Vybz Kartel & Buju Banton Face Off On Music Charts
Dancehall artistes Vybz Kartel and Buju Banton are getting praise for their albums. Both Of Dons & Divas and Upside Down 2020 have been performing well on various music streaming services.
One of the songs on Kartel’s album, Cute Rider, a Reggaeton track produced by JonFX and mixed by Grammy award-winning engineer Jimmy Douglass, currently holds the number one spot on the iTunes Reggae Songs chart in Jamaica. This puts Kartel ahead of the all-time favorite Three Little Birds by Bob Marley, which is ranked in second place.
Of Dons & Divas now stands in the number 1 spot on the Jamaica iTunes Reggae chart as of today, ahead of Upside Down 2020. Both albums were released on June 26.
However, a check of the performance on the iTunes Top 100 Albums US Chart shows that Banton’s album is ranked at #29, while Kartel’s album has not made the Top 100.
Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds continues to hold the #1 spot on the Top 100 iTunes Reggae Song US chart. Twelve tracks from Banton’s Upside Down 2020 have secured positions on the chart based on plays from American users on the Apple service, including Blessed at #2.
For Kartel’s album, Only Cute Rider and Say A Praya has entered the Top 100 in the US at #13 and #97, respectively.
On Amazon’s Best Sellers In Reggae chart, Kartel’s album stands in second place to Banton.
A release from the artiste’s publicist says the world-class production team behind the project includes Jay-Crazie and Ricardo “Red Boom” Reid. “It comes as no surprise that the album was released to massive fanfare and is already collecting achievements.” The artiste’s camp says Vybz Kartel’s fans are touting the album as a Grammy album for Vybz Kartel.
Kartel’s album features many rising and talented artistes like Sikka Rymes, Lisa Hyper, TeeJay, Skillibeng, Daddy1, Slimatic, as well as the artiste’s sons Likkle Vybz and Likkle Addi.
Undeniably one of the most influential Dancehall artistes of all time, Vybz Kartel has been paving the way since 2002, steadily gaining notoriety since the release of his 2003 album Up 2 Di Time. Known for hits such as Fever, Colouring This Life, Nah Let Go and Life We Living, Of Dons and Divas, can now be listed among the artiste’s many successful works.
Meanwhile, Banton’s album has enjoyed significant coverage in several International publications since its release, including GQ, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Essence, and Vibe.
🙏🏿 @BETMusic https://t.co/YMDd9wqolP
— GargamelMusic.eth (@bujubanton) July 2, 2020
His music video for Blessed premiered yesterday on a BET billboard in New York’s Times Square.
The updated Billboard Reggae Album chart, which will be released on July 7, will settle the score as far the charts go.