Popcaan Releases New Album & Says Vybz Kartel Conviction Is "Sad For Dancehall"

The unruly boss Popcaan is perhaps the biggest artiste to rise from under Vybz Kartel wings. But the former Portmore Empire deejay has been getting some flack from Gaza fans in recent months for abandoning his mentor after his arrest in 2011. Earlier this year Vybz Kartel released a statement condemning Popcaan and Tommy Lee for what he called betrayal.

In the lengthy statement, Vybz Kartel says both artists are no longer members of the Portmore Empire and should refrain from saying they're members of the Gaza.

This is one of a few times Popcaan has spoken out about his thoughts on Vybz Kartel conviction and subsequent life sentence.

“It’s straight sadness,” Popcaan told Winford Williams of OnStage. “It’s not a good thing for the music because Vybz Kartel is the main artist that really hold up the business on a level so without Vybz Kartel things are kind of different. So it’s all sadness all the way around because Vybz Kartel bring out Popcaan in the world so me and them man their thing different still.”

Meanwhile, Popcaan’s debut album, Where We Come From, will be released on Mixpak on June 10th! Executive produced by Dre Skull the album features production from Dre Skull, Dubbel Dutch, Jamie Roberts, Anju Blaxx and Adde Instrumentals. Popcaan’s first full length offering sees his signature melodies and uplifting tones on thirteen original tracks. As musicologist Wayne Marshall writes in his essay on the album.

“Where We Come From gives voice, as the best reggae does, to the contradictions of life in a societyrife with inequities and yet so rich. Whether odes to the ghetto or the good life, Popcaan’s lyrics bring realist portraits and utopian visions into dynamic tension. Songs about struggle and sex and happiness occupy the same space because they do. And whatever the topic, Popcaan’s infectious positivity comes through.”