For those of you who haven’t grabbed the print copy, Vybz Kartel’s Fader cover story is now available to read online. Eddie ‘Stats’ Houghton may have chased Vybz around Kingston for that elusive interview, but he got a comprehensive run-down of Di Teacha, from bleaching to The Building, Kingston Story to Kingston Jamboree.
Kartel seems to have become more or less the proud new owner of dancehall itself, guaranteed to have not only the top tune on any given week, but the top five tunes. I remember his New York debut at an Elephant Man release party at BK’s Night Club in 2002. Dark-skinned and bony, dressed Brooklyn-style in baggy jeans, throwback, doo-rag and fitted, the room exploded when he touched the mic. Because even though his face was unknown in New York, his couplets were already hood-famous.
