Vybz Kartel Narrates Recording Songs In Prison Using IPhone Only: "No Mic"

• Jamaican artiste Vybz Kartel revealed how he secretly recorded music behind bars for 12 years
• In the latest interview, the Dancehall star revealed he used an iPhone and mattress to record hits in prison
• Despite the challenges, Kartel's ingenuity allowed him to continue making music and maintain his relevance in the Dancehall scene

Vybz Kartel has shared the incredible story of how he managed to record music while behind bars for 12 years, from 2011 to July 2024.

Despite constant surveillance, Kartel found a way to keep his music career alive from the confines of his prison cell.

How did Vybz Kartel record music from prison?

Speaking on the Juan EP is Life podcast, Kartel revealed that he began recording in prison just a year into his incarceration.

Using limited resources—a couple of Apple devices, headphones, and a mattress, he managed to pull off what seemed impossible.

His 2016 hit Fever, which has since surpassed 100 million plays on Spotify and earned Gold and Silver certifications in the US and UK, respectively, was one of the tracks recorded in this unconventional way.

Kartel described his unique recording process, explaining that he had to deejay directly into an iPhone. He would wrap a mattress around his head to mimic the soundproofing of a studio and place the phone three feet away from his face.

"It was crazy, man," Kartel recounted. "I was on my knees, wrapped up in the mattress, recording line by line."

He listened to instrumentals through headphones plugged into an iPad, which were then fed into the iPhone to record his vocals as acappella.

These raw recordings were sent to the studio for final production, often handled by producers like Mario ‘Dunw3ll’ Dunwell and RedBoom Supamix.

Recording in prison was a risky endeavour, requiring Kartel to be constantly vigilant of correctional officers.

He shared that most of his recording sessions took place late at night or during officers' lunch breaks. Even then, he had to pause frequently to check if anyone was approaching.

"I’d be like ‘fee-veeeerrrr’, and then I had to get up and look," he said.

When was Vybz Kartel released?

In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, July 31, the court ruled against Kartel's retrial over the murder of Clive Williams, whose remains were never found.

Kartel was arrested in 2011, before his 2014 conviction, but he appealed the ruling.

Kartel, Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St. John were released shortly after following years behind bars.

In the ruling, the court said that there was sufficient evidence to suggest that Kartel would not be able to complete a potentially longer sentence if there were to be a retrial, citing his deteriorating health.

Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke