Beenie Man Rejects ‘New King’ Label For Vybz Kartel: “Stop It”

Dancehall star Beenie Man has rejected the idea of Vybz Kartel as the “new king” of the genre, telling TVJ’s Entertainment Report to “stop it” as he insisted that the crown remains his by right of creation.

His comments were in response to Kartel’s crowning at Reggae Sumfest 2025, an honor bestowed after the Fever deejay’s release from prison. Pressed by journalist Anthony Miller on whether the crown had shifted, Beenie said he wasn’t buying it, even though the same festival had crowned him in 2009.

“I don’t know what is a new King from old King. Kartel ah 50 year old, there’s no new King. Stop it,” the 53-year-old deejay told Miller.

He said the title is his because he created it, not because anyone handed it to him. “Me is not ‘King Yellowman’. I’m the King of the Dancehall. My word, me make it, me build it. Me sing the song, ‘Welcome the King of the Dancehall.’ I build it,” he said.

According to Beenie, who released his debut album at the age of 10, the title also comes down to longevity and catalog rather than a ceremonial gesture.

“We, every man born as King. But is your work. Your body of work. What you put down, the amount of years that you put in the music make you recognize for who you are,” the Grammy-winner explained.

Ironically, Beenie’s insistence on his singular status came alongside a broader critique of the industry. During the interview, he also argued that Dancehall’s perceived stagnation abroad has less to do with foreign disinterest and more to do with Jamaicans pulling against each other.

“We are the problem,” he said. “We are Jamaican. Why are we not selling Jamaica?”

He described the Jamaican scene as being split by alliances and grudges: “You said this, me said that. You go round deh so, you a par with dat person deh, me a par with dat person deh. It’s always there in the business. We have to take our music to the world. It’s not for the world to take our music to us.”

Beenie claimed that the lack of cohesion among Jamaicans has left space for global stars to run with Dancehall’s blueprint. He pointed to Rihanna as one example and said he could name “a whole heap” of American artists who have scored Billboard hits using the genre’s DNA.

He added that he’s willing to collaborate if it strengthens the industry, but suggested that his colleagues do not share the same sentiment.

“It’s not everybody want to be united,” he told Miller. “I love music for music itself. I love artist because I am an artist. I support music because all of us doing the same job. I do not think that every artist think like me. If every artist think like me, we would have a stronger front.”

“My feelings are all about bringing all musician together so we can be one force,” he continued.

On the matter of his own involvement in the long-standing frictions, Beenie framed himself as reactive, not aggressive.

“I defend myself. Never fight against artist. “I defend myself. I never start the war. This is the problem is who start the war… So you have to defend yourself. So I defended myself right through and still defending myself right through.”

Miller also noted that Beenie’s recent return to U.S. stages appeared quieter than the “hype” around artists like Kartel and Buju Banton at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

“There’s no hype because we not do hype, Anthony,” Beenie countered. “We be who we are because we are who we are.”

He cited his sold-out dates at the UBS Arena, a venue he claimed was larger than Barclays Center, as proof that his “body of work” draws audiences without manufactured excitement. “When you have fans like what me have, you don’t think you need [hype]. You just go on and your fans them support you.”

Beenie Man’s latest single is Immortal, produced by Kemar McGregor.