Vybz Kartel Condemns YouTube Payola: ‘We Don’t Buy Views’

King of Dancehall Vybz Kartel wants to make it clear that he has never sought the help of YouTube payola to further propel or ignite hype around his videos or music.

In a series of Instagram Stories yesterday, the Unstoppable artist touted his influence on the industry, before the internet played a major role in music.

“Buy views? Unuh now a days b-tch bwoy diva artists/fans mussi really think seh unuh and Kartel/Gazanation a di same ting, we no do gift card an wi nuh do buy views. A unuh little internet clown invent dem ting deh. We impact the planet long before www.com,” he wrote in one post.

“Buy views? Wid who fah money? Gift card? A who fah birthday? My Dancehall: trigger finger, their Dancehall Twitter finger,” he jeered in another post.

In the traditional music business, payola is used to describe when a record label or artist pays either a radio station or media company to play their music or provide exposure.  Since the advent of digital streaming, some artists have taken to paying for YouTube views, Spotify streams and playlist placements as part of their marketing strategy and/or to game the algorithms and influence the charts.

On YouTube, which aggregates more streams than all other music services combined, a musician or record label can boost the performance of a video using a service called True View ads. Through Google, this service allows advertisers to display music videos as an ad. These legitimate paid views are added to those achieved through organic search and discovery.

“Views” can also be illegitimately bought for less from third-party vendors, who usually reside in countries like India or Russia. YouTube’s Fake Engagement Policy prohibits the use of these third-party vendors and the platform often takes action by removing “content and channels that don’t follow this policy.”  It is important to note that these illegal views can be bought by anyone, including stans (super fans).

In 2021, Vybz Kartel was ranked No. 1 as the most-streamed artist in Jamaica on YouTube, with 66.1 million total views from the island.  Globally, among Jamaican artists, the incarcerated deejay was ranked at No. 4, behind Sean Paul, Bob Marley, and Shaggy, with 417 million views total for the year.

However, since December 2021 the deejay has been facing stiff competition on the platform.  According to statistical data provided by YouTube, the Worl’ Boss has been trailing behind at No. 5 over the last three months with only 15.4 million views total in Jamaica.  2021’s breakout artist Skeng is at No. 1 on the island with 26.8 million views, followed by Masicka at No. 2 with 25.6 million views, Chronic Law at No. 3 with 22.4 million views, and Jahshii at No. 4 with 19.1 million views.

Over the last 90 days, Kartel’s most-streamed country was India at 19 million views, followed by the United States at 18.5 million views, Jamaica at 15.4 million views, the United Kingdom at 6.73 million views, and Kenya at 4.53 million views.

For comparison, Skeng’s most-streamed country over the same period was Jamaica at 26.8 million views, followed by Trinidad and Tobago at 7.46 million views, the United States at 6.34 million views, the United Kingdom at 3.8 million views, and Guyana at 2.62 million views.

Masicka’s most-streamed country over the same period was Jamaica at 25.6 million views, followed by the United States at 10.8 million views, Trinidad and Tobago at 2.96 million views, United Kingdom at 2.54 million views, and Guyana at 1.68 million views.

The Worl’ Boss has also asserted that he had no “bad mind” about the rise of the new artists.

“From me buss me a war wid giansta pon stage an inna real life, now as bwoy talk, and you reply, dem say yuh badmind dem… badmind dem fi wah? Dem pre owned vehicle and dem silver chain wid cubic zirconia? Man gweh yah mon,” he jabbed in another IG Story.