Vado x Mavado = “M.O.V.A.D.O.”

Words by Jesse Serwer

Image jacked from The Fader

“Vado!”
“Huhhhhhhhh”
“No, I mean Mavado.”
We can only imagine how confusing the session for “M.O.V.A.D.O.,” Harlem rapper Vado‘s new collaboration with Jamaica’s own ‘Vado, must have been (If they were indeed in the same studio). Making things more tricky, turns out that Vado—Violence and Drugs Only—originally went by Movado—Money Out of Violence and Drugs Only. Hence, the proper spelling of “M.O.V.A.D.O.,” as opposed to the Gully God’s tweaked Mavado.

[audio:http://largeup.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Vado-feat.-Mavado-M.O.V.A.D.O..mp3|titles=Vado feat. Mavado M.O.V.A.D.O.]

As it happens, I profiled Harlem Vado in last week’s Village Voice. During our interview he spoke on his Jamaican roots and appreciation for dancehall:

“My father was Jamaican, and I was raised [in Jamaica] for about two years. A lot of people don’t know that. That’s why I’m gonna put [“M.O.V.A.D.O.”] out. When I put it out, you’ll know it. Cause I breaks it down…Me and my man used to battle each other with Jamaican lines. I used to battle with all Bounty Killer songs. I was a Bounty Killer fanatic. Him and Scare Dem Crew. He was representing Waterhouse. You know all the ladies loved Beenie Man, so my man used to always spit Beenie Man lyrics. It was a DMX versus Mase type thing.”