Jah Cure Banned From UK By Home Office, UK Tour Canceled

I've been following the story of Jah Cure's release from prison, first concert in Holland, Curefest and recently, the announcement of a handful of shows in the UK. Well, that tour has been canceled, but not by Jah Cure or his management. Jah Cure has been banned from Britain by the Home Office because of his background. Anyone who has looked up Jah Cure on the web knows that he is a convicted rapist who served 8 years in prison for this crime and was released very early for good behavior. What many don't know is that he was tried in Jamaica without a jury, without a DNA sample, without any witnesses. The female who accuses him based her testimony on memorizing his license plate at the scene of the crime and the sound of his voice (as everyone involved had disguised their faces with masks). I wouldn't dare challenge this woman on her experience. I don't doubt her word for a minute. But, I do see a lot of holes in a case that never would have lasted in a US court. No evidence? No witnesses? There's enough women in Great Britain that aren't going to take a chance on Cure's innocence and the Home Office is taking the same stance. According to the Daily Mail, the Home office cites that Cure's presence in the UK "would not 'be conducive to the public good'." On the contrary, promoter Emma Sirius of Sirius Energy Productions feels that Cure would indeed be a benefit to the black youth of the nation. She says, "It would be very sad if he could not come especially at this time in London when a lot of black youth are looking to someone like Jah Cure as an incentive to get them onto a better path." and "Irrespective of whether he is innocent or not he has served his sentence and he is an inspirational figure for young people." Emma Sirius goes on to explain, "He is part of the peace in the streets campaign. All he does is spread goodness." Everyone should make their own decision about this situation. In the meantime, UK residents will definitely not be seeing Jah Cure live this month, unless you have a visa good for international travel and a big petty cash account.UK Daily MailIt is interesting to note at the end of this article, the reporter mentions how this situation echoes the time that women's rights groups were opposed to letting Mike Tyson visit the country after being convicted of various crimes against females. The Home Office decided in that case to allow Mike Tyson to visit."Zion Way":On the note of being a peaceful rasta:There is very little misunderstanding of his Jah Cure's lyrics which promote peace, love, understanding and that sort of thing. For reasons that I do not fully understand, he is being compared in the press to Bob Marley. I have a strong feeling that this has to do with generalizing. It would appear that the journalists and bloggers who make this comparison, just don't know very many reggae artists to begin with. Therefore, they are comparing Cure to the only other peaceful, One Love rasta musician that they have ever known, Robert Nesta Marley. Much of the press surrounding Jah Cure has been mainstream, by periodicals that don't know much about reggae music, Jamaican culture and probably aren't going to take the time to learn, just to report the news about Jah Cure. So be careful of the misunderstandings of cultural differences being reported in mainstream news sources when reading about music stories like these.