While industry insiders are whining about the decay in traditional values in reggae music, dancehall youngbloods Kartel and Mavado keep upping the ante in their personal beef.Kartel recorded a single called ‘Mofraudo’ last week in the wake of a pair of drive-by shooting incidents which were tentatively linked to the entertainers’ ongoing friction.

This latest song is a searing examination of Mavado’s personal life with abrasive lines such as “Dis Kartel yuh ah go get murder like yuh father, real life war unnuh rather…” and oral sex references pertaining to Mavado’s babymother, Dahlia. There are also physical jibes relating to a scar in Mavado’s face and to the well-publicised incident where Mavado’s fingers were damaged during an altercation with members of the Constant Spring police.

However, perhaps the most damaging comment alleges recent infidelity by Mavado’s babymother. The lines go:
Wi chop man, wi nuh chop furniture
Di gyal yuh ah min' ah try mek her richer
She ah f---k one a my friend in your apartment, pon your bed under your picture

For his part, Mavado straight up disses Kartel as Mavado makes inferences to reasons behind Kartel’s parting of ways with long-time friend, Patrick ‘Roach’ Samuels with the line, ‘Roach ketch him a bow and stop par wid him’
Mavado makes references to D’Angel as being the instigator of the present rift shaking the industry through her use of ‘black magic’. The lines go:
Di same witch innah di kitchen
A season up di same oxtail and chicken
Ah must dat dem use trick him
Mek him sell out di don true him nyam …

However, the most scathing diss is reserved for one of Kartel’s babymothers where Mavado deejays:
Up to the time, start war and come give yuh ****ing life up
...wid di suck ****y gyal yuh ah wife up

How far will these entertainers go in this feud? What is particularly depressing is that only a few months ago, the performers had recorded eight songs together, one of which was the ironically titled, ‘Happiest Days’.

In the meantime, rumours continue to crackle on the grapevine about these two marquis entertainers who are on top of their game. The problem is that given the high stakes involved in this feud, it is hard for anyone to back down first. And unless one side or the other blinks, the matter could end in bloodshed.