{"id":8953,"date":"2026-02-09T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riddim.world\/?p=8953"},"modified":"2026-03-18T17:14:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:14:49","slug":"review-vybz-kartel-heart-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riddim.world\/mystaging01\/review-vybz-kartel-heart-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: Vybz Kartel \u2013 Heart & Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Label: Vybz Kartel Music \/ Greedy Lion<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Text: Davide Bor\u00adtot<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a pecu\u00adliar bit of Gram\u00admy folk\u00adlore in the fact that you can\u2019t take the awards seri\u00adous\u00adly, yet they are tak\u00aden more seri\u00adous\u00adly than almost any oth\u00ader insti\u00adtu\u00adtion in the music world. Nowhere is this truer than in the reg\u00adgae cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry. Nom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded for a Gram\u00admy Award \u2013 in a genre whose strug\u00adgle for recog\u00adni\u00adtion has always been pro\u00adfound\u00adly built into its DNA, those words car\u00adry extra weight. And yet, the Acad\u00ade\u00admy tends to reward who\u00adev\u00ader most peo\u00adple know. Over the past decade, that\u2019s meant \u201dMar\u00adley\u201d four times and \u201dSting\u201d once. A pret\u00adty nat\u00adur\u00adal out\u00adcome of a process in which more than 10,000 vot\u00ading mem\u00adbers from across the indus\u00adtry can cast bal\u00adlots in up to ten cat\u00ade\u00adgories. This year, 73 albums were up for Best Reg\u00adgae Album alone. Nobody can real\u00adis\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly lis\u00adten to that much music. The Gram\u00admy is, in the end, a vis\u00adi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which brings us to the nom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion of Vybz Kartel\u2019s \u201dHeart & Soul\u201d \u2013 a deci\u00adsion that is, para\u00addox\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, spec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly note\u00adwor\u00adthy in the case of a 50\u2011year\u2011old gangs\u00adta dee\u00adjay who has spent the sup\u00adposed prime of his career behind bars. Kar\u00adtel has earned this sec\u00adond con\u00adsec\u00adu\u00adtive Gram\u00admy nod in the most lit\u00ader\u00adal sense. It\u2019s the result of 35 years of relent\u00adless work, increas\u00ading\u00adly also in ser\u00advice of the cul\u00adture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said: \u201dHeart & Soul\u201d most\u00adly proves that hav\u00ading a con\u00adcept doesn\u2019t auto\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly make an album, cer\u00adtain\u00adly not a good one. Across eleven tracks, Kar\u00adtel explores var\u00adi\u00adous shades of love, but many of them sound just as gener\u00adic as the title. Maybe the album came from the heart indeed. I per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adly still don\u2019t hear much soul in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take the open\u00ader \u201dThey\u2019re Out\u00adta Love We Aren\u2019t\u201d (for Sidem, with Sidem in the video) and the clos\u00ader \u201dOnly Gets Bet\u00adter\u201d (also for Sidem, but with some\u00adone else in the video). They book\u00adend the album with a roman\u00adtic frame \u2013 cute in the\u00ado\u00adry, but in prac\u00adtice it\u2019s Island Pop by the rule\u00adbook, with the rule\u00adbook writ\u00adten about ten years ago. \u201dBad Bad Bad\u201d with Ishaw\u00adna, mean\u00adwhile, walks the tightrope between old\u2011school homage and the kind of conga\u2011line your par\u00adents might\u2019ve done in the base\u00adment with notable unc\u2011energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet Kar\u00adtel is, of course, still Kar\u00adtel \u2013 always one moment of bril\u00adliance away. Hooks that he clear\u00adly freestyled on the spot with producer\/engineer Red\u00adboom Supamix (\u201d11:45\u201d, \u201dGhet\u00adto Girl Cho\u00adsen\u201d) are the kind of lines oth\u00ader artists can\u2019t con\u00adjure after six weeks in a writ\u00aders\u2019 camp with eight co\u2011writers. His abil\u00adi\u00adty to fuse seduc\u00adtive melodies with a hard\u00adcore edge, bridg\u00ading the proud his\u00adto\u00adry of his genre with the demands of mod\u00adern con\u00adsump\u00adtion, remains unmatched. \u201dI Know,\u201d for exam\u00adple, had seri\u00adous Tik\u00adTok trac\u00adtion last fall and is still a high\u00adlight in 2026. The title track, too, is pure Kar\u00adtel canon: noth\u00ading you haven\u2019t heard before, but exe\u00adcut\u00aded flaw\u00adless\u00adly.<\/p>

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Also strik\u00ading: \u201dYou Walked Away,\u201d in which Kar\u00adtel reflects on his bro\u00adken rela\u00adtion\u00adship with Tane\u00adsha John\u00adson \u2013 essen\u00adtial\u00adly a reprise of his last major love album, \u201dTo Tane\u00adsha\u201d (2019). Instead of air\u00ading dirty laun\u00addry or stag\u00ading grand con\u00adfes\u00adsions, Kar\u00adtel lets the thoughts spill out in real time, exact\u00adly as they tend to in moments like these. You messed up, I messed up, now we\u2019re in this mess. What a mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So is it Grammy\u2011worthy? Well, that\u2019s for the Gram\u00admys to decide. (Kez\u00adnam\u00addi took home the thing after all.) What \u201dHeart & Soul\u201d is not, is the big mas\u00adter\u00adpiece \u2013 the glob\u00adal pop break\u00adthrough \u2013 Kar\u00adtel talked to me about after his release in sum\u00admer 2024. He remains firm\u00adly in dance\u00adhall mode: ses\u00adsion, drop, repeat. He can\u2019t help it, and \u201dHeart & Soul\u201d makes that clear. At an age when oth\u00aders com\u00adplain about their backs, order Cialis, or cash out their cat\u00ada\u00adlogues, Vybz Kar\u00adtel is still ful\u00adly locked in \u2013 album num\u00adber four in six\u00adteen months \u2013 work\u00ading with, well, heart and soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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