Jamaican artist Vybz Kartel admits that his years of skin bleaching were the consequences of a struggle with self-love.
This weekend, New Yorkers celebrated Jamaican artist Vybz Kartel’s historic comeback performance at the Barclays Center. Leading up to his first show in the U.S. in over 20 years, the “Worl Boss” appeared on Hot 97’s “Ebro In the Morning,” where he opened up about his past with skin bleaching.
Just as he is known for his hit dancehall songs, Kartel, who was incarcerated for 13 years in Jamaica, was known for bleaching his skin. Now, the Jamaican artist proudly declares he’s “fully melanated” and is reflecting on his participation in the controversial beauty trend.
“I would never bleach again […] in hindsight, I think it was, it definitely had to do with self-love,” Kartel said. “But on the other hand, while I was doing it, my mind wasn’t telling me that. My mind was telling me, ‘Oh, I’m doing this to show my tattoos because I got a lot of tattoos,’ blah blah blah.”
However, the “Fever” singer wasn’t as open to discussing the controversy associated with skin bleaching. In 2022, Kartel called out critics in a statement likening skin bleaching to Black women altering their hair.
“99.99% of Black Women (1)cream their hair or (2)wear ‘caucasian’ wigs,” he said at the time, per Hot New Hip Hop. “Question: ARE YOU BRAZILIAN? But u want BRAZILIAN HAIR! Or some other form of hair that is NOT African. As a matter of fact, BLACK PEOPLE CALL WHITE PEOPLE’S HAIR ‘pretty hair.’ BLACK PEOPLE CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU CHECK SOMEONE ELSE.”
Fast-forward three years, and the 49-year-old singer acknowledges the impacts of colorism around the world, but especially within Black communities.
“I mean, as Black people, we all have those issues [with] complexion-ism colorism. That Eurocentric look…Black people have always wanted to look like that I guess it has to do with slavery,” he noted. “But looking back, I think it was just as a Black man, sometimes you have those issues.”
On April 11 and April 12, Kartel performed two sold-out shows in New York City, a place he described as “Jamaica outside of Jamaica.” With special appearances from stars like Spice, Busta Rhymes, Ne-yo, Shensea, and more, the self-proclaimed “King of Dancehall” showed the world that he’s back like he never left.
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