Kartel more popular than Mavado online

By Steven Jackson Observer writer

Friday, September 11, 2009

The Gully and Gaza rivalry, when taken online, shows that Vybz Kartel has usurped Mavado's popularity, up to September based on Internet search data.

Kartel has been increasing his lead since April this year following Mavado's dominance in 2008. Kartel has extended his lead, getting a boost in summer, and is actually clipping Sizzla's popularity. Sizzla was much more popular internationally than both artistes.

Internet users in Jamaica, France and Germany are searching twice as much for Kartel than Mavado with a 10 to 4 ratio

Internet searches worldwide show that for every 10 persons searching for Kartel, seven searched for Mavado, up to September based on data from Google Trends, which compares the search traffic for each artiste over time.

Internet users in Jamaica, France and Germany are searching twice as much for Kartel than Mavado with a 10 to 4 ratio. In the US and UK, that disparity dwindles to a ratio of 10 to 8 in Kartel's favour. There is no data for Japan, which is a popular reggae destination.

Mavado, however, leads in profile views on popular music website MySpace, at 2.3 million to Kartel's 1.2 million.

Both artistes have been at loggerheads since Kartel split the Bounty Killer-led Alliance prior to 2007. Mavado is now the Alliance's front-man.

Mavado's Range Rover was shot-up on Tuesday, which should increase his online searches going foward. The artiste has been at the centre of several controversies in his Cassava Piece home-town. The community is often referred to as the 'Gully Side'. According to the police, the community is divided into factions and is currently tense. It follows the fire b****ing of Kartel's Honda motor car in August last year. Kartel, however, stated that it was "electrical problems" which sparked the fire. The police have promised thorough investigations on both incidents.