#ThrowbackThursday: Vybz Kartel, Popcaan, Shawn Storm And Gaza Slim’s ‘Empire Forever’

Today, in the first installment of DancehallMag‘s #ThrowbackThursday series, we take a look back at Empire Forever, a song by Vybz Kartel, Popcaan, Shawn Storm, and Gaza Slim.

The year is 2011 and there was time left for one last hurrah in the Kartel-led Portmore Empire.  In a move that united what was left of the Empire, Kartel spearheaded the release of Empire Forever – a battle cry of innocence, optimism and fealty, just before the group collapsed.

The song’s official music video, released in July of 2011, perfectly captured the nuances surrounding the descent of the Gaza empire at the time. Directed by Vybz Kartel and Wayne South, the video sees a press conference being called in an unnamed location. There, a room buzzing with members of the media goes momentarily still as a young Popcaan, dressed to the nines, makes an entrance. Shortly after, Shawn Storm enters the room. Then, as an ominous-sounding track crescendos, the camera pans to Vybz Kartel, who arrives at the location dressed in full business attire. He fixes his jacket, heads to the crowded room, and takes it in.

When one of the reporters asks, “What’s the next move for the Gaza?” the song’s iconic intro begins: “Fry yiy, waa gwaan Popcaan?”

The song was a well-needed shot in the arm for fans of the dying Portmore Empire, who had been desperately looking for signs of life amidst the group’s legal woes and high attrition.

Originally on the group’s roster were Vybz Kartel, Blak Ryno, Shawn Storm, Merital Family, NotNice (producer), Dosa Medicine, Lisa Hyper, Jah Vinci, Popcaan, Gaza Indu, Gaza Kim, Sheba and Dotta Coppa. By the end, however, those that remained only included Kartel, Popcaan, Shawn Storm, and a few others.

Most of the group’s defectors seemed to have had one thing in common: the feeling that they were being stifled.

For Jah Vinci, he needed his shine. In a 2011 interview, he told The Star “Mi in Gaza a long time now, and at the end of the day everybody else a get out there and my work not really getting the recognition.”

He had explained that even music videos he recorded were being withheld from being released. That, in addition to his sentiments that “Everything was good, but after a while everything start change; and if it a change mi caan just stand by and watch, mi affi change too” were enough for the Watch Yuh Friends singer to branch off on his own. He eventually aligned with Vybz Kartel’s ex-business partner, Corey Todd, who has served as his manager.

Producer NotNice also made his exit from the group that year. Following rumors that he had been assaulted – which neither him nor Vybz Kartel addressed, NotNice left Portmore Empire, instead claiming he had been otherwise disrespected. He was quoted as saying at the time, “Teacha alright, we just ah go our separate ways, him ah just Teacha. From February this year, him start put only Adidjaheim on his records, so mi know what that mean. Him diss me for reasons only known to him and mi caan wait. sit down and wait, fi him call me fi do work. Right now is May; my girlfriend is six months pregnant and mi have to be a man and tek care of my family.”

He also revealed that men confiscated his equipment – two million dollars’ worth. He told The Star, “The man dem come ah mi yard and tek weh over $2 million worth of studio equipment, and a neva nuh man buy mi it, a mi buy dem myself.” It is unclear on whose behalf the men were acting.

In June 2011, Merital Family also joined the ranks of those who would go on to separate themselves from Portmore Empire, telling The Star at the time, “For the last year and a half, we ah get stifle, we ah get overpriced, dem a tell people say we de pon tour and we deh ya nah go nowhere. We ah suffer, we nah get no promotion, we have kids to feed and me have my mother to take care of.”

The Gaza Prefect, Popcaan was, however, adamant that he would remain Gaza, even after Vybz Kartel was arrested in September of 2011. And though he had to fend off accusations from former group mate Lisa Hyper that he had abandoned the Worl’ Boss, he was certain of his place as one of the core members of the group.

“Vybz Kartel communicated through letters that I should focus on my career and stay away from the police. All our communication has been focused on updates on my career, my song releases and stage shows and general discussions as one would expect in the present situation. Up until May 2012, when the Portmore Empire was dissolved, we maintained a business relationship,” he had told The Star.

It is somewhat fitting then that Popcaan’s voice is the second one you hear on Empire Forever, followed by Shawn Storm’s in the exchange between the three in the first verse which goes:

[Vybz Kartel:]
Fry-yi, wah gwan Popcaan?

[Popcaan:]
Mi deh yah World Boss, a watch wah gwaan

[Vybz Kartel:]
Mi Chargy, wah gwan Shawn Storm?

[Shawn Storm:]
Yo, a Gaza mi live weh everyday star born (cho)

[Vybz Kartel:]
Dem seh mi mash up, but mi deh yah sameway

[Popcaan:]
A Gaza Mi Seh, mi seh a prayer sameway

[Shawn Storm:]
Still a represent Empire sameway

[Vybz Kartel:]
Vocabulary still a get higher sameway (true)

[Popcaan:]
Mi nuh Judas so mi nah go betray (no)

[Shawn Storm:]
Mi nuh Peter weh deny di Deejay (no)

[Vybz Kartel:]
Dem wah crucify mi like Jesus Christ,
But Addi badda than di devil so mi nah play (ah!)

[Popcaan:]
Sun still a shine so mi still a make hay,
By di sweat a mi brow, yo a so mi get pay (yeah)

[Shawn Storm:]
Teacher nuh mind mi, mi nuh him gyal
Me a work fi mi own dat a Empire way (mhm)

The song’s hook is then delivered by Gaza Slim and Di Teacha himself, and serves as a fervent reminder of their loyalty to the Empire, even as the walls closed in around them. The song’s second final verse is but a tribute to Kartel himself by Popcaan, Gaza Slim, and Shawn Storm.

Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, and Shawn Storm, whose real name is Shawn Campbell, spent several years on remand before they were sentenced to life for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams in April 2014.  Kartel must serve at least 32 years and six months before being eligible for parole, while Storm must serve at least 22 years and six months.

Gaza Slim (now known as Vanessa Bling) was charged with conspiracy in relation to Lizard’s murder.  She spent a brief time on remand and years on bail before the charge was dropped in 2014. 

Portmore Empire started with noble intentions. According to Vybz Kartel, “Portmore Empire is about a group of artists coming together for the betterment of music, a musical unit covering artists, selectors, cassette man, everybody. Its origin is in Portmore, but it nuh limited.”

By 2012, Portmore Empire existed no more. Its end marked a turning point in Dancehall, and created the space necessary for new powerhouses to ascend to stardom. Popcaan and Tommy Lee Sparta capitalized, and soon after, Unruly and Sparta were born, among others.