The Serendipity Of Vybz Kartel Being Freed On The Eve Of Emancipation Day

At the stroke of midnight on August 1, 1838, Reverend William Knibb declared “The negro is free” upon the full freedom of slaves in Jamaica. On the eve of the nation’s Emancipation Day 138 years later, Appeal Court president Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop uttered a similar sentiment in handing down the retrial judgment of Dancehall juggernaut Vybz Kartel.

“The appellants are free,” she told the court and more than 6,000 YouTube livestream viewers. The comments were disabled, but the celebrations were eruptive across social media. 

“I know that’s right!” his beloved daughter Adi’Anna Palmer wrote in her Instagram Story.

If Instagram could have crashed, it would have. Gaza VP Sikka Rymes and affiliates Shaneil Muir and Dyema Attitude were among entertainers to first go live, accompanying celebratory posts from Lisa Hyper, Gaza Sheba, Rvssian, D’Angel, Sher Luxury Doll and more. 

The verdict also extended to Shawn ‘Storm’ Campbell and Andre St. John, while Kahira Jones will remain in custody because of an unrelated case. Hours before the judgement, Campbell expressed that he’d be leaving the verdict in God’s hands.

“My God, if it is thy will today, I pray release me out of the hands of babylon in Jesus Christ name amen,” he wrote in his Instagram Story. 

Vybz Kartel and Shawn Storm during their trial

The moment was 13 years in the making, mirroring some of the elements of March 13, 2014, the day Kartel and his then co-accused were found guilty of murdering Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams. 

Several Gaza fans blanketed King Street, downtown, Kingston, singing his songs and waving plaque cards hopeful for acquittal. That atmosphere grew melancholy when the opposite happened, but the tables turned on Wednesday when those fans rejoiced on King Street upon hearing that their ‘World Boss’ was finally, not just figuratively, free.

Interestingly, according to the Falmouth Post, the atmosphere was similar in the 1860s every August 1 as many Jamaicans marched through the streets, playing music and waving flags to celebrate the country’s freedom. This time around, the celebrations coincide with the freedom of Kartel, whose conviction was overturned earlier this year by the UK’s Privy Council. 

Scores of fans adorned the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre in Kingston following the news, with his Turkish fiancée Sidem Ozturk pulling up in a Range Rover almost two hours later to the swarm of media. After 5 p.m., the deejay and his crew were chauffeured off in white limos courtesy of Brite Lite Funeral Home’s CEO Tommy Thompson, who took over the Range Rover.

Fans are already ready to sell their assets to purchase the anticipated lofty ticket prices to the first Kartel concert, while some promoters, like Club Meca, have already announced freedom-themed parties to celebrate his release. 

Much has changed since the initial lock-up of the deejay in 2011. Kartel, whose given name is Adidja Palmer, will now function in a musical landscape ruled by TikTok and trappy sounds, though one could argue that he’s done a fine job of keeping up with and setting trends despite prior concerns about him allegedly recording while behind bars. 

The last time Jamaica experienced this frenzy was with Buju Banton, who was freed from a US prison in 2019 after serving 10 years for a drug-related conviction. The Destiny hitmaker did it big with a freedom concert held at the National Stadium months later, which he recently extended to the United States in record-breaking fashion.