In the sequel of an exclusive interview with FOX 5 NY’s Lisa Evers, Dancehall star Vybz Kartel, outlined what it takes to be the King of the Dancehall.
“In dancehall, it is the influence that you have, the dominance that you have, the power that you have to put people on, to destroy people if it is necessary, musically. That’s what the king is,” Vybz Kartel intoned frankly.
The interview, which was aired in two parts on Wednesday and Thursday on Fox5 in New York, has created a major brouhaha in Jamaica and triggered a major multi-agency probe because it appeared to have been conducted without the knowledge or consent of the Department of Correctional Services, on a cellphone, which is considered contraband in Jamaica’s prisons.
During the candid interview, Kartel said he uses the fuel of ‘haters’ to power his insatiable desire to continue to write and record hits to prove his dominance of the Dancehall Game.
“I know they want to destroy me and if you know, Lisa, that somebody wants to destroy you, that’s where they’re going to get their pleasure from. Now you have to be on top of your game, you have to constantly be proving them wrong, so I think the haters are as much an influence to me in prison as the fans are,” Kartel said.
Kartel expressed gratitude at his musical and life accomplishment even behind bars because of how life played itself out. Kartel said while he grew up in the 80s, he never thought he could become rich.
“I thought rich people were rich, poor people were poor, and it couldn’t change (from one to the other). So I have to count my blessings to see that it could really change. A lot of people have that mindset too that they can’t, they’re nothing or they’re nobody, and that’s a terrible mindset to have. So me beating that mindset, getting the opportunities that I got, I have to be grateful,” said Kartel who reportedly called Evers from behind bars in Jamaica for the exclusive interview.
The self-styled ‘World Boss’ – real name Adidja Palmer – is serving a life sentence for the murder of one of his former associates, Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.
