Vybz Kartel Claps Back After Buju Banton Lashes ‘Soul Selling’ Entertainers
In the aftermath of Vybz Kartel pointing out that most of Jamaica’s entertainers are a set of “dunces,” from whom no health advice should be taken, Buju Banton has seemingly responded, pointing out that he was not among those who are intellectually deficient.
Banton also castigated some members of the music fraternity, labelling them, among other things, as sell-outs, which Kartel then rejected in a series of social media posts last night.
It all started on Wednesday, when Kartel stated in an Instagram Story post that most of the island’s entertainers were poorly educated, and as a consequence, ought not to be relied upon for any health-related advice.
“Entertainers are among the least educated in society (most a we dunce like bat) and therefore are among the least qualified people on earth to give medical advice for anything or against anything,” Kartel had written. “So do your own research and decide for yourself what’s best for you. Come to me when you wanna ‘whine your waist’ ‘bruk out’ in a party! That’s where I’m the expert,” the Rampin Shop artist added.
But Buju Banton took time out yesterday morning to declare unequivocally, during a half-hour monologue titled Man Chat, that his job in music was not to entertain anyone like a minstrel, but that he is a singer and “player of instrument” as espoused in the bible.
“Mi nuh come fi sell nuttn. Di Lord bless mi from mi a 19 becaw mi stay true to di order of weh him seh: singers and players of instrument,” Buju said several minutes into his speech. “Mi a nuh bomboclaat entataina. Mi is a singa and player of instrument. Entatainas are clowns.”
“Some people who mi love as entertainers too, mi si dem bow out; guh unda. Some a show di mark a di beast to mi people dem and hold it up inna hand sign and meck dem insignia. Becaw dem know weh dem a do. And dem want da money yah so much caw a dat a run di earth, so dem a sell everything; even dem very soul,” the Til Shiloh artist said.
He continued: “Mi naw call any bloodclaat name because oonu know all a who bow out. Oonu know all a who sell dem soul and sell out. Oonu si everyone onu si silent…”
While Buju did not explicitly state why he referred to his colleagues as sell-outs, his consternation seemingly stems from the fact that several members of the Dancehall fraternity have joined the Government of Jamaica’s Every Vax Counts campaign, while others have either remained silent, or have openly stated their support for the vaccination.
Last month, Ding Dong, Mr. Lexx, and artist manager Romeich Major were recruited to the Every Vax Counts campaign, while Ce’cile has stated that she has been vaccinated and will no longer be allowing unvaccinated people to come inside her house. It was also widely reported that Vybz Kartel had taken his dose of the vaccine and that some members of the Government were open to the incarcerated deejay joining the campaign.
Buju, Tanya Stephens, Kabaka Pyramid, and Chronixx have, on the other hand, voiced their objection to mandatory vaccination.
In Kartel’s first response to Banton’s video yesterday, he sought to clarify his Wednesday IG post. “I said ‘people do YOUR OWN research & decide what’s best FOR YOU’ and alot of people got angry….WOW,” he wrote in an IG Story last night, with several laughing emojis.
In a YouTube community post on VybzKartelRadio, the deejay also clapped back with “We never sell out fi money. A wha do some bwoy”.
He then returned to IG and alluded to Banton’s US drug conviction, in the caption of a post that promoted an unreleased song.
“#GazaNation we never sell out! Never coke out never grounds out!” Kartel wrote. “Talk mi mind who vex vex #temptation coming soon.”
Meanwhile, Buju also poured out his wrath upon the Jamaican media all of whom, he said, except for one radio station, seemed to have also have been bought, lock, stock and barrel.
“A radio station in Jamaica name Sunshine Radio, is di only raasclaat radio station a try tell di people dem suppm good,” Buju declared. “Di res a dem, dem leading dem like di pied piper playing dem flute, right off di bloodclaat cliff. It is heart-renderin.”
According to him, he not only disliked, but was mistrustful of Jamaican journalists, and that mistrust, dated back to his early days in the music industry when they questioned the moniker “Buju”, which he said is a Maroon word that means “breadfruit”.
Declaring that his anger was a righteous anger, Buju said that there were non-progressive elements who were trying to sabotage his attempts to “educate” the people on Instagram.