Vybz Kartel and Sikka Rymes released a pair of new singles this week.
Incarcerated dancehall guru Vybz Kartel is counseling the youth in his newest track with Sikka Rymes dubbed “True Champ.” The slow jam is an uplifting track that offers sound advice to the youth living in the “ghetto” and demoralized by the lack of inspiration around them.
“Never say never, I know that you can / Look at what we been through, and this is what makes a true champ / So come mek we go fly – mek we- mek we fly, we can cruise, yeah / We can touch the sky, we can touch the sky, we can do that,” Teacha sings in the hook with a female’s falsetto background vocals harmonizing his lead.
In the ShortBoss Muzik-produced track, Vybz Kartel bluntly tells “ghetto yutes” that he loves them and encourages them to aim for success in spite of the absence of motivation. “Ghetto yute mi love unu / Society never tell yuh dat but me a tell unu,” Kartel deejays in the second verse. “You a fire gunshot but yuh bigger than that / When me a likkle yute mi never know mi coulda rich / Nobody neva tell me seh mi great / Dem tell me seh mi nose big / Dem tell me seh mi too black / Dem never tell me seh mi stand a chance / But dem never know better mi nuh blame dem neither.”
Not to step on his own point, Vybz Kartel also released a war track with Sikka Rymes and Lisa Mercedez on Thursday (Oct 22.) called “Badman” which arrived with a brand new music video. The dark track is a well-produced selection curated by Massive B that would fit well in the soundtrack of a gang-related action movie. The visuals directed by Lagikz Visualz see Vybz Kartel appearing in a broadcast on an old television as a myriad of violent scenes is chopped up in between.
“Badman” seems to be an ode to the late Pop Smoke whose name can be heard being chanted in the commencement of the track like a mantra. The Brooklyn rapper’s posthumous album returned to the top of the Billboard 200 chart this week. The video also showcases various murals and artwork in Pop Smoke’s likeness. Vybz Kartel gives a nod to Bobby in the intro as well which could be a reference to another Brooklyn rapper, one with Jamaican roots who also happens to be incarcerated currently – Bobby Shmurda.
“Badman nuh run joke we cut throat / Chip glock, bun smoke, blood sport / Ignite di night / Sold out stadium, Tyson fight / Bright dem bright without a light / Brooklyn ready fi start a fight / Bomb*cl**t, one press everything done / Bomb*cl**t, when Lisa Mercedez a come,” Vybz Kartel deejays in a dark eerie tone.
Vybz Kartel is showing off his versatility again with these contrasting singles. Have a listen.
