Monday, May 30, 2011

Vybz Kartel lashes back with "Woman Wi Love" song, has he forgotten it is he who blurred the lines of his own sexuality?

pic from social yaad
One wonders if this is another part of Kartelization of the dancehall industry? No other artist has tested the waters so much without any major fallout in fact it's the opposite that has occurred so far but with the recent problems with a close business partner and other artists from the Gaza Empire is there a backlash/manufactured hate in the making to control him?

Image is everything!

The speculation about his sexuality is still a concern in some circles with his "experiments" with his image, bleaching, pink clothing, braided hair and other stereotypical looks associated with the gay community he has been clear in some of his songs including the infamous cake soap ode where he began the song by saying:

"Mi nuh love man so tek yuh eye off a mi" (I don't love men so take your eyes off me)


That is of course deliberately done to show that while he is embracing these semi feminized or metrosexual traits he is not a homosexual as we value machismo like gold.
Compared to Prince and his own use of Michael Jackson's name to describe himself Kartel - "Michael Kartel Cake Soap Jackson - certainly has deliberately obscured the lines of his own sexuality a practice usually used by celebrities overseas to make themselves into talking points and magnets for the media. He often refers to his public persona "Kartel" as a second person which is why I conclude that he may not be same sex attracted but he or his team, though major changes has come, know what they are doing in marketing the image to the public. He mixes sex and gangster life in a manner almost as to be worshipped and aspired to by his fans as many in the community where he and his family resides have "kartelized" themselves with bleached skin, tight pants exposing all their endowments and the very low baritone of his voice with the infamous "oh" following or ending a sentence. Certainly he has now made bleaching more acceptable which was a once vilified subject and left to be practised by women from the lower socio economic classes and a few men mostly effeminate persons who ply their trade in hair weaves and nail technicians on the street corners in certain parts of urban areas or certain elements within dancehall such as dancers. That is not to say that "bleaching" or skin lightening is not also done by more affluent Jamaicans but not with the more graphic results as seen by the former groups and certainly not some of the ingredients used by this group such as curry powder or milk are employed by those that take the route of a professional dermatologist or cosmetologists.

This practice of releasing women loving songs in response to gay allegations is used regularly from Beenieman, Mr. Vegas, Elephant Man to Busy Signal with his recent woes following the release of "I Love Girls who Love Girls" song he followed up with "Too Many Men" suggesting men must not be seen in each others company and subtly suggesting no to male homosexuality in effect challenging also the homosocial way men have friendships in Jamaica.

Here is the new track released in May 2011


And again he starts the song with the introduction:

"Mi nuh love a man no mi nuh love a man...." (I don't love men no I don't love men) clearly playing into the hands of his detractors especially those from the rival camps of Movado from the Gully crew, with the wounds of that war still not healed for many followers of both artists still have hard hearts for each other although the artists themselves agreed to peace.

More to come as we watch these historical happenings.

Meanwhile he is said to be in a series of upcoming films also he had released a statement:

"Many of you have heard or seen the recent accusations made by my former associates in the past few weeks. I don’t know why all of these individuals, think the most appropriate action to take after a philosophical difference occurs is to go to the press and attack me.

I can only say that I am reminded of Bob Marley’s admonishments when he said man is so unjust, you don’t know who to trust…your best friend can turn out to be your worst enemy…I shall say no more, other than who the cap fit, mek them wear it. I am issuing this statement because I think these accusations are due to a breach of confidentiality as certain individuals got wind of my upcoming projects and initiatives and they know they can’t stop me without resorting to underhanded tactics.

See Jamaica, Vybz Kartel has been carrying a secret for a very long time and I think it is time that I reveal it before persons try to derail the projects that I have put together by continuing to make false reports about me in their attempt to have me muzzled.two years ago, I had an epiphany whilst on stage. I saw thousands of people screaming for Kartel, jumping up and down, listening to ever word that I uttered on stage, it was like the people were eating out of the palm of my hands. At that moment, something strange came over me, as I heard the people screaming for more, I suddenly realized that my calling was to be more than a Deejay.

I realized that the people were not eating out my hands but they wanted to hear Kartel speak because finally somebody was telling their story in a profound no holds barred manner. Whether I was addressing sexuality,poverty, police brutality, injustice,the trials and tribulations of the ghetto I was finally giving ghetto people a voice – a big voice like society never heard before.

I know I am not the first that has ever attempted to do this. Because when I researched I saw that Marcus, Sam Sharpe, Paul Bogle all spoke directly to the powers that be on behalf of the people but were ostracized and in some cases killed. Later, Marley, Tosh, Jacob Miller did the same thing and all died young under unique somewhat mysterious circumstances. I have seen what they have done to ancient Rastamen, People’s Telecom, the Marcus Garvey Political Party and other entities that attacked Babylon head o
n.


Peace and tolerance

H

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