2. Any Weather – Vybz Kartel
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‘Any Weather’ is appealing because Jamaicans, especially, can relate to it. Jamaicans are amongst the most creatively ambitious people on this earth, specialists in to turning negatives into positives, even if it means ‘painting’ their environment so it ‘appears’ more positive and beautiful. It’s a kind of escapism because life for the poor and marginalized there means having to face and overcome incredible daily obstacles in order to survive garrison living.
Any Weather’ pays tribute to all of Jamaica’s garrison capitals, bigging up the places and the people who live there. The song currently sports 25 million views on YouTube, and wastes no time connecting with the people in it’s start;
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‘The whole a Portmore and the whole a St. James..Member we when we gone, we live forever, Salt Spring’
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If one was to offer a translation, Addi spends most of ‘Any Weather’ crying out to the ghetto people, motivating them to abandon their ghetto mindsets and instead, strive to make ‘tomorrow’ a better day. Do your thing, don’t bow down, hustle hard and make money…
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‘We not going under, All ghetto youth get your money longer,
Ready, bruk pocket nah work,
Straight ‘pon the narrow nah mek no wrong turn’
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Kamal (Black Reaction) states; ‘Metaphorically, the ‘weather’ is a circumstance in life. If the bus nah turn, or the car nah work, you walk to work, you don’t give up on yourself. Literally speaking, it shouldn’t matter, the ‘weather’, hot or cold, hurricane or tornado, the youths dem, if dem wah mek it, haffi go out and “hunt” for the food.’
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Vybz Kartel likes to play on lyrical borderlines in many of his songs, ‘Any Weather’ is no exception. One can misinterpret this song as possibly promoting a criminal element; is one resorting to crime endorsed as an option for ‘hustling’? This would follow current trends, where today’s youths are impatient, lazy, unmotivated, refusing to work at McDonald’s, yet still desiring the lifestyles seen by dancehall’s rich and famous. Doing what one has to do to ‘get that money’ is a positive message maybe, but what if that ‘hustling’ comes down to living that criminal lifestyle, staying strapped, taking life? Before we crucify Vybz Kartel, Addi, ‘Any Weather’ could be discouraging youths from taking the road of crime; Vybz Kartel makes reference in the song to ‘badness’ being the reason for him being in prison;
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‘Mommy say, “Sonny no bother with the choppa, Me never listen, but it never matter
From you is a ghetto youth, dem have you as a shotta, My badness and me mother prayer mek me deh yah’
Says Blacks (Black Reaction): ‘People go off when their ‘bad’ areas get big up, and let’s face it, Yard is all about bad people. You go from one side of the island to the other when you big up Portmore, St. James, Mo Bay. These places are on fire right now, Flanker, Glendevon, Salt Spring, Whitehall, Hilltop, the whole a’ Mo Bay rotten, you can’t go there. Being on a resort is a different story, but even in the regular city right now, there are soldiers on every corner with glocks.‘
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‘Me fi have a chopper, watch it a propeller,
Me house fi have, elevator not a ledda
Daddy say, Son dem a tell we say no better no deh,
But a lie that, blessing a forever
‘Get the Chedda, money maker, any weather,
Buried treasure, dig it up a weh the ledda’
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There are so many of Vybz Kartel songs that are immediately likable, but for a number of reasons, ‘Any Weather‘, still a banger, was the song that connected most with the people in 2019. Kamal (Black Reaction) expresses his amazement about ‘Worl’ Boss‘ and ‘Any Weather’- Says Kamal;
‘The amazing thing about Any Weather is that Vybz Kartel wrote and voiced this while being in prison. But the mic quality is so perfect, how does he do that? And his lyrics are from the outside, that’s what stimulates songwriting ideas, Hellshire Beach, Duns River, good places for inspiration. But Addi probably hasn’t even seen the new highways, how Jamaica is starting to look like fareign, his environment is not shaping him, rarely if ever, have I ever heard Vybz Kartel dee-jay’ing about his current life in prison‘.
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Kamal goes on to explain; ‘…Jah Cure released ‘Prison Walls’ when he was incarcerated, even though he didn’t write the song, but Vybz Kartel hasn’t apologized, he’s still fighting for his innocence. Because he’s not out there experiencing life, it’s just unbelievable what he’s doing, rhyming off the top of his head. Yet his music doesn’t sound dated, he has pure gyal songs, and another big new one with Spice, ‘Back It Up’, big in the dances, tearing up the charts!’
‘Any Weather’ is song #2 on our ReggaeMania.com ‘Top 10 Songs of 2019′ dancehall-reggae chart. Congratulations to Vybz Kartel, people love him, and we hope he will continue to be consistent in releasing great tunes on a regular basis despite incarceration.
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