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!!!
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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.