Self-proclaimed ‘King of the Dancehall’ Beenie Man clapped back at Vybz Kartel by posting a video of the ‘World Boss’ himself ‘crowning’ Beenie with the title while on stage at Reggae Sumfest in 2009.

“Beenie Man, you a King of the Dancehall from you come outta yu madda belly, memba dat. Mi respect you and honour you… you gimme ‘Breast Specialist’, ah mi fuss number one,” Kartel said in the video.

Beenie Man captioned the video: “Straight from the horse’s mouth, ‘so weh di war bout’? 1King”.

Kartel in recent years has declared himself ‘King of the Dancehall’, with many fans seemingly supporting the claim of the prolific hitmaker who has dominated the genre for nearly two decades, even while incarcerated for almost 13 years. Kartel’s claim reached new heights following his successful Freedom Street comeback concert on New Year’s Eve.

Thousands of social media users responded to Beenie’s post, with Gaza fans weighing in heavily.

One suggested: “Beenie yu crown yuself doe, we neva crown yu, we crowned Kartel”.

Another user observed: “You’re the pass king, world boss is the present king”.

Another urged: “Beenie Man, plz let it goooooo……U should have been at Freedom Street to hand over the crown to Kartel. Yu energy nuh right from December 31.”

Beenie Man has consistently maintained that there is only one king in the dancehall, and that title belongs to him.

“I am there from Shabba Rankin, Ninja Man, Kartel. I was the one that release Vybz Kartel really. Remember I gave him his first number one song; me put him pon Billboard di first time…,” Beenie Man said, during an interview on Ghana’s Hitz 103.9FM in 2021.

The collaboration between Vybz Kartel and Beenie Man being referenced is The Specialist, which was released in November 2004 on the Scoobay Riddim. The song is sometimes referred to as ‘Picture Dis’ or ‘Breast Specialist’.

Over the years, it appears that Beenie has come to the belief that Kartel has not shown him the respect he deserves. In interviews, Beenie claimed that he sympathized with Kartel and took him under his wing, after the infamous Sting 2003 incident where Kartel and his followers attacked Ninjaman onstage. He claimed that he began taking him on stages to close shows across Jamaica such as Jamboree and Island Explosion.

However, their relationship appeared to be strained years later.

Beenie Man dropped a single called Gaza Mi Say in which he declared himself ‘Emperor for di Gaza’. Kartel responded with the acerbic Gaza Commandments, which appeared to slight Beenie Man as Kartel declared in the intro, “ah me create it”.

The two songs were produced by Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor.