I have to admit, Kartel's new song Dancehall Hero very nicely written & catchy. Whether you say Gully or Gaza or you're neutral... There is no one that can deny Kartel's present reign over dancehall. For the last year and a half Kartel's chunes have been tearing up the place and have gotten him an incredible amount of exposure... Especially with his chune Clarks that he released earlier this year. He also has everybody (including me) saying Awe...With all that being said...What warrants ANY artist to call themselves a Pelé or Jordan? Innovation & Originality!!! Now let’s dissect Kartel's Song..Kartel is the Hot artist right now...so anything he endorses will surely shot...i.e his song Clarks. Most companies go to the “artist of the moment” to endorse their products that they want to make sales on. Kartel released the song “Clarks” and everybody ran out & got a pair of Clarks...This is in not way an attempt to take away from Kartel’s ingeniousness, but Ghostface Killa made in Wallabees pop in '96 when he promoted it in many of his songs. Another trend that we see in the dancehall now is the drinking of Rum and Redbull. Beenie Man’s song has everybody drinking it in both Dancehall & Yankee Parties. There is no question that Clarks is the Dancehall Song of the year. And like every other song that's hot...other artists are going to try and counteract and also attempt to start the next trend.
The "Awe" phrase has been locking the place since the summer. One could argue that credit for that may belong to Jay Z who also inherited it from Biggie Smalls. We should give Kartel his credit...He did add "awoah" to the "awe" and it’s now the "talk". But the question most people will ask, "Is this a major milestone?” True, because Kartel said it everyone jumped on it, including me, but this is not rare for a hot artist at the time. Whenever an artist is hot most thing’s he says will be mimicked. Let’s not forget that "U Zeet" had the place locked since last summer. The Oral sex issue that Kartel sings about a has been talked about and promoted by many artists that came before him. We can thank Baby Cham for getting hell for being the first to say it outright in '98. Beenie has also sang about Gyal “blowing him like a trumpet” from long time.
The fact that Clarks played on mainstream Canadian Television is a great look. However, one can point out that his arch rival Mavado's has songs featured in the popular and top selling game Grand Theft Auto. Or they can mention the fact that Jay-Z the biggest rapper in recent history made a guest appearance on Mavado's song -On the Rock. Now this is not a Mavado endorsement over Kartel because I don't believe that Mavado can be named the Dancehall Jordan or Pelé either. But it is obvious that in recent history Kartel is not the only dancehall artist to be featured in Mainstream Media.
Kartel must get credit for his Street Vybz Rum. When an artist who comes from the ghetto and can use his status to become an entrepreneur, it is always a good thing.
As bad as Kartel is right now... And di man Bad... nah Lie... A year and a half of domination does not place him at the same level as the greats before him nor does it lock his position to make him the Last Don. Kartel may be on the road to greatness, but he still has a long way to go.
I have to agree that Kartel ah lead right now...just had this conversation with my cousin..the man is a true lyricist and that anno anything new from KISSING, School bus and etc the man has a way with words. Mi feel seh Kartel can lyrics the panty offa any gal, he is just that good. We all know sex sell so of course it ah go shot. No one can deny this man his place pon the charts. As much as mi rate Mavado he didnt stand a chance.
ReplyDeleteI am the biggest Bounty fan.. everyone knows that! but fan or no fan.. facts are facts! Kartel is definitely changing the game by himself! He is like Oprah, everyting him seh sell right off. Oh Awhoa lol. This is my current theme song.. everything we do dem follow :)
ReplyDeleteso mi nah go tek nuttun from kartel enuh.but he is not dancehall hero in my opinion.a hero champion the causes of the music.not jus for himself,but for the industry on a hole.kartel has done alot for himself.but has not elevated the music on a bigger level.beenie,bounty,sean paul,shaggy,even ele have done their part.mi still a wait pon kartel fi dweet.
ReplyDeleteI think since he has such a BIG IMPACT on ppl who should do something more meaningful ..memba Bounty say BOOK BOOK BOOK ....i wish Kartel would say Book or something that will reach his fans the way Clarks and straigh jeans and fitted did !
ReplyDeleteKartel is far from a dancehall hero. He is more of the dancehall mascot.
ReplyDeleteI love the music blog site by the way and I love the fact that you both were neither objective, or subjective, or bias and or unbias. You were very fair with your remarks. Your comments were all inclusive and I like that. Yes, Vybz is a creative, lyrical and influential artists in some quarters (not all) and doing big things of course on the local scene/market, but by all means NO, he's not even close to a dance-hall hero yet. In my opinion, he's not at the level where artistes like Beenie, Shaggy, Sean Paul, Shabba Ranks, Elephant and Bounty to name a few has reached globally. He still has a long way to go to be elevated even close to such stature. Another sad thing that evades him is the lack of a good business acumen and the smarts of a marketer (his arrogance and lack of discipline hurts him there), an area whether you like it or not Movado is miles ahead and who is eating bigger food globally at the moment. An artiste of Vybz caliber should have been much stronger monetarily utilizing those tools (i.e. business acumen and marketing smarts)and not just the music at which he's good at and that which is changing the current dance-hall game. Please note, even though it's a good recognition of his lyricism, Canada is not really a big mainstream market that offers much of an impact on the global dance-hall scene.....I also thinks that the game change is moving away from the dancehall roots, pulse and heart beat and becoming more hip hoppified....Yes, "Ooohh awhoaaaa" by Vybz a lock the ends right now, but "long distance stulla" is on the rise...LOL....Our dancehall hero is a combination of all the artistes put together both past, present and the future to come and not just directed to no one man...Awhooaaaa!!! That said, Vybz deserve his credit and recognition where it's due musically but not as a dancehall Hero. I could go on on, but I'll end here.
ReplyDeleteFor a while I was very resistant to Kartel. I felt he was unnecessarily raunchy and violent. That was about the time I was into Mavado and his sweet voice. Because at the end of the day and after you turn off the autotune, Mavado can sing, and he has the lyrics. However, there comes a time when when you just wah free up and bruk out, and that's where I really got into Kartel. Yes he's a talented DJ, and he sets trends, but what else is there? There's a place for everyone in dancehall, but not everyone has longevity. Cocky and pum pum and gun has been there forever and practically every artist has sung about it. But the true test is when an artist can grow and evolve from their neanderthal beginnings. Is their growth in Kartel's (or Mavado for that matter) future? Still too early to tell. When I was in the Q brukkin out to Stamina Daddy, I never in a million years thought Buju would be the artist that he is today. Kartel a hero? I don't think so....I don't want "Shoob it een" to be representative of the music of my culture. Fun? It sure is!! Hopefully Kartel is able to diffrentiate between the fun and games, and his god given talent, and use his influence positively.
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