Joint Bashment Soca king, SK may opt not to defend his crown next year, due to “disrespect” from the Yellow International Bashment Soca Competition’s organisers, his agent Jamal Belgrave has told Barbados TODAY.
And while SK, real name, Romario Cave on Sunday said he was not upset about having to share the crown with well known artist, King Bubba, the hours following revealed a growing level of discontent about how the night unfolded.
During a live video posted to SK’s Instagram account, fans continuously questioned the decision-making of judges on the night arguing SK’s performance of hit song, Reverse was unmatched. It was also suggested promoters had not made sufficient provisions for a tie.
In fact, Belgrave, better known as Pumpy Doo, reported that SK’s team was left feeling slighted when King Bubba’s entourage was allowed to make off with the 1st place trophy.
The agent said organisers threatened to have him removed from the venue when he demanded to know why King Bubba, who reportedly left early to perform overseas appeared to be receiving preferential treatment.
“A tied competition is a very ‘ticklish’ thing, because King Bubba’s people will be feeling like they won and SK’s people will feel as though he is the winner and he wanted to feel the energy from the crowd and wake up with that trophy the next day,” Belgrave said.
SK’s 2019 hit song, Reverse appeared to be the overwhelming fan favorite on the night and his 1st place tie with King Bubba’s She Always Bend Over, has raised come controversy.
“They didn’t deal with it how they should have. They announced the tie and the promoters were just done and were looking to leave. They didn’t look at the fact that there was only one trophy and one cheque. I asked them [Bubba’s family] if they’re going to leave with everything and the person said, ‘we have what is for us. You better get what is for you,’” he recalled, adding officials threatened to put him out of the venue for simply querying the situation.
“What we want is respect and my artist feels highly disrespected. On the night when hundreds of people are in the crowd he wants to go and raise his trophy in the air and make a moment that he could remember… King Bubba was not in Barbados and got more respect and recognition than the man that was here that actually mashed up the show for them. I told them it wasn’t fair.”
So annoyed is the agent with the treatment he revealed his artist, the first timer was contemplating forfeiting his right to defend the crown.
“I already told myself we’re done. As the reigning Kings, we’re done and some of the other artists are done… because it seems like no matter what you do it’s not good enough,” he said. These things made me offset. It’s like we will never be heard, but I would like all of the bashment soca artists come together and tell them to keep their competition,” he said.
Belgrave took his criticism a step further by questioning possible conflicts of interest in relation to sponsorship and the judging process and called for a more transparent process in cultural competitions going forward.
Director of 4D entertainment, Rudy Maloney told Barbados TODAY he would not be caught up in the arguments on social media but lauded his team for rolling out a successful competition.
“We think the judges were professional, the production was good, the patrons were good. Everything overall complemented the production of the competition,” he said.
Maloney denied any suggestions that King Bubba, whose father, Habib Elias is CEO and owner of key sponsor, Slam 101.1FM benefitted from bias in the judging process.
“Lil Rick works for Slam and he won the competition last year and we didn’t see that problem. When we do a competition, we don’t look at Slam because we have three radio stations that sponsor the event. So we don’t look at if something is a conflict in that regard. We see Bubba as an artist. Full stop,” said Maloney.
Maloney also revealed the decision to award 2nd and 3rd places in spite of the tie for first place was addressed in the competition rules and all competitors agreed that in such a circumstance, the prize would be shared. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb
