Beenie Man faces Trinidadian backlash again, seeks to clear air
For the second time in just under two years, dancehall superstar Beenie Man is seeking to clear the air after offending the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Girls Dem Sugar deejay stirred controversy earlier this week when, during an interview on New York’s Hot 97, he apparently suggsted that Jamaica started carnival celebrations before Trinidad and Tobago, attributing its origins to late Jamaican music pioneer Byron Lee.
Carnival has deep historical roots in Trinidad and Tobago and several other Caribbean islands, with the celebration originating during the period of slavery. In contrast, Jamaica only began celebrating carnival on a national level in the early 1990s.
Against that background, Beenie Man has been chided across social media since his remarks surfaced online.
On Saturday, in a video posted to social media, he said his comments were misconstrued.
“Let me clear up this with love for you, I was just only speaking about my experience with carnival in Jamaica and the role that Byron Lee play in our carnival,” Beenie Man said. “I could never ever come and steal away nothing from Trinidad.
“I don’t speak with Trinidad with hate, I love Trinidad… and I know that Trinidad loves me,” he added.
He further clarified: “My experience with Byron Lee and what he has done for carnival is the big [truck] and the road march, and marching with the streets with the music… this is my experience that I grew up in my country… So please don’t get me wrong, Trinidad carnival is Trinidad carnival, it started from way back when.”
In February 2025, the dancehall icon apologised to Trinidadians over comments he made on ‘doubles’, a popular food item in the twin island republic.
READ: Beenie Man gives heartfelt apology to Trinidadians in ‘doubles’ spat
In an interview on popular US podcast Drink Champs, the Who Am I singer said that a soca artiste had told him that stray dogs won’t eat doubles and he decided to try a little behavioural experiment to test the hypothesis with the channa-and-bara favourite. But the stray dog declined.
