King Labash's summer jam dream dashed

Zim Now Writer

Zimbabwean dancehall artist Lloyd Muponda, known as King Labash, has seen his hopes of performing at the prestigious SummerJam Festival in Germany dashed after a controversial disqualification. The festival, scheduled for July 4-6 in Cologne, boasts a star-studded lineup including Vybz Kartel, Beenie Man, and Shenseea. Labash was vying for a performance slot through a social media competition, but his journey ended abruptly amidst allegations of vote manipulation.

The competition offered artists a chance to share the stage with dancehall royalty. However, Labash's post was removed from the SummerJam Instagram page, and he was disqualified without warning or an opportunity to defend himself, according to a statement released by the artist.

"King Labash's post has been removed from the Summer Jam Instagram page, and he has been unfairly disqualified without warning or a chance to respond," the statement reads. "This decision lacks transparency, and it's concerning that out of the three contestants, only one ‘seemingly’ favoured by the organisers remains."

Labash's team believes that someone maliciously added fake likes to his post, leading to his disqualification. "We believe there was malicious intent from someone who added fake likes to King’s post, leading to his disqualification," the statement continues. "This was beyond our control, and instead of investigating as per normal procedure, the organisers chose to remove him, even though he had more likes than everyone contesting before the incident."

The SummerJam Festival is a major event in the music world, having previously featured prominent artists like Burna Boy, Tarrus Riley, Romain Virgo, and Busy Signal. A performance at the festival would have been a significant career boost for King Labash.