Rygin King faces ‘Tuff’ challenges with ICE

Dana Malcolm | Observer Online Reporter | Malcolmd@jamaicaobserver.com March 24, 2026 Rygin King faces ‘Tuff’ challenges with ICE Sources close to dancehall artiste Rygin King have revealed that the Tuff singer was just “hours away” from his green card interview with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) when officers from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) swooped in and picked him up at his residence. The deejay, whose given name is Matthew Smith, was reportedly taken into custody yesterday, with his detention now listed on the official ICE website. No official reason for the detention had been made public, and neither Smith nor his representatives has issued a statement.

He is the second dancehall act to be detained by ICE in recent months, joining fellow deejay Chronic Law. The deejay’s detention is further complicated because he is a paraplegic and requires special medical attention. Details surrounding the circumstances of his detention remain unclear.

Observer Online contacted the How Me Grow singer’s previous attorney at law, Marc B Laykind, who shared, “I am no longer representing Rygin King…But that case has been resolved; the matter should have been settled by now.” He also had no knowledge of the singer’s detention by ICE. The New York gun case is still lingering in US courts.

In 2024, the Things Gonna Change singer, his wife Ileene Parker-Smith, and four others were arrested in Queens after police said a loaded firearm was found during a traffic stop involving a Ford Explorer. Smith pleaded not guilty to six charges, including the most serious charge of “criminal possession of a loaded firearm in the second degree”, which can carry a maximum of 15 years for a first-time offender. Court documents state that the matter has been tied up in adjournments and suppression hearings for months.

On February 27, 2026, the suppression hearing was continued and a decision reserved, with prosecutors also filing a certificate of readiness and a certificate of supplemental compliance.

“A man already accepted ownership of the guns in the car, so the deejay clear off that case,” the source said. The controversial deejay has faced a bumpy ride since he was paralysed after a 2020 fatal shooting incident in Westmoreland, in which his manager’s wife, Sashalee Blackwood, was killed and the deejay was shot three times. He later moved to the United States for orthopaedic consultations and rehabilitation.

He has since released two albums, Therapy and Recovery, which were well received by fans because they chronicled his personal challenges of healing, depression and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds. His next court date is listed as March 27, 2026, in Queens Supreme Criminal Court before Justice Mary Bejaran to deal with the gun case. Rygin King shot to prominence with the single Tuff and cemented his status with a performance at Reggae Sumfest 2018.

However, his musical success has been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding his injury, when he was chased and shot three times by unknown gunmen in Westmoreland, which damaged his spinal cord. He is also known for the hit songs 3zn, Things Going Change, How Mi Grow and 7 Fall Many Rise. — Claude Mills