The last two decades showcased some of the deepest feuds between dancehall artists. The most recent being the fierce battle between 6IX crew members Chronic Law and Squash against Alkaline. The pick of the duels dating back to 2007 must have been Gaza’s Vybz Kartel and Mavado from the Gully.
With that in mind, earlier in the year a collaboration between Vybz Kartel and the late Xxxtentacion was released and was a major hit all over the world. ‘Royalty’ featured reggae’s Kymani Marley as well as UK rapper Stefflon Don. The track gained widespread attention having numerous reaction videos on Youtube spanning all over the United States.
Following that another collaboration has been released from the Xxxtentacion camp but this time it features Vybz Kartel’s nemesis Mavado. ‘Hot Gyal‘ features Tory Lanez and one cannot help but compare the two tracks featuring the two enemies. If dancehall fans did not know the late Xxxtentacion I am sure they are now well acquainted with the rapper who was murdered two years ago. The same can be said for hip hop fans who didn’t know the dancehall superstars. Hot Gyal has Vado and Torey show off their vocals syncing well with the slain rapper.
To be fair it’s hard to pick the better track between the two. But if I was to pick a winner it must be Royalty just because it features more artists and has a lot more to offer.
The Mavado/Vybz beef has been rather quiet lately. This is probably due to the fact that Mavado now resides in the United States. And that Vybz has been incarcerated for the past 7 years. I wonder which beef is going to stand out in the next decade but as a betting man I see the Alkaline/6IX beef taking centre stage in the foreseeable future.
Listen out for XXXTENTACION’s album ‘Bad Vibes Forever’ where the two tracks feature.
