“Pinky Mek Mi Know Carlene,” Says Beenie Man
Dancehall trendsetter Pinky is more than Beenie Man’s friend, she’s the matchmaker that connected him with her sister Dancehall Queen Carlene Smith in the 90s.
“Pinky mek mi know Carlene,” ‘the doctor’ dished as she rested on his shoulder during an Instagram Live yesterday. “Pinky mek mi deh wid Carlene. Pinky mek mi have Crystal. Pinky.”
Crystal Davis is the sole child between him and Smith, one of the greatest romances in dancehall history. As he told it, he’s known Pinky from when they were young’uns, heading out to street dances and drawing other music enthusiasts in for the ride. Decades later, they embraced arm-in-arm, this time not at a session, but by a bedside where she’s battling stage four breast cancer in the lymph nodes.
With an Instagram following of close to a million, he implored fans to donate to the Real Helping Hands campaign in aid of her US$50,000 treatment.
“I don’t care who you know Pinky as or was, but this is Pinky,” he said. “This can be any of us. Pinky never born with cancer… We can save her. Please, help me save Pinky.”
Reminiscent of her usual vibrant and fun personality, he broke out into a freestyle song, repeating the line: I need some money to cure Pinky cancer. The moment was a chilling reminder of an emotional freestyle he did in 2020, pleading with fans to pray for his then hospitalised mother, Lilieth Sewell. Mama Sewell would later pass away after trying to recover from a series of strokes.
“Don’t care which cancer you have, there’s treatment to help you…” a cheerful Beenie said. “If you send this money in early…we can get her better, seriously.”
Simply put, Pinky is “the girl who do all the dancing with Carlene”. She formed part of a female collective that ushered in ‘fashion meets video light’ culture, becoming a fixture in music videos for artists like Beenie Man, Tiger and duo Chaka Demus and Pliers. After her life in dancehall, she migrated to the US and became a full-time hairstylist, a job she’s had to forsake because of the toll of her illness.
During the live, some users asked Beenie Man to foot the bill of her treatment, to which he responded, “I already put in my thing already cause anything Pinky want, I give her.”
The handler of his phone added, “He does have money but it’s not about him. He does a lot already, so, it’s not about him having money to do it. We’re literally having a link there for other persons that would like to contribute and help Pinky, that loves her.”
Other artists who have contributed to Pinky’s treatment include Sizzla Kalonji, Bounty Killer, Chaka Demus, D’Angel, Pamputtae, Richie Stephens, and entertainment figures like Lena British, culture minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, Stone Love’s Winston ‘Wee Pow’ Powell and Sharon Burke.