Vybz Kartel Gives 1st Post-Prison Interview, Talks TikTok, Recording Behind Bars

TMZ

Dancehall kingpin Vybz Kartel was suddenly released from prison last month after 13 years ... and just as you can imagine, he was avalanched with tons of culture shock!!!

Transcript

00:00I saw you, um, you know, telling some of the youth, uh, when you were signing autographs

00:06and taking pictures, you know, like, you know, stay completely away from the whole jail life,

00:12the whole jail scene.

00:13Yeah.

00:14Trust me, man.

00:15It's, it's terrible in there.

00:16And I wouldn't wish that on nobody.

00:17I wouldn't wish prison on any body.

00:21Trust me.

00:22I want the kids to stay away from that.

00:25What would you, what would you think your worst day in prison was like?

00:28Was this like just having to work against your will?

00:31You know, what is like, what are, what are like, you know, some of the things that they

00:35would be facing?

00:36Okay.

00:37I, I got sentenced to hard labor, but because I was an appellant, I didn't work because

00:44you know, once they're appealing your case, it's like you're in purgatory.

00:47You're kind of a prisoner, but you're kind of not.

00:49So a lot of the rules don't apply to you in terms of you can, you don't have to wear the

00:54uniform.

00:55You can wear your regular clothes.

00:56You don't get to work.

00:57And I mean, but my worst days in prison or the days when I didn't have visits, like when

01:05I could see my girlfriend come to me in the, and that was also a terrible day too, because

01:10it's fun when she comes, but it's sad when she leaves, it's, it's, it's bittersweet as,

01:18as people would say.

01:19So, you know what I mean?

01:20Every time he goes away, yeah, she's right.

01:25What was your reaction?

01:26When you found out that it was official vibes is gone.

01:31Uh, gee, even now I haven't processed it.

01:36Even now I tell people this and they think I'm joking or I'm trying to be emotional.

01:42Even now I haven't processed it.

01:44Sometimes I wake up, sometimes I'm afraid to boast because I think I'm in prison and

01:50I have to hide my phone.

01:52I just crazy stuff like that.

01:53I wake up at like at seven o'clock looking around if I'm going to get searched.

02:00If when sometimes when I hear a key, I'm like, yo, because you know, the officers, they shake

02:04the key in the morning when they're coming to check the master.

02:07So I'm still going through a lot of that, man.

02:10Trust me.

02:11It's G I'm grateful to be out, but I still haven't processed it in that way, man.

02:16And every day I have to pray to God I was in prison.

02:19I prayed.

02:20I'm like, God, if you get me out of this place, I will never stop calling your name.

02:25I will never stop praising you.

02:26Trust me, man.

02:27So, but I'm still in that mindset and I'm working on it.

02:31It's mental, man.

02:33It's very mental, mental damage, man, and mental health.

02:38Black people don't like to really talk about it, but it's a real thing.

02:40So I'm telling you what was like the biggest, you know, mind blowing difference.

02:47That's easy.

02:48The infrastructure of the country, like roads, highways, that all that stuff wasn't there

02:54when I went in and also the internet, the internet has changed dramatically.

02:59Now, I mean, as a matter of fact, when I was going in, there wasn't no internet, wasn't

03:04even a thing.

03:05It was just YouTube, Facebook.

03:07That's it.

03:08So those two things are the, um, the biggest differences I see when I, when I got out,

03:13I'm like, Oh, wow.

03:14Quickly.

03:15And I adapt.

03:16You know what I mean?

03:17Right now in Jamaica, I have one of the biggest followings on Tik Tok now, I mean, and my

03:23Instagram is growing steadily.

03:24When I came out, it was 1.2, 1.1, now it's like three something or 2.8.

03:30So, and it's only been a month.

03:32So I mean, the progress is good, steady and good.

03:35As long as being, uh, integrated into the Tik Tok culture, you know, like, like you

03:40said, the internet wasn't around, but it's really combining generations of music fans.

03:47I'm telling you, man, the kids, trust me, the kids, I, to be honest, I'm, I'm, I'm pleasantly

03:53surprised by the love I get from the teenagers, the 15 year olds, the 16 year olds.

03:59I mean, it's amazing.

04:00And it, I mean, it, it goes to show that once you do good music, it will last forever.

04:06I mean, Bob Marley died like 40 years ago, and that man is still legendary at number

04:13one on the iTunes chart.

04:14You know what I mean?

04:15We have a joke that we as entertainers now, we have a joke that says, every time you go

04:21on iTunes, reggae charts, Bob Marley's at number one, looking at us like this.

04:28So he doesn't, trust me.

04:31So it's good that the kids are gravitating towards my music.

04:33It feels amazing.

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