Mr. Vegas and Drake will never be on the same track but the dancehall star still has his hopes up.
MV sat down with HipHopDX for a candid interview where he gets real about his rant about Drake making dancehall music and now want to be on a record with the Toronto emcee. MV also has has a new album This Is Dancehall which he calls his final album.
“This album is inspired by what is going on with the surge in what people call Tropical House and stuff like that,” Mr. Vegas said. “If you listen to the Justin Bieber track with Major Lazer, that’s Dancehall influenced. But, do they give it credit as Dancehall?”
Dissecting the rest of the interview, Mr. Vegas talks about his issues with Drake and Popcaan a few months ago, as well as, the current state of dancehall.
On his issues with Drake and other international artists making dancehall.
“I’m a straightforward person and not going to try to play hypocrite because I’m hoping Drake is going to put me on a record or Rihanna is going to put me on a record. I’m just going to be straight up if it’s bulls**t. If it’s bulls**t, it’s bulls**t. First of all, I don’t have a problem with anyone who does Dancehall or Reggae music or artists who cover Dancehall or Reggae music as long as people are recognizing where it’s coming from and giving the artists their due.”
On Assassin aka Agent Sasco not getting credit for songs with Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.
“When I see Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West do a record with Assassin who is one of our Dancehall artists and people don’t know who he is, if they just put ‘featuring Assassin’ maybe more people would be interested in searching for him. Maybe he’ll get more features and more shows. Maybe Assassin doesn’t want Mr. Vegas to say sh** about that. What I can see is that this is going to be a pattern where people think they can just come into the Dancehall industry because they just like the sound.”
On Popcaan siding with Drake.
“Sometimes, it’s better to say nothing and it goes back with me. Sometimes, if you have nothing good to say, then don’t say anything. Beenie Man didn’t say anything and I stood up for him as well. Beenie Man didn’t come out and diss Mr. Vegas and call it some stupid video or whatever. That to me was like a b**ch move. It is what it is because people look out for their best interest. I’m looking out for Dancehall music and other artists coming up in this industry. I’m looking out for artists.”
On Major Lazer impact on dancehall.
“I would say Major Lazer has done some good for Dancehall music in terms of featuring the artist and recognizing them. I think Major Lazer can do a lot more because Dancehall music is where they got their break from. That’s how it started. That beat “Run The World” beat that Beyonce got from Vybz Kartel started in Dancehall.”
On the current state of dancehall.
“First, they have to sell records. We need airplay. That’s one of the things needed. We need opportunities and we have to create opportunities for ourselves. We have to be presentable. We have to have a story.”
Full interview on HipHopDX.
Vegas is absolutely right. I wondered why on that kanye album he didn’t put “featuring Assassin”. It’s something so simple. Same with drake album and the Popcaan piece. No “featuring Popcaan” but dem put “featuring” for everybody else. Give the man dem credit!
Popcaan is the leaf on a branch while Mr. Vegas is the root. Soldier on Mr.Vegas.??