Vybz Kartel and the Youth View Awards are both receiving heavy backlash from some quarters of dancehall but the deejays fans are coming to his defense.
The “Fever” deejay dominated the YVA last weekend at the National Indoor Sports Center in St. Andrew despite being behind bars. He won five awards from eight nominations in comparison to Alkaline who was nominated ten times but walked away with three trophies. Reggae singer Nesbeth also criticized the awards show after losing a category to Vybz Kartel.
A rep for the YVA told Urban Islandz that fans need to vote for their artists and artists should encourage their fans to vote. “It comes down to voting, artists should encourage their fans to get voting and Vybz Kartel fans did just that,” a rep told us. In a video rant posted on Instagram, Nesbeth says that a lot of his fans were complaining that they were having issues voting, but our YVA sources told us that they didn’t have an issues with their voting system.
Some of Vybz Kartel fans on social media are echoing the same sentiments about voting. “I am a Gaza fan so I voted for my deejay the other people them fans should vote and stop complain,” one fan wrote.
