Jamaican artist Vybz Kartel stopped by Hot 97 on April 9 to reflect on his skin bleaching and how his views on the controversial beauty trend have changed now that he’s “fully melanated” again.
“I mean, in hindsight, I think it was it definitely had to do with self-love,” Vybz admitted.
“But on the other hand, while I was doing it, my mind wasn’t telling me, ‘Oh, I’m doing this to show my tattoos because I got a lot of tattoos,’ blah blah blah,” he added. “But looking back, I think it was just as a Black man, sometimes you have those issues.”
Now, Vybz can confidently say that “I would never bleach again.”
It marks a shift from Vybz Kartel’s stance in September 2022, when the self-proclaimed “King of the Dancehall” defended his skin bleaching by comparing it to Black women altering their natural hair on Instagram.
“99.99% of Black Women (1)cream their hair or (2)wear ‘caucasian’ wigs,” he wrote at the time. “Question: ARE YOU BRAZILIAN? But u want BRAZILIAN HAIR! Or some other form of hair that is NOT African. As a matter of fact, BLACK PEOPLE CALL WHITE PEOPLES HAIR ‘pretty hair.’ BLACK PEOPLE CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU CHECK SOMEONE ELSE.”
Now, Vybz acknowledged the colorism issues in the Black diaspora rooted in favor of Eurocentric beauty standards: “Black people have always wanted to look like that. I guess it has to do with slavery.”
Vybz Kartel, born Adidja Azim Palmer, was released from prison on July 31, 2024, after serving 13 years of a 35-year sentence for the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams. His conviction was overturned due to juror misconduct.
The “Romping Shop” musician is one of Jamaica’s most popular artists, with hits like “Clarks” and “Summer Time” and collaborations with Jay-Z and Rihanna. Many were shocked over his conviction, which followed a 64-day trial—one of the longest in the country’s history.
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