022! Mini Digest: Vybz Kartel Live, Kenyan TikTok, Dancehall Summer
Links on links
In this past week’s alternate universe timeline, Katy Perry went into space, Coachella has become one big brand activation that people are paying for with Klarna, and Vybz Kartel finally performed in Brooklyn for the first time in over twenty years.
I couldn’t make it to Coachella, but I did make it to Barclay’s Center to see Kartel, for two hours of back-to-back hits. This man’s catalogue is so deep he could do a 24-hour show.
There were strong cameos from Spice, Busta Rhymes, Blak Ryno, Rvssian and Jah Vinci, as well as his mother and wife, and a poignant moment where he broke down in tears performing. It was unbelievable and moving to think about Kartel being finally free, in front of twenty thousand fans, after two decades.
Some of the biggest crowd reactions came from tracks like “Love Dem”, “Bike Back”, “Touch A Button”, “Summertime”, and of course the strongly awaited “Brooklyn Anthem” (even though everyone was filming, myself included).
Kartel’s public life since finding freedom has been enjoyably without hiccup - from the press runs to the live shows. It’s a historic moment for Kartel, but also for the genre, that frankly doesn’t often get large international celebration in this way.
Supreme just used his and Popcaan’s song “Clarks” in an ad (Kartel x Supreme collection seems like a no-brainer), and DJ Khaled is set to reunite Kartel with longtime rival Mavado on his upcoming album. It was also announced that Kartel’s featuring on one of the biggest songs of this year, Moliy & Silent Addy’s “Shake It To The Max.” The Moliy track is being rolled out in an incredibly crispy way - all the right features, all the influencers you could imagine, the press flights, the remixes. It’s everywhere in New York right now, it’s a Top 10 track on global Shazam, and I just scrolled past Naomi Osaka posting it. DJ Mac (behind most of the Jamaican hits of the last year or two) has a new mixtape out, Koffee is back after years of silence, and Valiant is about to drop a project. It’s a dancehall summer!
Meanwhile, I noticed that in Kenya, a reggae track from 1987 is trending hard. Tony Tuff’s “Careless People” has over twenty-two thousand videos and a rabid dance challenge. It’s the second Tony Tuff track to take off in Kenya lately, after “Ram Dance Style”, despite Tuff passing on last year. Tuff’s listeners on Spotify are now ten times bigger in Kenya than anywhere else, and the dance of the moment seems to be ‘80s reggae. Kenya’s taste for an old dancehall track is strong, but it’s interesting that it’s latched specifically to Tony Tuff. In a world that often feels like it moves too quickly for culture to marinate, it’s reassuring and gratifying to see music resurrected like this. Who knows where or how your music will be appreciated in fifty years. Put that record out.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Sound
El Alfa x Braulio Fogon x Yaisel - Wo. That bassline.
A breakneck mix for Resident Advisor by Tanzania’s DJ Travella.
An NTS special on “The Dungeon” in Atlanta, where countless Goodie Mob and Outkast hits were made.
Take “Look at Me Now” by Chris Brown and make it into baile funk?
UK rapper Len teams up with US producer BNYX (who’s been behind the boards with Yeat, Drake, Travis Scott etc) for this very fun Haitian-inspired track:
Vision
The colours on this poster for this upcoming Alice Coltrane tribute concert at Carnegie Hall.
This football jersey made by Colombian electronic label TraTraTrax.
Juicy J’s recent journey with the theremin. Heartwarming.
The photographs in this interview with Walton Goggins for Cultured Mag.
Dying For Sex on Hulu.
Tilda Swinton just featured on a new track by Orbital, which led me to watch the award-winning video for their 1996 track “The Box” that features Tilda as an alien (her calling!).
This short 16mm film about the dance style “Bruk Up”, shot in Bed Stuy, via Nowness.
Thought
The latest Podcast episode: 13 Songs You Didn’t Know Were Big Hits Right Now. Spoiler alert: most of them are bad :)
Nick Sylvester asks “What is the point of an independent record label in 2025?”. As someone who has also worked with/for independent labels for a long time, there is a highly relatable jadedness here, but a nice jolt of realistic optimism too.
Ezra Marcus uncovers another wild story, this time about a vegan couple accused of killing in the name of a cult.
Kyle Chayka says “Recession Indicators Are Everywhere”.
YouTube is rolling out an AI tool that allows people to generate copyright free instrumental tracks. Ugh.
Need a kick up the arse about how to become morally ambitious? This will do it.