Joe Budden Says Tory Lanez Should Get Vybz Kartel’s ‘Jail Studio’ Formula

Vybz Kartel, Tory Lanez

Following last week’s rejection of a new trial for rapper Tory Lanez by a Californian judge, podcaster Joe Budden is suggesting that the Say It singer model Vybz Kartel’s system of releasing music while behind bars. 

“Listen, Tory, win, lose or draw, I need you to call Vybz Kartel’s people,” the rapper-turned-broadcaster said. “He has the cleanest jail studio I’ve ever heard. Vybz; nothing but slaps coming out that jail. He might be hotter now, somehow. Yeah, you need to get into that Vybz studio. Get Chixtape out.”

Podcaster Joe Budden (left) and rapper Tory Lanez

It was Lanez’s viral Quarantine Radio platform that truly catapulted him to crossover fame during the early stages of the pandemic, but his core audience reveres him for his Chixtape mixtape series. The last instalment dropped in 2019 with songs like Jerry Sprunger featuring T-Pain and The Take alongside Chris Brown. 

The matter of Kartel recording music in prison has been contentious since he was handed a life sentence for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams in 2014. Between seasonal state investigations and public speculation, the Worl’ Boss has denied making music in lock-up, categorizing his many new releases as archived material. 

“Many people say YES! VYBZ IS RECORDING IN PRISON!! But where’s the proof? But this is Jamaica where you don’t need proof to imprison someone,” he told Billboard in 2020. “For the record, I’m not authorized to answer such ‘above pay grade’ questions, so, I’ll say, ‘a tree fell in the forest and no one was there to hear it’.”

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Vybz Kartel

There are a few similarities between the case of Lanez and Kartel, particularly both have maintained their innocent and made efforts to appeal their cases. 

Lanez, 30, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was convicted of assault with a semi-automatic handgun; carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence back in December.

The charges stemmed from a 2020 incident that saw hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion shot in the feet. 

Rappers Megan Thee Stallion (left) and Tory Lanez

Lanez subsequently filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that he had been unjustly tried due to wrongly admitted evidence. The disputed evidence centered around an Instagram comment that saw Lanez’s account say that Stallion’s former bestie, Kelsey Harris, did not shoot her. His team sought to share evidence that another person had logged into Lanez’s account and made the comment.  The motion was denied on the basis that the exclusion of the disputed evidence wouldn’t have made a difference in the trial, Pitchfork reported.

Lanez will be sentenced on June 13 and could face more than two decades in prison with possible deportation to Canada.  

Kartel, whose given name is Adidja Palmer, has also disputed the evidence in his trial.

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Vybz Kartel

The 47-year-old, who’s currently appealing his conviction before the UK Privy Council, sought to introduce evidence that his cellphone, which contained damning text and voice messages linking him to Williams’ murder, had been compromised while in police custody. The application for the introduction of this evidence was denied in February. 

“The grounds do not support the submission that a serious miscarriage of justice has occurred in this case,” a report of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council stated.

However, the main arguments in the appeal are yet to be heard, challenging the April 2020 ruling of the Jamaica Court Of Appeal, which had largely upheld his 2014 murder conviction.