Dancehall deejay Moses Davis, aka Beenie Man, refuses to sit and twiddle his thumbs while he plays the waiting game with the United States embassy, which recently revoked both his work permit and his visitor's visa to that country.
"He's doing a lot of recordings ... not just locally, but also for several foreign-based producers," his ultra-elusive manager, Blue, told Splash.
Actually, it was quite an experience just having a conversation with Blue via telephone, as he truly deserves his reputation of not answering his cellphone. But on Tuesday, Blue was all charm and chatter as he hastily dismissed all suggestions that Beenie Man was singing the blues.
"Moses is in the studio voicing right now. I don't want to interrupt, because it will throw him off," Blue explained, managing to sound apologetic.
According to Blue, who is also Beenie's brother, the two were at Renaissance's studio because the deejay woke up that morning "with a song in him head" and he just had to get it out.
"We usually work at our studio, 357, but he needed to do this fast and this studio is just down the road," Blue said, adding that Beenie has been really very busy. "He has new songs out and they are doing very well ... the deejay is building his repertoire and staying current," Blue said.
However, he did admit that the lack of a US work permit had affected their earnings, but an upbeat Blue noted the artiste was still travelling overseas as the doors to the Caribbean, Europe and South America remained open and the welcome mat was out. And, of course, there was the revelation from Blue that the Almighty is always looking out for those He favours.
"God a work with we," Blue testified solemnly and with bountiful conviction. "We always had Caribbean dates ... and South America ... but it come in like we getting more of dem dates deh since this thing (the visa revocation) happen," he explained.
Just last week, Beenie Man performed in Barbados and then there is the Tobago show this weekend, which Blue obviously thinks of as divine providence. "It wasn't on we itinerary none at all," he told Splash, but just popped up, seemingly out of the blue. Beenie is also scheduled to perform in St Maarten and The Bahamas, after which he leaves for Europe, where he will be performing from June 12 to July 2.
"We have 18 shows confirmed in Europe, and when we come back to Jamaica there's Reggae Sumfest and we have shows in Trinidad and Tobago," Beenie's manager outlined. He mentioned that this year, Beenie Man will be performing on International Night at Sumfest, rather than the traditional Dancehall Night.
But, truth be told, the manager does regret the fact that the artiste is unable to do the usual gigs in the US. "We not really complaining still ... but you know, the US was actually a every-week thing ... if it's not a band show, it's a track show. But we deh yah just a mek music and keep in the flow," Blue said.
Questioned about the reason the visas were revoked, Blue related a story told to him by Beenie Man. According to Blue, "The people at the embassy wouldn't let me go inside with Beenie at the time they were explaining to him why them revoke the visa. But Beenie say they told him that the artistes are mixed up in gangs and all kinds of illegal things and that's why them take back the work permit, the visitor's visa ... everything."
He continued, "The good thing is that Beenie Man don't have any criminal record and the visa is not cancelled ... it is revoked. So we are hoping that after all this is over and everything sort out we will get back the work permit. When the American embassy ready back for us we ready for them."
So, in the meantime, Beenie records, works his gigs, and Blue makes an effort to answer his cellphone, perhaps secretly hoping that the next call will be from the US embassy informing them to come and pick up Beenie's visa.
Check out Beenie Man's response to the revoking of his visa...
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