Kartel compilation album drops December 10
Tads Records is offering music fans the ultimate Dancehall experience — a compilation of the year’s biggest street anthems and radio bangers from high-riding deejay Vybz Kartel. Mixed by popular Jamaican radio disc jock DJ Wayne, Clarks: De Mixtape Raw is slated to hit iTunes and other digital outlets on Friday, December 10th.
Starting off the year with the release of Pon Di Gaza 2.0, Vybz Kartel’s successful double album that was released in February, Tads is looking to cap off 2010 with an EP of singles from Kartel’s catalogue of radio favourites from 2010, including Clarks — the ode to the British shoe giant that has become a staple in Hip Hop and Dancehall fashion with styles such as Wallabees and Desert Boots. Clarks remained among the top three Reggae singles garnering the most radio airplay overseas for nearly 35 weeks.
Other singles on Clarks: De Mixtape Raw include the popular street zinger Touch a Button, Turn and Whine, Cake Soap, Better Can Wuk, and the recently released Dancehall Hero. The EP also features Clarks Again and Wear Weh You Have (Clarks 3), his two follow up songs to Clarks – collectively known as the Clarks Trilogy.
“This isn’t a full-fledged album, but more of an attempt to bridge the gap between Pon Di Gaza 2.0, and his next album, which is scheduled for release at the end of 2011,” explains Tadiem Dawkins, of Tads Record Inc. “As long as he keeps spitting out these hits, we must respond to the audience demand with a product that highlights and promotes these songs,” he notes.”
“Kartel has many attributes that have placed him in the enviable position atop the dancehall ladder,” says DJ Wayne, of Irie FM. “His style is ever-evolving, and he uses all aspects of the art of deejaying to the fullest.”
As opposed to a regular compilation album, Clarks: De Mixtape Raw features special mixes and exclusive new material from mix-master DJ Wayne, like the brand new single Get Gyal Easy (Blackberry).
“The mixtape has all the hot tracks — crazy hits,” exclaims DJ Wayne, adding Kartel’s signature “Oh!” at the end of his statement. “I had to do this mixtape, as it was I who first presented Vybz Kartel to the public at large as a deejay. Kartel is as much my product as anyone else.”
