OSAMA BIN LADEN DEATH: HYPE UP JAMAICAN DEEJAY LADEN POPULARITY

DEEJAY LADEN

 

 

 

When U.S President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama Bin Laden this past Sunday, people turned to the social networking site Facebook to express their joy on Mr.Laden's page.


Via The Examiner

Osama Bin Laden’s death has affected not only the social world but, inadvertently the music world also.

Since the announcement of Osama Bin Laden’s death on Sunday night, the official fan page of young Jamaican Dancehall deejay, Laden has been swamped with comments. Jim Laden, a member of Freddie and Stephen McGregor’s “Big Ship” record label was a former contestant on the popular Jamaican talent show, Digicel Rising Stars. When his first single, “Time to Shine,” was released in 2007, he dropped Jim from his name in an effort to separate himself from the former Al-Qaeda front man.

However, since Bin Laden’s death was confirmed, many users used the deejay’s Facebook page to express delight regarding the Taliban leader’s demise. Hooray, US Navy killed that piece of dirt," while another person stated, "Congrats to the US for finding and killing bin Laden." As the comment poured in, though, people started to realize that this was not Bin Laden’s page.

One person said, “Are you people stupid? I'm pretty sure Osama bin Laden wasn't black and I highly doubt he lived in Jamaica. So go post your stuff on his actual page not on some guy that happens to have the same rapper name as a terrorist. Think before you type next time."

When Laden was contacted by the Jamaica STAR about the mishap, he had no comment. Nevertheless, he did say that he was busy in the studio working on new material and yesterday released a song with Khago entitled “Feel You Naturally.” Other singles Laden has recently come out with include The Client on Cashflow's 'Employer' rhythm and Go Deh Mi Gyal on Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor's 'Pepper' rhythm.

Though the misrepresentation was an accident, it may have helped boost his popularity on a local and international scale. I've never heard Laden's music. I saw this page pop up in recommended pages after posting about bin Laden," one person commented on the incident. It might not be a name you want to be associated with, but the attention definitely helps Laden’s name, though accidentally, become more of a household name on the world stage.