Vybz Kartel Not Pleased With Drake Being Spotify’s Most Streamed Artist In Jamaica

Vybz Kartel has declared that he was not pleased with the fact that Canadian rapper Drake is the most-streamed artist on Spotify in Jamaica this year, and that only a Jamaican, even if it is his greatest arch-rival, ought to be in the first place.

However, even as the incarcerated Dancehall superstar voiced his discontent, many of his followers argued that Drake being on top was much ado about nothing, as most Jamaicans use YouTube for their music needs and many do not even have an inkling of what Spotify is.

His comments came in the aftermath of an article published in The Gleaner newspaper which stated that he and Alkaline were second and third behind Drake respectively in the top 50 artists streamed in Jamaica on Spotify, a snippet of which he shared on his Instagram page.

Kartel cautioned Jamaicans to cease and desist from giving foreign artists the glory, and instead, reserve the support for their own nationals.

“Jamaica people stop “worry unuh farin mind” and start supporting local music more.  And don’t tell me no crap bout production quality cause a lot a dem foreign song de are poorly produced and sound like shit quality wise,” Kartel declared.

“Nuh matter who 1st, from dancehall win we all win, stop play wid me genre #dancehallvyaastall member a we invent hip-hop.    (Yes ppl free to listen what they want and if foreigners are in the top ten I’m not surprised but still…we have a plethora of local genres and artistes to choose from so it puzzles me that a foreigner is at #1…ppl cut it out! )”

Sparing no punches, the Fever artist also took issue with Jamaican radio stations, who have been accused over the years as saturating the airwaves with overseas music, so much so that an overwhelming amount of royalties leave the island for the pockets of foreign artists.  Approximately 75 percent of the music played on Jamaican radio is from overseas.

“But then again Jamaican radio plays more foreign music than local, only @iriefm_ja gi we 100% local music.. everybody else gi we 15 minutes outta every hour…so the other 45 minutes dedicated to hiphop rnb etc… amazing island lol,” he added sarcastically.

Kartel gained support from Reggae/Dancehall music producer and Senior Music Director at Zip 103FM ZJ Chrome, who pointed out that Spotify was relatively new to Jamaica, and that the music streamed by tourists is regarded as Jamaican streams.

“Fam! While I agree with you that local radio, parties & DJs can incorporate more local music, let’s face the fact of who, consumes Spotify… it’s fairly new to Jamaica & the core dancehall fans (I would say don’t have access or familiar with it) any visitor will be recognized as Jamaican stream as well. I honestly don’t think this is a fair representation of Jamaican consumption. Jamaicans are more familiar with YouTube as their main streaming source!” ZJ Chrome argued.

According to The Gleaner article, Spotify Wrapped, the streaming company’s annual list, which summarises the most played artists and songs of the year in regions across the world, has data which shows that the Top 10 of its Most Played Songs list and Most Played Artistes list, are dominated by foreigners.

The article also quoted Spotify’s Communications Manager, New Markets, Julia Levander, as saying that the lists were a reflection of what “only Jamaicans in Jamaica are listening to”.

Apart from Kartel and Alkaline, Skillibeng is also listed in the top 10 at number seven, while Popcaan sits at number 15, Dexta Daps at 32, Chronic Law at 34 and Shenseea at 43.

According to The Gleaner, American rapper Doja Cat, dominated the most played songs in Jamaica for 2021, with three songs in the top 10 – numbers one, two and nine as well as numbers 14, 24, 28 and 41, while the only Jamaican artist in that Top 10 is Intence with the hit single, Yahoo Boyz.

Kartel’s concerns about radio stations continuing to make Jamaican music play second-fiddle to American content have been a bone of contention for many years in Jamaica.

In 2016, Entertainment Minister Olivia’ Babsy’ Grange expressed dismay about the disparity in royalties paid out by Jamcopy to foreign acts based on radio airplay, after learning that only $7 million in royalties was paid to Jamaican artistes compared to $32 million to their overseas counterparts.

In December last year, Dancehall megastar Shaggy had also called for the implementation of a quota system by the Jamaican Government, to ensure that the majority of music played on Jamaican radio stations comes from the island, as opposed to overseas.

The Angel singer had argued that in other jurisdictions like Canada and France, only a small amount of foreign music is able to be played on their local radio, as opposed to Jamaica, the home of Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, and Dancehall, where anything goes.

Shaggy had recommended at least a minimum 60 percent quota for Jamaica which he said would help with streaming numbers “to have everything going”.

His comments echoed the sentiments of his dancehall compatriot Devin Di Dakta, who, in October 2019, lamented the fact that radio stations had been failing to prioritize local content on their platforms, to the detriment of Jamaican artists.

Devin said this travesty resulted in many youth forming the impression that genres like Hip Hop and Trap were superior to Dancehall, Reggae and Jamaica’s other music genres.

“Sometimes you listen to some radio stations and is just bare foreign music. If mi a di Prime Minister and mi have certain power, yuh can’t play certain amount of foreign music pon your radio station; simple things like that,” Devin said at the time.

“So even when revenues come in we haffi sen back a lot of it go a foreign when you have so many talents here in Jamaica weh need dat space on the radio. Too much foreign music we have,” the 2015 Reggae Grammy nominee said.

In 2015, during the International Reggae Day (IRD) conference in Kingston, industry players lobbied the Jamaican Broadcasting Commission for the introduction of a content quota system, arguing that limiting the amount of foreign music being aired on local media was the key to strengthening the country’s creative industry.

Music producer Danny Browne, who was then chairman of the Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS) said at the time, that in addition to boosting the local recording industry, the quota system would support the development of local culture and national identity.

Browne also said then, that “As much as 70 per cent of the content on local radio is from abroad, and whilst he was not against foreign content, he did not believe it should be at the peril of the local music industry.

The former Main Street producer also referenced Canada, Australia, France, and Nigeria as countries that had imposed local content quotas, even though none of them had given the world at least three distinct genres of music like Jamaica.