Isaiah Laing: “I Didn’t Lock Off Kartel’s Show At Di Building In 2010”

Isaiah Laing, the former detective sergeant officer turned Supreme Promotions chairman and founder of Sting, has denied that he orchestrated a raid on the Di Building nightclub on Boxing Day in 2010 because it was being held on the same night as his infamous event.

“As God in heaven, ah never did a thing,” he told DancehallMag. “Mi de a Jamworld a do mi show, and mi a focus on my show. Mi ah say it again, as there is a God in heaven, I never had anything to do with it.”

Laing recalled an encounter with Corey Todd, the then-manager of a popular nightclub, during a conversation about entry fees. “When I was going to the club that night, Corey stopped me on the step, and said ‘yu haffi pay to go inna the club’ and mi say ‘pay fi go inna which club, Corey? Who yu a chat to?’. Mi say ‘Corey, ah your club, mi no haffi go in de’ and mi cut,” he recounted.

He said he returned to his hotel room at the Jamaica Pegasus which was within walking distance of the club.

“Guess what happened? And mi mouth shut from today if a lie mi a tell. I went back downstairs, and some police ask mi ‘wah happen bossy?’ and mi tell dem say ‘Corey say mi haffi pay go inna him club’ and mi tell dem say mi ah go back a mi hotel, and mi walk go down a Pegasus cause mi never did drive go up de’. And yu know mi de a di hotel about 2:30, and mi hear say the club lock down,” he said.

After Di Building was raided by cops, Vybz Kartel questioned statements made by the police that the raid was done based on information received that there were illegal firearms, drugs, wanted men, and other persons of interest at the club.

At the time of the famous Di Building raid, Superintendent Derrick ‘Cowboy’ Knight, head of the Half-Way Tree police at the time, was also quoted in The Star as saying: “This entertainment location poses a serious security risk as the capacity is between around 1,500-2,000 and Sunday night over 8,000 persons were crammed inside with another 3,000 persons standing outside.” Corey Todd ridiculed the report then, especially because the club cannot hold 8,000 persons.

“How dem neva come any other night before the event since them have issues with Vybz Kartel? Nobody neva come. Me and Corey stan up together inna di club every night,” an upset Kartel told radio talk-show host Kingsley ‘Ragashanti’ Stewart’s during the Mix Up and Blenda programme on Nationwide 90 FM.

“Every Tuesday wi deh deh, every Thursday wi deh deh, every Saturday wi deh deh. An nobody neva have nuh issues wid wi up until then. Why dem neva have nuh issue wid wi up until then? Why none a dis neva happen up until den? Dat a my question weh mi waan fi know.”

The Teacha also hinted that the raid had to do with ‘drama’ with another event held on the same night, a thinly veiled reference to Sting.

Laing once again reiterated that he did not know about the raid.

“I would never do anything to Kartel and his show. People have it to the world say ah me lock down the club that night, and mi ah tell yu this, mi mouth shut if mi have anything fi do with that, I never had anything to do with it,” Laing said, explaining that rumours sometimes have a life of their own.

He made reference to an infamous gunslinger called Natty Chris, who became notorious for his brazen gun-toting and murders, to drive home his point that one’s notoriety can help to perpetuate baseless murders, just like the old Jamaican adage: ‘like everything gwaan a foreign, a yardie get the blame.’

“Everytime a shooting gwaan a Jungle, dem say a Natty Chris, even when is not him. I know when is not him do it, but the street says ah Natty Chris, is the same ting with me. It wasn’t me,” Laing said.

Kartel’s Freedom Street Concert is scheduled for New Year’s Eve at the National Stadium, while Sting will occur on Thursday, December 26, 2024, at Jamworld in Portmore.

Ahead of the events, Laing believes that ‘old drama’ is all water under the bridge. He sincerely believes that even Vybz Kartel, an artist with whom he has an admittedly checkered history, doesn’t want Sting to die.

“Kartel knows that ah Sting mek him. He still owes me an apology. Everybody is saying to me that he is coming for Sting, he will still pass through at Sting, just like how him pass through at MECA, and he will pass through and say ‘people respect’, and the stage is there for him if he wants,” Laing told the Jamaica Gleaner recently.

“I don’t carry no grievances for anyone.”

Laing said he helped to protect Vybz Kartel on the fateful night that the Worl’ Boss got into a physical altercation with Ninjaman on the Sting stage in 2003. “I put Ninjaman in a hotel room and placed a security guard at his door so he couldn’t leave, I did that to protect Kartel,” he recounted.

He said that night at Sting cost him over 30 million in settling medical expenses of patrons damaged in a stampede at the show, and at least one major civil suit. “After all that, Kartel returned to perform on Sting several times, so he knows the importance of Sting and he knows the support that we have given him in the past,” Laing said.

Laing also said that Vybz Kartel got his badge of ‘dancehall immortality’ by participating in an iconic clash with rival Mavado at the Jamworld stage in Portmore in 2008. “Kartel himself knows the cultural relevance and significance of Sting,” Laing added.