The old Rastafari Ras Iyah V He expressed his annoyance because he believes that many reggae artists have become rich using the movement without giving back to the Rastafari community..
“For example, we have many challenges in terms of building infrastructure that can help make the progress and development of Rastafari much easier. But these guys don't give anything back. Can you imagine that when organizing a Rastafarian event a reggae artist charges me five million when at the same time you have reggae artists who will perform for free for the system?”, He said “elder” a Dancehall Mag.
“The same system that oppresses me and me as a Rastafari and oppresses our people, there are reggae musicians, Rastafari musicians, or reggae musicians with locks in the head that they will act for the government for free, but at the same time they will charge a rasta man a bag of money”, added the also president of the Westmoreland Hemp and Ganja Farmers Association.
To exemplify your point of view, Ras Iyah V made reference to his Rastafari event Rootzfest of 2019, where an artist requested a booking fee of 50.000 dollars for a performance.
“They received 25.000 Dollars, which at that time would be three million and something (of Jamaican dollars), but in reality they asked 50.000 American dollars, that would have been equivalent to 6,5 million at that time 2019”, he explained.
This is not the first criticism made by “elders” from Jamaica to rasta musicians, since about a month ago the old man Nyahbinghi Priest Fagan founder of the Ras Tafari School of Vision in the mountains of St. Andrew He said he was disappointed with Jamaican reggae artists who proclaim themselves Rastafarians., but they have failed to use their wealth to help the movement and to the young people of Jamaica.
“I said even six, seven, three, four of these prominent artists who are Rastafari and have Afrocentric leanings could not organize a space. What I discover is that every man is a prince or a king to himself… why haven't they done it? Come together and establish something that is genuine and tangible to help young people?”, Fagan said in an interview with I Never Knew TV.
