While Spice sits comfortably with the crown as ‘Queen of Dancehall’ following the departure of Lady Saw, who deserves the title of ‘King’ of the Jamaican genre remains a topic of discussion.
For decades, veteran artiste Beenie Man has been considered the prominent male deejay in the industry and has styled himself as such over his illustrious career. Beenie Man has not yet signalled his plans to retire from performing.
However, for some, his reign has already ended, and Kartel has been positioned as the genre’s new king. As Beenie Man continues to defend his title, American entertainment and music magazine Billboard may have added more fuel to the fire with their latest article on Kartel.
Billboard’s article declared that Kartel, “Dancehall’s king,” had reclaimed his throne after his 13-year incarceration for murder. Written before his massive Freedom Street concert but newly released, the article chronicled Kartel’s supremacy from Bounty Killer’s protégé to a stadium-filling Dancehall giant.
The Love Dem deejay was praised as the most influential Jamaican recording artist since Bob Marley, with the ability to dictate the country’s culture with the clever use of a single phrase. The article also highlighted Kartel’s major crossover success with hit songs like Romping Shop and Fever.
Those championing Beenie Man as the King of Dancehall can easily point to his extensive list of chart-topping, crossover hits. However, as noted by Billboard, Vybz Kartel has had a major impact on Dancehall’s younger artistes, such as his Portmore Empire protégés.
While Beenie Man has never positioned himself as a major mentor, the artiste has shown just how far a Dancehall artiste can go, walking away with a Grammy in 2001. Kartel recently received his first Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album.
