Kartel's protégée impresses on 'Teenage Pregnancy'

“Da song yah serious yuh know” – Teenage Pregnancy.

Deejay Vybz Kartel is yet again looking for national attention with one of his latest collaborations titled Teenage Pregnancy. In the song, the deejay takes on the sensitive issue and introduces his latest addition to the Portmore Empire – Gaza Kim.

With a one drop reggae beat, the young Gaza Kim showcases her talented vocals in the song which has already started to gain attention. The song comes in discussion form as Gaza Kim worries about what she’s going to do after finding out she’s pregnant, as Kartel responds that he loves her and love can carry them through. In the song, Kim sings, “Wha mi a go tell my father? Wha mi a go do, dis is a teenage pregnancy … baby why yuh neva use a condom … remember me go a school, mi nuh want fi drop out.”

To promote the song, Kartel has released a poster, similar to the strategy used to promote his and Lisa Hype’s Wine For Me, but this time less graphic and with words of advice such as ‘abstinence makes sense’, ‘always use a condom’ and ‘stay in school’. The poster features Kartel and Gaza Kim dressed in school uniforms, with Gaza Kim looking pregnant in the picture, similar to the subject of the song.

pursuing music

Gaza Kim, the newest addition to the Portmore Empire, is a 17-year-old singer who hails from Christian Pen in Portmore. The youngster recently graduated from Ascot High School before pursuing music. In an interview with THE STAR, Kartel discussed how he met the young singer: “She lives near to Shorty, my wifey, who was always telling me about this girl called Lady Bling and saying she bad and she wants to know me. I ignored her till Shorty brought a CD with her and the first song I listened I was like ‘gi her di contract.’ She is so talented vocally and still so young and in development stage.”

According to Kartel, he decided to discuss teenage pregnancy to debut Kim’s first song in an effort to get the singer heard by all of Jamaica. “A girl with such a marvellous voice should be heard by everyone and what better way to grab national attention than to talk about a national issue? She’s bigger than matey songs,” he said.

expects criticism

As to whether Kartel expects criticism about the subject matter, he said, “People will believe what they want. The real issue is about those facing it, not the critics. What I did was, through music, make an open statement by creating a scenario in the song between two teens going through this crisis and leave it neutral enough for the audience to decide their own ending to the story.”

The two have also remade Shabba Ranks’ classic song, Twice My Age, on Leftside’s ‘School Bell’ rhythm. As for the rest of the Portmore Empire, Blak Ryno, Jah Vinci and Shawn Storm have just completed their first mini, tour of the United States over the weekend. Kartel, Lisa Hype and other members will soon be travelling for shows in Italy and Turks and Caicos Islands and will return for Champions in Action on August 15.

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