In a cultural collision no one would have predicted a year or two ago, vocals from Vybz Kartel have met the ubiquitous, pseudo-dancehall vibes of Justin Bieber’s “Sorry.” The existence of “All I Wanna Do,” which appeared online this morning, inspires several questions. Were these original vocals cut as a”Sorry” freestyle, or are they a cut-and-paste job from an enterprising producer? Five years ago, would you ever have imagined Vybz Kartel on a Justin Bieber song? And, what took so long?
No one really knows what’s going on with Kartel in prison and, if they do, they’re not spilling the beans. The only thing we do know is that the tide of new music coming from the Worl’ Boss just does not slow down, with new music still emerging weekly — daily almost — from the imprisoned deejay. We’ve never heard the vocals used on “All I Wanna Do” before, and they fit well enough on the beat to, so we’re just going to roll with it, and accept that this is Kartel’s official take on “Sorry.” He’d hardly be the first dancehall act to touch Skrillex and BLOOD’s instrumental: Konshens, Kranium, Mr. Vegas and Busy Signal all released “Sorry” freestyles months ago. And U.K. DJ crew The Heatwave previously put together their own Kartel x “Sorry” refix, using vocals from Kartel’s 2010 single “Yuh Love.”
Listen to “All I Wanna below,” and look out for Kartel’s King of the Dancehall album June 10th.