Popcaan is calling Mavado irrelevant in dancehall and challenging him to release an album.
Popcaan recently concluded an interview with the crew from Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning, and one of the hot topics of the spirited discussion centered around his relationship with fellow dancehall strongman and rival Mavado. Popcaan had some very blatant advice for the Gully Gad, meanwhile revealing that he would be open to putting whatever differences to have to the side in order to collaborate for the betterment of the culture.
While describing his stance on Mavado’s place in the musical industry, more specifically dancehall, Popcaan said, “Mavado is a ensies.. him irrelevant, him need to make ah album. That’s my words to Mavado, I dare you to make an album, bro.”
The challenge from Popcaan does seem to have some merits since Mavado’s latest album, Mr. Brooks…A Better Tomorrow, was released in 2009, over a decade ago. Popcaan, on the other hand, is still reveling in the success of his third studio album aptly titled, the FIXTAPE. This latest drop was proceeded by Where We Come From (2014), Forever (2018), and Vanquish (2019). FIXTAPE was able to make it into the top 100 of the Billboard 200 chart and debuted at number 02, on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.
The OVO Sound signee’s growing reputation of constantly putting out quality projects as more or less led to his name being one of the most mentioned on the international circuit when it comes to dancehall. A few days ago, the “Numbers Don’t Lie” singer took some time to ridicule other entertainers in Jamaica who were more concerned with landing on the local Youtube trending charts than breaking worldwide. While the shade was seen as intended for Intence and Alkaline, it seems Mavado also could have easily been drafted into the hit.
Possibly on that basis, the “Family” deejay hinted that instead of assuming the throne as a true leader and motivator, Mavado was instead preoccupied with mischief-making.
“A man like Mavado should be in the studio right now, like putting out some projects like motivating these youths. Wha’ yuh doing bro? You just chillin and trying to make mischief to stay around,” he said. Over the last couple of years, there has been a noticeable decline in releases from Mavado. Perhaps the artiste, who now resides in the United States, is simply laying low and utilizing a different strategy. His most recent release, titled “Legacy,” seemingly has the answers we are looking for, as the singjay expresses that he has done tremendous work in his near two decades in the business, meanwhile hinting that it was now time to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
Still, Mavado left no stones unturned a few weeks ago when he dropped off his fiery Drake, and Unruly diss track titled “Enemy Lines.” The song was crafted after his one-time friend Drake dropped a subliminal diss while showing rival faction, the GAZA, love on his “Only You Freestyle.”
Yet, if we backtrack nearly a decade ago, tensions between Popcaan and Mavado were just about non-existent, even though they were from separate factions. They first hopped onto the same track in 2013, for Snoop Dogg’s “Lighter’s Up,” and then again in 2014 for a remix of Popcaan’s “Everything Nice.” Sadly, two years later, tempers were flaring in both camps, leading to heated releases such as “Born Ready,” “RPG,” “Funeral,” “Dutty Dread,” “Dem Run Een,” and “We Still A Win.”
Even though the two camps have shared a checkered past, Popcaan is optimistic that the two can collaborate in the future and regain some level of friendship. “I don’t know about everybody enuh but wid me, I’m always willing to make the best move for the music and for the culture … I will put my ego aside and everything and do it for the culture. Well not everybody tinks like dat so ah mean I just play my part at the end of the day and always try to tell dem dat the unity within the music will bring more light to it. So if they don’t want to take my advice fine, I will just do what I do.”
Things could get interesting if Mavado does respond to any of the points made by Popcaan.
