Vybz Kartel Hopes To Win First Grammy Award With ‘Of Dons & Divas’ Album
Incarcerated deejay Vybz Kartel has consistently dominated the airwaves in Jamaica and wherever Dancehall music is loved. Now the Worl’ Boss has set his sights on one of the highest accolades that the music industry has to offer.
Kartel believes that his latest album, Of Dons & Divas , which will be released on June 26, is so good that it might just earn him his first Grammy Award.
He took to his favorite social media platform, Instagram, to share the full cover art for the new 16 track album which is now available for preorder. He said, “#ofdonsanddivas the #GRAMMY album. Click the link in the description to preorder presave or preview.”
With the confirmed tracklist (see below), it appears that his collab with Spice titled Pon Di Line has been bumped from the album.
The closest that the Tony Montanna singer has come to a Grammy is back in 2012 when his studio album Pon Di Gaza Mi Sey (2011) was one of the 50 projects on the provisional shortlist for Best Reggae Album award.
He again made the provisional list in 2015.
There are some in the industry who think that a Grammy is a far reach for Kartel and other dancehall artistes like him.
Two years ago, Mr. Vegas said he believed that Kartel couldn’t win a Grammy because of the criteria that must be met to win the award. Even though he believes that Kartel deserves a Grammy because of the influence that he’s had on dancehall over the years.
“So hear how Grammy thing work now people because many of you don’t understand,” Mr. Vegas said. “You might see a Lee Scratch Perry win the Grammy or you might see a Burning Spear win the Grammy and you get upset, but you also have to understand that it’s not just a good song from Jamaica that we know and we like that those people on the committee are going to like or are going to think is as great as what we think,” he continued.
He added: “You have to understand that these people, some of these [committee members] were musicians and are still musicians. So when they listen to a record they are listening for things that me and you are not listening for, for example, the mixing quality. Because if we are dealing with popularity for the Grammy’s then Vybz Kartel should’ve been nominated.”
“Vybz Kartel is the only dancehall artist outside of Charly Black, but you know Vybz Kartel one of the biggest dancehall artists and he was the only one with a crossover song last year. So if we are talking about popularity and who we like then Vybz Kartel should’ve been nominated”, Vegas said.
Last year rising superstar Koffee took home the Grammy for her EP Rapture. The year before (2018) it went to Shaggy and Sting for their album 44/876 and in 2017, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley copped the top honor with his album, Stony Hill. These winners have very different styles from the Worl’ Boss, so it seems Mr. Vegas may be right about how the category is judged. However, that’s not to say that Kartel’s obvious dancehall genius won’t be recognized at some point.
Fans of dancehall around the world are eagerly awaiting the release of his latest work, and there is little doubt that it will dominate the Jamaican airwaves.
Track List:
- Nice Tingz (Intro) [Divas]
- Nice Tingz [Divas]
- Cute Rider [Divas]
- Bad Gyal (feat. Skillibeng, Jucee Froot & Tommy Lee) [Divas]
- Say A Praya [Divas]
- No Prison [Divas]
- Pretty Butterfly (feat. Lisa Hyper) [Divas]
- Love Things Solved (feat. Sikka Rymes) [Divas]
- It Was Heaven [Divas]
- Presidential (feat. Sikka Rymes & Daddy1) [Dons]
- State Evidence (feat. Lisa Mercedes) [Dons]
- Militant Coup (feat. Likkle Vybz, Slimatic & Likkle Addi) [Dons]
- Depend On You (feat. Sikka Rymes) [Dons]
- Worldboss (feat. Lisa Mercedes & Redboom) [Dons]
- Dons & Divas (feat. Danii Boo) [Dons]
- Big Bizniz (feat. TeeJay) [Dons]
- Jump On The Beat (feat. Likkle Vybz & Squash) [Dons]
Of Dons & Divas is available for preorder, or you can pre-save on Apple Music below.