28-year-old Jamaican singer Mavado (real name: David Constatine Brooks) is known around the world for his gangsta music, and he was blacklisted by the government of Guyana — along with Rodney ‘Bounty Killer’ Price — just a few days before he was scheduled to appear in Linden for the town week celebration in April 2008.

The government has since lifted the ban, and in September 2009, Mavado performed at the National Park, singing all of his hits, including those that had caused the Government of Guyana to earlier deem him a security risk.

Asked about the fact that he had been banned from coming to Guyana, Mavado said, “I know that someday it [the ban] would have to lift because nothing is forever. Only thing that last forever is salvation so right now I’m here in Guyana and I’m ready to step on stage and give the people what they want, which is music.”

Violent ‘musical feud’
In 2008, the two dancehall stars Mavado and Vybz Kartel began a lyrical war which earned them a reputation for being “the Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur of dancehall music”. The lyrical war turned into what journalists labeled as “one of the biggest musical feuds in recent history”.

In December 2008, the two music stars met at the ‘Sting’ stage show to settle their grievances. However, their fans took the feud to another level. Violence erupted in several communities which represented either crew. Thanks to their songs, rivalry stretched to the entire Caribbean, and reached so far that the authorities in Jamaica charged the two artistes for their violent lyrics against each other.