Grammy Winner Kabaka Pyramid Strikes Back At Critics During Reggae Sumfest Performance

“Yuh neva hear no song bout no molly or scamming or dunce from Kabaka.”

That was one of the punch lines within a freestyle from Kabaka Pyramid in the wee hours of Sunday morning during the 2023 Reggae Grammy winner’s performance at Reggae Sumfest, as he addressed his detractors who had castigated him for decrying the use of “dunceness” and the use of Rastafarian images in lewd songs earlier this year.

Kabaka, who declared himself the “hardest touring man inna Jamaica” matched by only Sean Paul, was in a militant mood in the second quarter of his 45-minute set, as he declared that he had never resorted to singing any “nasty songs” and would not listen to the “little dogs barking.”

“An mi a tell yuh, one month afta mi win di Grammy and mi feel like mi on top a di world, a likkle ting  guh gwaan an mi feel like di whole a Jamaica ready fi crucify mi,” he explained, as he introduced the song.  

Kabaka Pyramid implicitly addressed in song, remarks made against him by Countree Hype, the producer of Valiant’s song Rasta, which featured lewd references and Rastafari paraphernalia and colors.

“Dem a prips every word weh mi tweetin/An too dunce fi guh search fi di meanin/Too much molly have dem likkle brain bleedin/Society need a deep cleanin,” he deejayed.

In March this year, Kabaka had taken to Twitter, where he made a veiled statement, lamenting how the Rastafarian faith was being treated and mocked in Jamaica.

That statement had caught the attention of Countree Hype, who decided to intervene, even though Kabaka had initially made no references to Valiant.

“It’s Simple Grammy Kid ‘No Beef no Passa’, is making references to Some Rasta Who Believe in peace and unity But The Other Parts Of The Song Is Clearly not for Rasta….look how many things me see Rasta a do ? And Unuh nah talk on that.  We respect you G but this never have to post maybe a you PR post it still anyway blessing No Beef!! No Passa!!!” the producer had noted in response to the Kontraband artiste.

Kabaka had, in a subsequent post, pointed out that despite Valiant’s immense talent, he had to resort to gimmickry in order to get his big musical break.

“When a man wid actual talent haffi sing bout Dunce an Sciance fi get anybody attention, dat tell u more bout SOCIETY dan di artist himself. Unnu need fi check unnu mental health.   Di dj dem weh get him conscious song dem, unnu play dem? Me neva hear bout him, why is that?? A my fault mi neva hear bout him? Look how much conscious artist a try a ting an nah get heard.  An di one artist weh stay conscious right tru an neva run down commercial song unnu a diss ya now. Mi love unnu same way. An me a gwaan shell dem show ya pon tour,” he had replied.

Kabaka was also tackled by his musical compatriot Konshens, who claimed that many Rastafarians were doing worse things to damage  Rastafari than Valiant.

“Naah, respectfully I dont think being a Jamaican means u have a responsibility to preserve rasta integrity, especially if u nuh believe inna rasta faith.🤷🏾‍♂️ Actual rastas been doing alot more to 💩 pan rasta culture than any gimmick valliant can pull. Mi nuh like dah loud up yah fi di singa,” Konshens had stated.