A woman was shot in the chest when gunmen opened fire outside London's Barbican Exhibition Centre in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The incident took place as the venue hosted the Urban Music Awards. Although there is nothing to link the shooting to the awards ceremony - the injured woman was certainly nothing to do with the awards - the fact the incident happened alongside the event will no doubt again tarnish the reputation of the capital's urban music community.
The shooting wasn't the only controversy surrounding the awards event. As is now customary for black music events, organisers found themselves clashing with gay rights groups over the nomination of Beenie Man and Vybz Kartel in the best reggae category - those artists being accused of inciting violence against gay people through their lyrics of course. The Urban Music Awards' solution was to drop the category completely, though that didn't impress gay rights group OutRage either.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Peter Tatchell told reporters: "OutRage! opposes the cancellation of the whole reggae category. We have no objection to reggae music. There are many fine reggae singers who do not advocate killing gay people. They deserve recognition. We greatly regret the scrapping of the reggae category. OutRage! urges the UMA to reinstate the Best Reggae Act award, with non-homophobic nominees."
Fellow OutRage representative Brett Lock added: "We recognise that Jamaican music has made a huge, positive contribution to popular culture. It's sad that a small minority of dancehall artists have besmirched the good name of reggae with their encouragement and glorification of homophobic violence. Reggae icons like Bob Marley never promoted hatred and violence. They sang about love, peace and social justice. It is time reggae returned to its roots."