Winky D refuses to lower standards for money’s sake

By Bongani Ndlovu

Last week Jamaican reggae crew Morgan Heritage were in Zimbabwe and performed at the Harare International Conference Centre.

From reports, it seems that fans felt robbed as the group performed using backtracks instead of a live band, something that their fans would have preferred.

Show promoters had asked Winky D to perform without his Vigilance Band just like Morgan Heritage and he refused to perform without a live band. After they failed to agree, Winky D pulled out of the show at the 11th hour and released a statement on his Facebook page apologising to fans.

“Vigilance Management hereby inform music lovers who were looking forward to seeing Winky D at the HICC tonight that he is no longer performing there as earlier advertised.

“We sincerely apologise for the difficult decision that had to be taken. This was necessary as informed by the failure of the promoters to abide by contractual obligations, chief among which was their denial of Winky D to perform with his full band, the Vigilance,” posted Winky D.

“The reason given for this denial was that since headline acts were not using a live band, he likewise should give up the band arrangement. This led to direct orders for the sound engineers to pull down the set up that would have enabled Winky D to perform with a band,” explained Winky’s management.

It’s been over 10 years since Winky D stopped performing using backtracks.

His fans are now used to him performing with his band and this is what has differentiated him from other Zimdancehall acts.

If Winky D had used backtracks like what show promoters wanted him to do, he probably could have compromised his act and left fans feeling short-changed.

The promoter probably wanted to cut on expenses and in that case he could have hired a local band for the Jamaican singer like what some local promoters have done in the past.

When another Jamaican Turbulence was in Zimbabwe, he did not have a band but a local one, Transit Crew was assembled for him and they did a sterling job.

For local artistes, what Winky D did should teach them a thing or two. Artistes should not relent under pressure from promoters to compromise their product no matter the circumstances.

Morgan Heritage known for their rich reggae music obviously shortchanged their fans when they performed using backtracks instead of a live band. The Chronicle.