BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BOBBY CHIN of the Florida-based Jamaican sound system, Black Chiney, said the situation in Jamaica is unfortunate.
“It’s crazy and it’s unfortunate that innocent people are dying because of one person. The people are loyal to him but I feel that he should give up just to stop the violence and killing,” said Chin, whose real name is Robert Lee.
Lee, along with fellow Black Chiney member Warren Hoo a.k.a. Willie Chin, were in St. Kitts on Saturday, March 29 for the ‘Dancehall Nice Again’ event at Club Kactus that evening.
SKNVibes spoke briefly with the DJs, who said they are of Jamaican parentage, born in Jamaica but live in the United States.
According to a previous report on SKNVibes, a limited state of emergency had been in place in parts of Kingston since (May 21) after several police stations were attacked and set on fire.
Supporters of the alleged drug lord Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke immediately began barricading streets in the West Kingston district after a judge issued a warrant for Coke’s arrest.
After months of denying the extradition request, Prime Minister Bruce Golding finally said he was prepared to hand over Coke to US authorities on drugs and weapons trafficking charges.
He had previously claimed the US indictment relied on illegal wiretap evidence. The security operation began on Monday, May 24 with thousands of heavily armed soldiers storming the barricades and going house to house in search of Coke.
Coke is revered by many in the Kingston slums, who say he has helped them with food and clothing and has enabled their children to attend school.
However, the US Justice Department has classified Coke as one of the world’s most dangerous drug barons. He is also suspected of leading a gang known as the Shower Posse, which is responsible for numerous murders in Jamaica and the US.
Coke faces life sentence if convicted of the charges.
Meanwhile, the commotion has caused several countries, including the US, UK and Australia, to issue travel advisories warning their citizens about travelling to Jamaica.
According to reports out of Jamaica, a total of 73 civilians and three members of the security forces were killed, while scores of civilians, soldiers and police officers were injured.
Black Chiney got their start from mixtapes. In 1999 Supa Dups, a founding member of the group, released the first mix CD entitled ‘Black Chiney 1- Enter The Dragon’.
It was the first time the duo used the name Black Chiney and the mixtape sold in large numbers, and was also big hit in the Caribbean.
After listening to their mixtapes, Miami's DJ Khaled requested that they produce more. And at the time the fifth volume mixtape was released by Supa Dups, Black Chiney was still known as a mix CD but the mixtapes proved to be popular.
In early 2001, the pair finally went public as Black Chiney, enjoying much success in Jamaica as a result of the mixtapes. And in the summer of 2001 they also earned respect from the sound clashes in which they participated.
In sound clashes, Lee was the deejay who battled his opponents on stage, whereas Supa would play a riddim as the selector. In 2002, at an annual event in Jamaica dubbed Fully Loaded, the reigning ‘king’ Tony Matterhorn lost the sound clash against Black
Chiney. In a rematch later that year in Miami, Matterhorn was again defeated by Black Chiney. Since Black Chiney frequently tours around the world, they experienced some burnout and, as a result, they recruited two new members to help them carry the load in 2003 - Willy Chin and Walshy Killa.
The group has also produced tracks for some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Mary J. Blige, Jah Cure, John Legend, Buju Banton, Rhianna, Estelle and Sean Paul.
