How Vybz Kartel Made His Biggest Hit During Life in Prison

Making music while in prison is nothing new. Mac Dre, T.I., and former Dipset member Hell Rell are among a few who have managed to drop bars from behind bars. Vybz Kartel, the dancehall legend recently released from prison after serving 13 years of a 35-to-life sentence, revealed in a recent interview that he kept his career going by finding novel ways to record music while locked up.

For an episode of the Juan Ep Is Life podcast, Vybz Kartel joined hosts Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg on a video call. They discussed the first thing he did after being released, which was having sex with his fiancée, how he spends his time now, including eating healthy, working out, managing his Graves’ Disease, and making music. Kartel also shared his plans for the immediate future, which include a series of performances worldwide, with a significant one in Jamaica on Dec. 31.

However, the most surprising part of the interview occurred about 25 minutes in, when they discussed the massive amount of music Kartel released while incarcerated. Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg expressed their curiosity about how Kartel managed to release so many successful tracks during his time away.

Kartel explained that, initially, he was able to continue releasing music because he had recorded a substantial amount beforehand. “In the first year, we had songs unreleased,” said Kartel. “But then the songs ran out, and we had to do what we had to do. That’s when I started recording behind bars.” He revealed that he recorded his vocals on an Apple iPhone because of its excellent sound quality.

To achieve the best sound quality possible while recording, Kartel used the mattress from his bed to mimic the padding of a recording booth. “I would have the phone, like, 3 feet from my face and I would wrap the mattress around my head and record. It was crazy,” he recounted. After recording, he created a demo using his iPhone vocals paired with a beat playing on an iPad. He would then send these recordings to an engineer who would turn them into a full song.

What’s most impressive about this process is that Kartel used it to create what many consider his biggest song: “Fever.” Released in 2016 as the single for his album King of Dancehall, “Fever” became an instant hit and is now his most-streamed song, with over 100 million streams on Spotify.

Kartel mostly recorded at night or during the guards’ lunch breaks, always vigilant of those on patrol. “I’d still have to be watching,” he recalls. “So I’d [sing], ‘fever!’ and then I’d have to get up and look. It was crazy. It was line by line!” Despite these challenges, Kartel managed to produce music that resonated with his audience, even from behind bars.