Vybz Kartel Releases New Album To Tanesha

Dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel showcases a softer, more personal and introspective side through his brand new album affectionately titled, To Tanesha. Released, January 10th the 10-track album is dedicated to his common-law wife, Tanesha Johnson, who fans know as “Shorty.”

While it’s not uncommon to hear singing from the artiste, the project takes a step in a new direction by being a centrally Hip Hop and R&B album, which goes to show just how diverse Vybz Kartel is and listeners can always expect the unexpected.

“Like I said, it’s definitely a Hip Hop and R&B album as far as the tracks and a lot of the language I use, but trust me when I say I am in no way trying to be a hip hop artiste or switching genre camps! It’s just a Dancehall artiste expressing certain emotions to his baby mom and I decided it would be a pleasant surprise to express those emotions through other black urban genres. I mean R&B and Hip Hop are huge in Jamaica and maybe even played more than Dancehall so it’s not an alien concept,” expressed Kartel.

To Tanesha is co-produced by Short Boss Muzik and Vybz Kartel Muzik, with engineering done by Ricardo “RedBoomSupaMix” Reid. The album features some of dancehall and reggae’s most prolific artistes such as Jesse Royal and Jada Kingdom, as well as Jodi Couture, UTG and Sikka Rymes, who are signed to the Vybz Kartel Muzik label.

“As it relates to Jada Kingdom & Jesse Royal, they are two people who I admire and while listening to each track I just felt that their unique styles were the right match for the project,” the artiste explained.

Known for a plethora of music, Vybz Kartel explained the process of creating the tracks for the album.

“Shaping the sound for this new album was a “play by ear” process as I’ve never done a Hip Hop and R&B- influenced album before but being a big fan of my American cousins’ genres, I pretty much knew how to shape my original melodies. I actually wrote 9 of the songs on Dancehall beats and switched the tracks to Hip Hop via Jay Crazie the Genius and one other beat was already Hip Hop; that one is from Guala beats,” he said.

Distributed by Zojak Worldwide, “To Tanesha” is available for streaming and purchase on all major digital platforms online.

“I’d like to thank my engineer Ricardo “RedBoomSupaMix” Ried , also the Composers on the album, Jay Crazie da Genius and Guala Beats , thanks to TJ Records for getting things done when I couldn’t, to my distributor Zojak World Wide ( especially Zoe ) and last but the opposite of least , To Tanesha ( pun intended ) thanks for being my muse.”