Burna Boy ‘Disrespected’ Steel Pulse At Summer Jam Festival, Says The Reggae Band’s Guitarist
Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Burna Boy has come under fire from Reggae fans after allegedly disrespecting Grammy Award-winning Reggae band Steel Pulse by attempting to force them out of their dressing room at the recently held Reggae Summer Jam Festival in Germany.
The uproar began after Steel Pulse guitarist David Elecciri Jr. shared on Instagram that Burna Boy, who arrived at the festival with a large entourage, had demanded additional dressing rooms and attempted to displace Steel Pulse to accommodate his team.
“Burna Boy and security crew fully disrespected us @steelpulseofficial, trying to kick us out of our dressing room so he could have 4 dressing rooms for his massive entourage. Selwyn Brown, original member of Steel Pulse, was livid and our team stood our ground and told them to beat it and you can’t do that to people, especially to a band that has paved the way for Reggae Music,” the guitarist noted on a World A Reggae Post about the festival.
“Summerjam why do you have a full security team that think they can come in and bully people? Who the hell does @burnaboy think he is? And because of us refusing to leave, the security team proceeded to build a barricade of a blacked out chain linked fence that split the hallway between our dressing room and his dressing room making it feel like we were in prison or something,” he added.
Electric also declared that Burna and his team’s style and behavior were unbecoming, did not align with the ethos of Reggae, and ought not to be tolerated.
“I hope that these Legendary reggae festivals realize that this can’t be apart of the reggae culture. That’s Babylon business. We don’t treat people like that. Please recognize this because Steel Pulse was fully disrespected. Reggae promotes Peace, Love, Unity.. stand up for your rights, we must never give up the fight #reggaemusic,” he added.
Steel Pulse’s steadfastness was hailed by reggae fans, who voiced their support for the band and their disapproval of Burna Boy’s actions.
“Disrespected a foundation group who were pivotal in the legacy reggae music has today!! @burnaboygram you disrespected the whole genre and culture and @summerjam_festival_official you lot should be ashamed of yourselves to Burna boy is an absolute nobody in comparison the world needs to value impact instead of celebrity ism,” Lloyd Laing of Reggae University stated.
“He has the nerve to copy reggae culture, then turn around and disrespect the legends. Burna Boy Fire fi dat!! You get no respect for that type of behavior, it’s unacceptable,” another man added.
The news of the incident was also met with distaste by legendary musicologist and Reggae music producer Kurt Riley.
“Babylon business? Llets see what happens next. This i know, slowly but sure, money has a way of overiding respect, morals, rights and principle. Reggae welcomes all, reggae is love, harmony, pain, solution and obastanding,” the Party Animal producer stated.
“Reggae doesnt prescribe to this mentality. Reggae calls out and weed out this behavior regardless of who the individual or group is. What is the price of what is right? We will see because Jah is watching. But i will say this, “He who have no respect for the past, will be mislead and tossed aside over time by the future”,” Riley added.
Laing also questioned the issue of genre crossovers at Reggae music festivals. He and other commenters also pointed out that whilst Burna Boy has gained international acclaim for his contributions to Afrobeats, his presence at a reggae-focused event was unnecessary.
“This is what happen when you try take black music and make it androgynous..Burna Boy should not be sharing a stage with [Steel Pulse] AfroBeats is not Reggae..bees and flies dont coexist in nature so why is Summerjam mixing honey with sh*t??” Laing stated.
“Man oh man bro why do these artist let fame get to their head. Smh this is why you have to watch the frequency of the people that you listen to daily because frequency is transmitted through the musical waves,” one man stated.
“I wondered why he was even there in the first place!!! And its mostly the people who work for the artist that think they can rule and be rude sometimes the artists have no idea what is going on! But let reggae stay reggae ❤️💛💚,” nataschabyhuis added.
The Summerjam Festival organizers also faced scrutiny, as fans called for them to ensure that future lineups respect the Reggae genre’s roots and the artists who have dedicated their lives to its preservation.
“But why the reggae festivals hire this kind of artists? I never understood the connection.. afrobeats can be releated with afrobeat… reggae festivals having afrobeats and a lot of reggae artists wanting to have work and nothing 🤷🏼. The world goes wrong,” louiemelody stated.
“Why is Burna Boy playing at a reggae festival I the first place? A lot of reggae festivals be inviting non reggae artists lately…what’s up with that?” another added.
Steel Pulse, which was formed in 1975 as a trio, consisted mainly of first-generation Britons of Caribbean descent who grew up in the Birmingham community of Handsworth.
By the early 1980s, Steel Pulse had grown to a sextet, and was rated along with Aswad and Misty In Roots as the leading British reggae bands. The band made its Jamaican debut at Reggae Sunsplash at Jarrett Park in August 1981.
The band received the 1986 Grammy Award for their album Babylon the Bandit. They also received nominations for Victims (1991), Rastafari Centennial (1992), Rage and Fury (1998), Living Legacy (2000) and Mass Manipulation (2019).