Blak Ryno Says He Should’ve Chosen College Over Joining Kartel’s Portmore Empire

If Blak Ryno had the chance to redo his stint at Vybz Kartel’s Portmore Empire, he’d not even be in the music industry. In fact, “Mi woulda tek the opportunity weh mi high school give me and go college. Mi woulda did go back a school. Music a bullsh-t.”

The Bridgeport High School graduate was reasoning with hosts of Dancehall Hot Seat about the negative trajectory his career and in some ways, life, have taken since he decided to walk away from the ‘Gaza’ more than a decade ago.

While he spoke of how freeing it was to leave a space where no one could “carry news” about him, the opportunity cost was a claim that he had betrayed the camp which shadows his existence. 

“How mi life a go wid da whole situation yah, something weh mi put mi life on the line fah, loyalty. It cost me happiness, it gi mi pain, if you understand weh mi a seh. Mi nuh like music.”

The latter was a strong statement to make, to which hosts sought to clarify if he meant the music industry. Still, the She Like That singjay maintained his sentiment.

“Music a bullsh-t,” he said. “The same people weh seh, ‘Dawg, you know you sing music weh heal we pain’, a the same people dem inflict pain pon me and not even know seh unno f–k mi up mentally over the years… You know if you get up and judge somebody wrongfully, that f–k with them because if somebody call you a thief and you know you a nuh thief, it a go f–k with you.”

Though he expressed willingness to collaborate with Vybz Kartel again, he wasn’t as enthused about joining a ‘Gaza’ reunion tour or returning to the clique should it be rebuilt. 

“Mi a 36, why mi woulda waan go back to a camp? Me’s a grown man. Right now me deven like music. The mount a things music put me through mentally. Music f–k with mi life, mi kinda lose interest. Mi a be honest; mi deven know bout the tour,” he said.

The now-defunct collective featured artists like Deva Bratt, Popcaan, Jah Vinci, Vanessa Bling, Gaza Kim, Gaza Indu, Lisa Hyper, Merrital Family, Shawn Storm and producer NotNice.

Ryno was asked if he maintains contact with any of them, particularly the status of his relationship with Jah Vinci and Popcaan. While he declared that Jah Vinci “a my artist,” Ryno implied that the singer was swayed by the gossip about him. 

As for Popcaan, the two have had a rocky relationship since 2010, vacillating between reciprocal diss tracks and stints of reconciliation. Ryno said he is happy that his former labelmate is successful, and said the notion of him being envious of that success is false. 

“That a one a di pain weh mi haffi live wid cause people seh, ‘Oh, him badmind Popcaan’. Unno don’t even know a me bring him go deh (the camp),” Ryno said.

Blak Ryno rose to prominence in 2007, standing out with a distinct singjay style and flair for versatile songwriting. Despite contributing a myriad of hits to dancehall like Thug Anthem, Badmind, See You Again and Bike Back, he believes his departure from the Portmore Empire led to his blackballing.

Now based in the United States, the entertainer is gearing up to release new music, which he teased will bear some Afrobeats flavour. 

His last release was Ride, a collaboration with Chenphang that debuted three months ago.