Dancehall artiste Tempa apologises after racy Tobago performance

The Buccoo Village Council along with local dancehall artiste Rebecca “Tempa” Alexander have both apologised for the latter's performance at the 95th annual Buccoo Goat and Crab Festival on April 11.

Following Alexander’s performance, outrage and condemnation was sparked in many quarters with people venting their feelings on social media and expressing their disappointment with the “choice of entertainer for a family event.”

At the event, while she did not sing those parts, scores of children could be heard singing along to her explicit lyrics word for word. Her performance began after 10 pm, which made some question why the children were at the venue at that hour when they should have been at home.

In an apology posted to her Instagram page on April 12, Alexander confessed that she specialises in a genre of local music that is geared toward adults.

“This performance also came at night, after the main event, where most remaining kids would have been more than likely accompanied by their parents and guardians.” Alexander said she censored her performance but that does not change the content.

“I accept and agree. As a young and upcoming artiste that’s still learning daily, I will put more effort into rebuilding my style and performance when I encounter an unexpected audience.”

In a press release, the Buccoo Village Council said it takes full responsibility and it apologised to all who would have taken offence with Alexander’s performance.

“The council took the necessary steps in cautioning entertainers as to the use of any obscene language during their performance, advertising who the entertainment would have been, and brought on the main act later into the night as t give persons, especially parents of younger children the opportunity to plan what aspects of the event they would have taken part in.”

The release said over the years, data indicated that youth participation and engagement in the event was on the decline as it pertains to the festival as well as that parents with younger children exited the event by 9.30 pm.

“As such, the council gave our youth committee the opportunity to contribute to the planning of this event and allowed them to give ideas and suggestions in making it more inclusive. This resulted in an incident-free event with the largest attendance in over a decade.”