People are curious about why Vybz Kartel was in jail and if he’s has been set free. The Jamaican dancehall deejay was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014, following his arrest in 2011 for the ...

Bleaching, in Jamaica, can mean one of two things. 1. Applying prescription-only steroid cream for extremely off-label use, leaching the pigment out of your skin cells to create a whiter complexion, ...

Vybz Kartel served more than a decade of a murder sentence before his conviction was overturned. Despite imprisonment and a radio ban, his influence has grown. By Nia Decaille Early into his ...

In July, Jamaica’s most influential living artist walked out of a Kingston prison after 13 years, drove straight to his mother’s house for a tearful reunion over steamed fish and okra — and dove ...

Jamaicans often say to each other, “Jamaica is not a real place,” as we shake our heads at the beauty and madness of our birthplace. On last week’s episode of Jamaica Is Not a Real Place, a day before ...

Dancehall is a musical style that, much like hip hop, is very competitive in its nature. There's always a fight for dominance — who's the best at what they do, and why? — and not even the legends are ...

I t’s New Year’s Eve, and the roads that lead to Jamaica’s National Stadium are filled with food vendors manning their oil-drum grills. Some sell orange bandannas like the pair Vybz Kartel wore when ...

Pop music in 2016 simmers with the winding grind of dancehall. Rihanna’s “Work” and “Drake’s “One Dance,” two of the year’s biggest singles with 19 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 between them, both ...