Kartel says haters have been an inspiration
Dancehall superstar Vybz Kartel said that his haters have proven to be a great deal of help in ensuring that he remains atop the entertainment food chain, despite being in prison.
In an exclusive interview with FOX 5 NY’s Lisa Evers, Kartel, who is serving a life sentence for murder, said “I think the haters are as much an influence to me in prison as the fans are”.
The interview, which was aired in two parts on Wednesday and Thursday, appeared to have taken place without the consent of the Department of Correctional Services, which manages the country’s penal facilities. It is understood that several other state agencies are part of the probe.
In April 2014, Kartel, whose given name is Adidja Palmer, Shawn Storm, given name Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John were convicted for the August 2011 killing of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams at a house in Havendale, St Andrew.
They were all sentenced to life in prison by since retired High Court judge Justice Lennox Campbell. He ordered that Kartel serves 35 years in prison before he becomes eligible for parole.
Shawn Storm, Jones and St John were ordered to serve 25 years each before being eligible for parole.
The Court of Appeal last April upheld the convictions and sentences, but the matter is now set to go before Jamaica’s highest court, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. His lawyer is seeking to prove to the law lords that the damning text and voice messages that the prosecutors used to link him to the murder of ‘Lizard’ was tampered with.
Kartel, in his FOX 5 NY interview, said that he has to keep his head up “because 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”.
“You have to be on top of your game, you have to constantly be proving them wrong,” Kartel said.
Evers, noting that Kartel was the accepted “King of the Dancehall, period”, asked him to define his kingship.
“In dancehall, it is the influence that you have, the dominance that you have, the power that you have to destroy people if it is necessary, musically. That’s what the king is,” he said, in perfect English and an almost unrecognisable Jamaican accent.
NEW ALBUM
The ‘Worl’ Boss’, who has constantly topped YouTube streaming statistics among dancehall artistes, recently dropped a new album, Born Fi Dis, which debuted at number nine on Billboard’s Reggae Album Chart.
The Rampin Shop hitmaker, who described his prison cell as “dark, “hot” and “like a dungeon” is looking forward to his release.
“I have been sick for a few years so definitely I am recovering. But mentally I have always been in a good place because I know I’m innocent and I know I’m coming out,” he told the reporter. “The system really wanted me thrown away. It was’t about me being charged for a murder, it was about getting rid of Vybz Kartel,” the entertainer said.
“You have to be on top of your game, you have to constantly be proving them wrong.”