It is ironic that in Tuesday's STAR, in the main story about the prospect of a legal challenge to the Broadcasting Commission's recent blanket ban of bleeps and 'daggering', Vybz Kartel asked for unity.

He said "whether yuh seh 'Gaza' or 'Gully', you need to stand up against the commission. The artistes need to lobby for dancehall and reggae music and for people's freedom of choice."

This is less than two months after Sting 2008 and the big clash between Kartel and Mavado, the former dismissing the "wounded dog" in the inevitable post-Sting song.

This is in a situation where the deejay rivalry, always a feature of dancehall, has reached a new level, where songs by Kartel and Mavado are being booed at parties by those who are supporters of the other artiste.

Unity, even in the direst straits, does not happen overnight, and the rivalry that dancehall has thrived on is the same thing that prevents the fraternity from presenting the united front that is necessary to effect changes that benefit the industry as a whole.

We have seen this before, when Bounty Killer, Beenie Man and Fantan Mojah were banned by the Coalition of Corporate Sponsors, and the recent withdrawal from sponsorship of live events by Red Stripe. Then, as now, there were calls for unity in the face of adversity. Then, the calls were unheeded and, after the impact of the immediate crisis had been absorbed, it was back to bickering as usual.

We will see what happens in this case, but it is hardly likely that one issue, no matter how potentially damaging to the industry, will unite a fractured group of people.