Boom Boom Says Mavado Urged Him to Spin Vybz Kartel Tracks Ahead of Taste of Sumfest

Seasoned selector Marlon Kirk Wizzard — who also goes by Boom Boom, Billboard Selector, and World Boom — says he is looking forward with real pleasure to spinning at A Taste of Sumfest on July 18 at Plantation Cove in St Ann.

The landmark one-night show will be led by dancehall heavyweights and one-time rivals Vybz Kartel and Mavado, who are set to perform together on the same stage for the first time. Boom Boom, widely called “Mavado selecta” because he and the artiste move like family, says he had a hand in securing Mavado for the festival.

“Joe [Bogdanovich, CEO of Downsound Entertainment], drive come link me a my yard a Grants Pen … and just allow mi fi talk highly about mi community …. Grants Pen a di safest garrison right now, Grants Pen come in like a gated community. Joe come wake mi up …knock pon mi door ‘cause di people dem inna di community love him. Joe tell mi seh him want Mavado fi Sumfest and so, mi call mi brother and mi seh ‘Joe deh here’. And mi low dem fi do dem ting … and next ting the fliers come out saying Gully and Gaza and mi feel good,” Boom Boom told THE STAR.

He made clear that even without a booking, the event would still draw him. “Differently from Sumfest promotion mi haffi deh deh, because remember seh me a Mavado DJ from over the years. Me and David (referring to Mavado) a par from 1993 … we ah eat out one pot and a hol’ we vibes from we a yute. Mavado is not just mi bredda … mi love him like life, and him love mi like life … a just so it go,” said the selector, who was crowned King of the Streets by Mecca Club.

Still, Boom Boom was firm that closeness to David ‘Mavado’ Brooks does not sway what he plays. “Music a music,” he said, and he runs a straight set behind the decks.

On that point, he had guidance especially for younger selectors. “What me want di yute dem fi know is this: Don’t get caught up inna artiste fuel,” he stressed, “because at the end of the day, artiste a artiste, we a selecta, we play music.” “We play the music according to how the music fi play. Because at the end of the day, we as selecta haffi entertain the patrons, that is our job,” a passionate Boom Boom said. He added, “Me nuh business with this artiste or that artiste when dem inna dem vibes … because at the end of di day dem a go turn back friend. And it a go look bad pon you the selecta who a pick side. That’s why you see Vybz Kartel love and respect mi … and other artiste love and respect mi.”

Boom Boom also recalled counsel Mavado gave him years back, when the Gully-Gaza clash was at its height. He said Mavado urged him to keep Vybz Kartel records in rotation. “Mavado look pon me and seh ‘Yow, don’t follow dem selecta deh yuh know, play Vybz Kartel song.’ Real life …. him tell me that. And mi never shocked. Him was looking out for me from then,” Boom Boom said.

He noted that even with that even-handed approach, a slice of Gaza supporters still give him a hard time. “Yeah man … bout 20 per cent a dem who nuh really know the history with me and Vybz Kartel and the history pon how me play music. So dem figure likely seh ‘Boom Boom a style Vybz Kartel’ true mi seh Mavado. But, when dem really get di understanding, dem see seh me is a yute who pree music,” Boom Boom told THE STAR.