How quickly we forget. Before Vybz Kartel started to . . . Do other stuff, he was quite easily one of the most inventive and destructive lyricists the Dancehall has ever seen. Drawing comparison to such a wide variety of predecessors, including Bounty Killer, Papa San and Madd Anju, the Portmore DJ with the very strange delivery was tapped to be amongst the next generation of artists and a future leader of the pack - Someone who would, someday, seemingly inspire his own fleet of up and comers. Well, a few years on and all of that has come true, although certainly not in the way that most of us would have imagined and maybe not even have hoped. Still, I frequently go back to what I consider to be his prime and pre-prime years of the era circa 2003-06 (the 'up 2 di time' years) (down to di minute!) and am STILL just as frequently amazed at what this man was capable of. This was a time when the Dancehall was truly (and I hate to use a cliché) experiencing someone who was not only at the absolute height of their talents, but was also 'ahead of his time'. Here, we look at ten very random and ‘punctual’ and potent phrases from The Minister of Time - Vybz Kartel [back when no one knew how to actually spell his damn name and wondered why he had the name of an entire crew and was only one person].
"Murderah!
Blood deh pon yah shoulda
Buju gimme di money and report it tomorrow
Tek Mad Cobra drop top ah Southboro
Mi mek Frisco walk lak him a disco
Rob Roundhead widout a gun -
Tek him chain and run
How a four-hundred pound man fi try run mi dung?
Buccaneer seh widout ooman him nah have no career
So mi kidnap every gyal him have an carry dem up a Vere"
-'Robbery'
"Singa Blinga seh, 'Kartel a what time?'
Up to di time, mi hear Singa talk, but mi no matta time
Cah mi have mi weed an mi ah look seven dollar coin
1 fi buy di rizzla
6 fi buy di cigarette -
What kind? Craven A
But no bodda smoke it lak di last time
Inhale it and blow it lak when ref whistle fi halftime
Man deh pon di ends til bout 27 past 9
And when mi look up inna di sky mi si di sun ah shine!"
-'Sen On'
"Come sen on di pussy mek mi show you how fi manage it
Doctor haffi bandage it -
When mi finish damage it
You is acting lak a giant, so mi mek you a midget
Wid di cocky wid di curve weh bend you up lak a digit
Cuz, if you a penicillin, mi ah diabetic
If you a anesthetic, mi ah di paramedic
From you land inna mi bed you get cocky til yah sick
Cah you neva come a my yard fi pussy -
A trick!"
-'Pon Dis'
"From dem highjack mi Q45 Infinite
From mi know who did it -
Knock dem out lak Riddick
No, rude bwoy, kill it
Sen fi di morgue, not clinic
Dem ahgo dead dis minute
Sink dem lak Titanic
Jam 2 wipe dem out!
Mek maggage bite dem out
Di pussyhole light dem out
Marrow fly lak when kite deh bout
Friendly foes
Judge mi fi mi Fendi clothes
Tru dem gyal ah sen mi rose
An no Valentine mi bruk
Jill and Geneva codes
Mi badda dan Walker Texas Ranger
Whole 2118 episodes
So even if you bring di whole a di guns dem and di swords
It nah mek no sense
Cah mi nah go tek no fence"
-'Kartel Ah Reveal It'
"Don how you wicked so?
You get props from DJ Wayne, Colin Hinds and Liquid so
How di gun pon yah hip big so?
It mek bwoy haffi jump and prance lak Calypso"
-'So Me A Say'
"Man a real badman
Buss fiber glass and blue steel badman
Beat likkle youth -
You a baby badman
Beat gyal alone -
You a lady badman"
-'Real Badman'
"Dung inna Waterford
A dats weh di ganja load
A Cellblock ah press it flat lak a board
Di next episode -
Pon di plane on it fi load
Di pilot and di flight attendant dun know di code
And then -
Never hitch, lock off the X-Ray switch
Dog nah waste time fi sniff
Cuz ah di plane time fi lift
If mi hundred-thousand pound about a million spliff
Money high lak di cliff
Man haffi -
Shot di sheriff inna di sky
Don’t drink and drive
Smoke weed and fly"
-'Up To The Sky'
"School girls tell mi seh she nah need no tutor
A peer executive man recruit her
That’s why di college boot her
The brown one seh fi her man haffi be a shooter
CBR man, nuttin pon a scooter
Gwan dream on lak Martin Luther
She want a man weh super
Smaddy wid whole heap a fame lak Arif Cooper
Young girls a trail man, him a nuh pied piper
Study fi become a star lak Mekhi Phiefer
Mi swear seh, I will never
Go jail fi no girl weh just come outta diaper"
-'Little Miss'
"Two party but a di same sad song dem ah play
Poor people money lean back and rock away
Dem raise everyting from oil to Craven A
Then how dem no raise up everybody pay?
Portmore mi bawn and a dehso mi yard stay
So mi nah pay no toll fi cross di Causeway
Mr. Bruce, Mr. PJ -
Dis is just a couple question from Addi di DJ
Question: Kingston mek no AK?
Question: How gun come inna JA?
Who own di wharf, and di airport, di docks and di bay?"
