Sting, one of the largest and longest running dancehall reggae concerts held in the world, was marred by a brawl between Vybz Kartel and Ninja Man. The concert was underway when the sudden clash of the two deejays sent fists and bottles flying. The two artists later complied with the Jamaica’s Central Police and called for peace from their fans so the incident would not lead to any unnecessary conflict.

In 2003, the year of dancehall’s most widespread acceptance, it would be foolish to become victims of our own success. There is so much opportunity right now for all the talented deejays to claim a bit of the limelight that in a recent conversation, Shaggy said now is the time for everyone to “get your game together.” There is a lot at stake not only for the artist’s themselves, but for the genre, as a whole. Artists are being watched by the music industry now more than ever, and don’t need to carry on foolishly just when they are receiving the most media coverage in the history of dancehall reggae music. Fine, the verbal clash is the thing that makes deejaying exciting, and street credibility comes with the expression of lyrical dexterity, but leave it there. Right de pon stage. When the mic put down…done it.

In separate interviews with BBC 1xtra Vybz and Ninja expressed their feelings about the event’s turn toward violence. “Just a feeling of sorrow still and regret to know that such an unfortunate incident took place at a universally broadcasted event. First we have to apologize to Ninja Man and the fans of Ninja Man and the promoters of the event. And also to the fans who may not be fans of either one of us, but are fans of the music, and know the music is a viable part of the Jamaican economy. So we can’t let this unfortunate incident leave a scar on dancehall music and stop it from growing on an international level.”

Ninja Man spoke hours after the event saying, “Never in my life did anything like this ever happen to me. Although they have me as a violent type of person, when I approach the stage I lef’ my violence way behind. I come to give the people music, cause like Bob Marley said – ‘One good thing about music, when it hit you, you feel no pain’.”