate entities have declined to sponsor shows if he is booked to perform. These sponsors, he says, insist that the promoters drop him out of the line-up or they will not offer or will withdraw their sponsorship.
"A man done him sentence, therefore he must be free and treated in that manner. This is my job and right now me just a hold the faith," reasoned Alozade on the 'ex-convict' treatment he has been receiving.
Alozade said that the sentence he served has sort of 'put the brakes' on his career. He says that since regaining his freedom he has been receiving treatment more suited for 'Bin Laden and the suspected Washington Snipers'. This, he points out, has reduced the numbers of shows he has been booked on.
Leonard 'Merciless' Bartley, a.k.a. the 'Warhead' has more than an inkling of what Alozade is going through. Last year Merciless was accused of a crime, but was not placed in the 'bottomless pit' to do time. The deejay was accused by a 21-year-old female of rape, but was later acquitted of the charges as the accuser told the court she was no longer interested in pursuing the matter.
"It drive a hole in my career, but not a big delay. Still, some artistes try to use it against me," reasoned Merciless. Although he escaped the possibility of facing up to 25 years in prison, the deejay said that a clear message was sent to his subconscious and will forever lodge there.
"Yeah man, mi tink bout all ah dem ting deh (being found guilty). Jah know ah life still, cause a nuff man deh a prison and dem innocent," Merciless stated in a reflective tone.
On the other hand, Alozade said that his prison time has made him 'tougher mentally'.
Nonetheless, his conviction highlights the fact that a man is just a man and also emphasises that artistes are not above the law. It is a mindset that Merciless said should be harboured by all members of the entertainment fraternity. The arguments surrounding the assumptions that the notoriety which often precedes artistes is one of the reasons why they defy the law was supported by Superintendent A.J. Forbes, head of the Constabulary Communications Network (CCN).
Superintendent Forbes says the fact that many entertainers know they are famous and well-loved by the public sometimes makes them feel they are above the law and may help to contribute to their cavalier attitude towards the police. "They know they are popular and because of this they are given social power and responsibilities. But some of them are not cultured and prepared psychologically to handle that fame, so they tend to get carried away by it," he said.
The Superintendent added that another major contributor to entertainers' behaviour are the background and the social environment they grew up in.
In the same breath, Superintendent Forbes says he believes that having a confrontation with the law and getting in the limelight for it is just part of the way an entertainer grows up in his community.
In order to not make 'Blue Mountain Peak' seem like 'Mount Everest', the Superintendent surmised that many persons from the same background as entertainers have run-ins with the law as well. However, artistes are famous and so their doings become public knowledge.
Superintendent Forbes also pointed out that the craving for fame that entertainers have tucked in their back pockets will not buy them any preferential treatment from members of the police force. However, he suggested that an officer may choose to use his discretion but, like any other citizen, the entertainers are treated without fear, favour, malice or ill-will.
Ironically, the Superintendent's view was bolstered in part by the accounts of Alozade, as he testified that he has not been receiving any 'curry favours' from members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). However, the deejay's experience also contradicts some of the Superintendent's statements. "Almost every other day I am stopped by the police. However, I approach the situation professionally. I only receive verbal abuse; it has not been physical," noted Alozade, who says he received foul treatment from the police after the flare-up in the courtroom.
On the other hand, in all fairness to the entire police community Alozade pointed out that some police officers have let sleeping dogs lie. It is a view that Ninja Man, who has faced charges of assaulting a police officer, supports. The Don Gorgon said he cannot point fingers at the lawmen. He added that if they wanted to they could have killed him already, as it is just one Ninja Man against many policemen.
The good reports in favour of the lawmen trickled in, with Merciless adding that he has not received bad treatment from the cops.
The Superintendent said that as far as he knows the police do not target entertainers. "The police do have good dealings with many entertainers. We have a wonderful relationship with a number of entertainers who are decent, law-abiding and disciplined people but its just that, like in any other industry, there are miscreants," he added.
Usually an individual with a soiled police record is hindered from receiving a visa to travel to the United States and Europe. However, it seems the rule does not necessarily hold true for entertainers. Alozade stated that he recently got a 10-year US visa and, since his release, he has done shows in the Caribbean but not outside the region. This, he says, is a matter of choice, but plans are now in the pipelines for dates in the United States and Europe.
There is one thing for sure. Alozade and his colleagues have written in stone a vow that they shall never again make their beds in prison. "Go back to where?" Alozade asked emphatically. "What going back you talking about? Which going back?"
Reflecting on the avoidable price he paid in 'prison currency', the Don Gorgon's conviction is not to be convicted again. "When you inna prison, you lose. Being in prison for a day is a very big loss in a man's life, much less a year," lamented Ninja Man, who said going to prison is like signing a death warrant.
