From the day he was released from prison in Jamaica on July 31, many fans across Jamaica, the Caribbean, and the world were stating via social media what they would sacrifice to attend the first post-prison Vybz Kartel concert.
It was already predicted that tickets would cost “an arm and a leg”.
Last Friday, during an interview with Jamaica’s TVJ’s ER, Vybz Kartel disclosed when his first concert would be and joked that fans may have to sell “an organ or two” to attend.
According to the Dancehall artiste, his first concert would be in December of this year, despite his battle with Graves’ disease.
“Jamaica,” Kartel said, will be the venue for his first show, followed by Trinidad and the Bahamas, with negotiations ongoing for other island stops.
“We will be spinning more like tornados,” he told the show’s host.
Kartel boasted that the venue of the first show was expected to attract more than 100,000, with that same number on the outside wanting to enter.
He went on to list Spice and Skillibeng among the artists he would like to perform with.
Since the announcement, fans in some other islands have taken to Social Media with queries about when Kartel will perform in their homeland.
Some said they were saving for airline and concert tickets to attend the first show.
In 2010, the governments of several countries banned Vybz Kartel.
Back in April 2010, the authorities canceled an advertised concert featuring Kartel in Saint Lucia due to concerns over a negative influence on the island’s youth from the Gaza vs. Gully feud.
Kartel was said to be leading the Gaza charge, with his rival Movado on the Gully side.
Originally a war of lyrics that was primarily personal but not physical, eventually, the back-and-forth lyrical ‘dissing’ spilled out into underground street violence.
At the end of last week’s interview, Vybz Kartel said the main lesson his thirteen years in prison had taught him was how precious time is and the need to avoid negative energy.