TEINO EVANS, Staff Reporter
Selector Foota Hype at the turntables.
THEY DO IT for the love of the music, but what will selectors do when artistes and their cronies physically or verbally attack them if they do not play the 'right' songs?
Recently, there has been much tension that has stemmed from a lyrical feud between deejays Bounty Killer and Beenie Man, so much so that selectors aligned to these two deejays have in recent times been verbally or physically assaulted.
At one of the Uptown Mondays show while Foota Hype (aligned to Bounty Killer) was at the turntables, Beenie Man went and took the microphone and confronted him, accusing him of not playing any of his songs. Beenie Man spoke for more than five minutes over the microphone, telling how he had carried Foota all around the island with him before he became popular and that he had now become ungrateful. The confrontation was captured on DVD.
Bounty Killer also warned selector, Hotta Ball (aligned to Beenie Man), who was at the same event, not to come within a certain distance of his Oakland apartment residence and separate from that Uptown Mondays show, Hotta Ball was physically attacked by men at another dance where he played.
Hotta Ball believes that selectors will now have to watch what they play.
"Definitely if yuh play a certain artiste more than a certain artiste den dem get offensive, cause mi still play every artiste. Is a negative ting dis, cause a nuh suh Bob Marley did do it. Selectors mus play fi dem free will, dem nuh fi mek artiste tell dem wah fi play, dem fi play fi di people, di crowd, di patrons and di man dem (artistes) fi jus leave dem personal bedroom ting out a di music an the music will be better," Hotta Ball said.
Hotta Ball says the reason some selectors become aligned with artistes is simply because they "have a good relation". "For instance if a artiste guh a one stage show an nuh have a band, den him selecta jus roll in wid him an play him track dem, an him (artiste) feel more comfortable da way deh."
Right: Razz (left) and Biggy. - FILE
However, some selectors like Razz, of the duo Razz and Biggy, believe that it is more what is said or how a song is introduced that gives the impression of favouritism.
"A woulda more wah yuh seh pon it (di tune) an when a selector mek a talk dem a direct it to somebody, suh di selecta dem fi jus mine wah dem a seh more time, cause yuh can play anything but wah yuh seh can change the meaning a di song totally. No man nah guh rush a selecta fi nutt'n, a mean, a man neva rush me yet," he said.
Selector Scratchy B of Cash Money who has been aligned to artistes such as Vybz Kartel, says, "mi play anything mi feel fi play, nobody caan tell mi wah fi play, at di end a di day a nuh Bounty, Beenie or Kartel a pay yuh."
Scratchy B says even though he has been aligned to Vybz Kartel, his thing is set differently.
"Kartel nah guh tell we how fi play, him nah guh seh don't play a Spragga Benz or anything like dat a how Hotta Ball set him ting mek him get rush. Cash Money is a sound weh build artiste an move on an a man haffi jus show di respect when dem si wi, while yuh have others weh get bad mind an waan gwaan like dem waan programme di ting", Scratchy B explained.
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