Kartel is king of the dancehall, says Hope

Though imprisoned for more than a decade, Professor Donna Hope says dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel has one of the largest catalogues of music which dominated the space for the longest time, thus making him the 'King of Dancehall'.

"Kartel doesn't even have to crown himself because Kartel managed to hold the forefront of dancehall and garnered a lot of attention even while he was in prison. Yellowman [and] Beenie Man [were] crowned king from a particular era and they have kept that title. But as things stand now, I don't see any other artiste that has the attention pull that Kartel has in dancehall," she told THE STAR. "Kartel is highly respected among a lot of his peers and people who are not dancehall artistes. I don't have an issue with him [and] he still holds that crown - it hasn't gone anywhere." Hope opined that Kartel going to prison and being released, gave him a special aura.

"It's like he has resurrected/emancipated in a very important way, so he's still the 'King' and nobody has taken that crown," Hope said, adding that a part of what constitutes a dancehall king is "consistency and maintaining a level of dominance", which Kartel is still doing.

With Kartel dubbing himself Dancehall King upon his return from prison, some fans have been questioning who holds the title, as Beenie Man has held it for years. However, Hope said that Beenie Man is from a different era.

"[He's] a '90s dancehall artiste but they were very dominant back in those days. They are popular now as veterans who are doing their work and have a lot of attention in terms of dancehall culture itself. The last survey I've done in 2010, Vybz Kartel was the most popular dancehall artiste in the minds of people and he continued to be for a very long time, and none of the others have held the forefront long enough to be crowned as king. So he [Kartel] is still at that position," said Hope.

With Kartel also naming Whap Whap artiste Skillibeng as the 'Dancehall Prince,' others questioned where more established artistes like Masicka, Popcaan and Aidonia stand. Hope opined that "Masicka [for example] is an excellent artiste but I don't believe he is at the level as some of the others.

"I think that at the point when Masicka should've risen up big, he got very dim for a while and then disappeared, and then a lot of other [artistes] just rush out and soak up a lot of the attention," she said. "So whoever Kartel wants to crown 'Prince', it's up to him because there's gonna be a waffling for the prince part."

Kartel, who is set to host his Freedom Street concert on December 31, has introduced several artistes for the line-up including Skillibeng, Popcaan, Spice, Gaza Indu, Sheba and international superstar, Busta Rhymes.