Usain Bolt and Vybz Kartel show each other support after their latest collaboration.
The sprint legend was recently regaled for his sprinting prowess in their new track “Touch The Sky” on the producer’s new project album, 9.58 Riddim. Vybz Kartel shared a video of Usain Bolt’s 200m world record as he announced the release of the track.
“[Usain Bolt] #touchthesky Great man! VYBZKARTELVEVO AND ALL DIGITAL PLATFORMS NOW,” he wrote on Instagram.
Vybz Kartel transplanted the chorus from his track to the 200m race, which showed Bolt at one of the greatest moments of his career.
“Dem a seh fi stay ina mi lane so mi touch the sky/Ay bwoy, you no a fi like me, mi nah cry/Ghetto yute mek we touch ‘e sky, mek we touch ‘e sky…Dem a watch di clothes yuh wear, di car yuh buy/D?m nuh wah yuh own nuh house pan ‘e hillside,” Kartel sings in the track.
Usain Bolt also responded in a comment as he also shared his own appreciation of Kartel and how inspired he was by Vybz Kartel, whom he met at a very young age.
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The Olympic sprint champion recalled a moment that he carried with him after meeting Kartel before his illustrious career began.
“I will always remember when I was 18 years old and met you for first time,” Bolt wrote. “I will never forget up a Mona [UWI Campus] when you told me that I would be the baddest athlete to ever forward from Jamaica.”
Kartel also responded, writing, “Where is the Lie!? Hard work & dedication bring you greatness Family. Mi see it longtime Eno, And mi did affi talk! member Real know Real!”
Vybz Kartel’s post was liked and commented on by several artists, including Busta Rhymes and even incarcerated dancehall artist Tommy Lee Sparta.
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Bolt’s ‘9.58 Riddim’ is named after his iconic 100-meter world record. The album was released in July through Bolt’s own A-Team Lifestyle label and referenced his 2009 world record for the 100m race with an unbeaten 9.58 seconds.
Other artists on the album include Chronic Law’s “Money Fast, I Waata with “Different,” Quada with “Levels,” Ajji with “Own Don,” and Topmann with “Who Wi.”
Usain Bolt has been a fan of Vybz Kartel for years and always rep the Gaza, which is the name of Kartel’s fan base. In 2015, Usain Bolt caught some heat from some dancehall fans after paying the disc jockey at a party in Kingston to play Kartel songs and stop playing Alkaline. The sprint legend later said he thinks Alkaline is talented, but he reps the Gaza.
Around the same time, Alkaline released his hit single “Champion Boy” a track that some fans think he use to take a subtle jab at Bolt.
Now that Usain Bolt is a producer in the dancehall space, perhaps he and Alkaline can work together. The former athlete has already worked with some big names in dancehall including Christopher Martin, Chronic Law, I Waata, and Quada.
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