-'Emergency'
"Mi buss mi gun an breeze cock it
Special black blunt, bullet proof cannot stop it
Even if a doctor lay dung inna ya top pocket
Hollow point dead between yah heart and attack it
Bore it and chop chop it
Math automatic -
Multiply bullet, divide yah head and subtract it
When mi fyah shot guard ring caan turn-back it
Mi no fyah one shot, dun gun and dun ratchet
When you seh 'run' -
Watch it!
Mi have gun weh work wid pin number lak Nokia chip
Shot contagious lak disease, try don’t catch it
Head bust lak bicycle wheel, try don’t patch it
Mi gun dem land plane and turn ova ship"
-'Murderah'
Blood deh pon yah shoulda
Buju gimme di money and report it tomorrow
Tek Mad Cobra drop top ah Southboro
Mi mek Frisco walk lak him a disco
Rob Roundhead widout a gun -
Tek him chain and run
How a four-hundred pound man fi try run mi dung?
Buccaneer seh widout ooman him nah have no career
So mi kidnap every gyal him have an carry dem up a Vere"
-'Robbery'
"Singa Blinga seh, 'Kartel a what time?'
Up to di time, mi hear Singa talk, but mi no matta time
Cah mi have mi weed an mi ah look seven dollar coin
1 fi buy di rizzla
6 fi buy di cigarette -
What kind? Craven A
But no bodda smoke it lak di last time
Inhale it and blow it lak when ref whistle fi halftime
Man deh pon di ends til bout 27 past 9
And when mi look up inna di sky mi si di sun ah shine!"
-'Sen On'
"Come sen on di pussy mek mi show you how fi manage it
Doctor haffi bandage it -
When mi finish damage it
You is acting lak a giant, so mi mek you a midget
Wid di cocky wid di curve weh bend you up lak a digit
Cuz, if you a penicillin, mi ah diabetic
If you a anesthetic, mi ah di paramedic
From you land inna mi bed you get cocky til yah sick
Cah you neva come a my yard fi pussy -
A trick!"
-'Pon Dis'
"From dem highjack mi Q45 Infinite
From mi know who did it -
Knock dem out lak Riddick
No, rude bwoy, kill it
Sen fi di morgue, not clinic
Dem ahgo dead dis minute
Sink dem lak Titanic
Jam 2 wipe dem out!
Mek maggage bite dem out
Di pussyhole light dem out
Marrow fly lak when kite deh bout
Friendly foes
Judge mi fi mi Fendi clothes
Tru dem gyal ah sen mi rose
An no Valentine mi bruk
Jill and Geneva codes
Mi badda dan Walker Texas Ranger
Whole 2118 episodes
So even if you bring di whole a di guns dem and di swords
It nah mek no sense
Cah mi nah go tek no fence"
-'Kartel Ah Reveal It'
"Don how you wicked so?
You get props from DJ Wayne, Colin Hinds and Liquid so
How di gun pon yah hip big so?
It mek bwoy haffi jump and prance lak Calypso"
-'So Me A Say'
"Man a real badman
Buss fiber glass and blue steel badman
Beat likkle youth -
You a baby badman
Beat gyal alone -
You a lady badman"
-'Real Badman'
"Dung inna Waterford
A dats weh di ganja load
A Cellblock ah press it flat lak a board
Di next episode -
Pon di plane on it fi load
Di pilot and di flight attendant dun know di code
And then -
Never hitch, lock off the X-Ray switch
Dog nah waste time fi sniff
Cuz ah di plane time fi lift
If mi hundred-thousand pound about a million spliff
Money high lak di cliff
Man haffi -
Shot di sheriff inna di sky
Don’t drink and drive
Smoke weed and fly"
-'Up To The Sky'
"School girls tell mi seh she nah need no tutor
A peer executive man recruit her
That’s why di college boot her
The brown one seh fi her man haffi be a shooter
CBR man, nuttin pon a scooter
Gwan dream on lak Martin Luther
She want a man weh super
Smaddy wid whole heap a fame lak Arif Cooper
Young girls a trail man, him a nuh pied piper
Study fi become a star lak Mekhi Phiefer
Mi swear seh, I will never
Go jail fi no girl weh just come outta diaper"
-'Little Miss'
"Two party but a di same sad song dem ah play
Poor people money lean back and rock away
Dem raise everyting from oil to Craven A
Then how dem no raise up everybody pay?
Portmore mi bawn and a dehso mi yard stay
So mi nah pay no toll fi cross di Causeway
Mr. Bruce, Mr. PJ -
Dis is just a couple question from Addi di DJ
Question: Kingston mek no AK?
Question: How gun come inna JA?
Who own di wharf, and di airport, di docks and di bay?"
-'Emergency'
"Mi buss mi gun an breeze cock it
Special black blunt, bullet proof cannot stop it
Even if a doctor lay dung inna ya top pocket
Hollow point dead between yah heart and attack it
Bore it and chop chop it
Math automatic -
Multiply bullet, divide yah head and subtract it
When mi fyah shot guard ring caan turn-back it
Mi no fyah one shot, dun gun and dun ratchet
When you seh 'run' -
Watch it!
Mi have gun weh work wid pin number lak Nokia chip
Shot contagious lak disease, try don’t catch it
Head bust lak bicycle wheel, try don’t patch it
Mi gun dem land plane and turn ova ship"
-'Murderah'
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