By Teino Evans, Staff Reporter

Left: Roach, Kartel's former manager, says Kartel is ungrateful and disrespectful. - Norman Grindley   Right: Vybz Kartel. - File

There is growing tension between dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel and his manager of four years, Patrick 'Roach' Samuels. Since the two parted company recently, Roach says Kartel has been saying some malicious things about him.

According to Roach, what Vybz Kartel said about him in a recent television interview was disrespectful and, to him, very ungrateful.

"Mi hear Kartel pon Entertainment Report last Friday a talk bout him gi mi 15 minutes a fame an everybody deserve 15 minutes of fame. Mi nuh too like how dat sound. Kartel, when yuh a talk bout fame my yout, everybody know seh me have my fame before you have your name inna di game. Me a keep big stage show from '97 wid Bounty Killa, Merciless, George Nooks, Monster Shack an Scare Dem Crew. Wi a big man inna dis wid wi name long time," Roach said.

Plea bargain

He continued: "Me help you wid hard work an gain my fame while you call my name. Call a nex man name a gi dem fame? Bounty and Spragga Benz gi mi street name, Kartel only come highlight mi name."

Roach says he is not quite clear about what caused the relationship between himself and Kartel to go sour, but that he has a good idea where it stems from.

"Tell you the truth, the cause of it, mi haffi assume. Why me an mi fren stop talk is because of a gyal weh me mek him know from foreign an some tings weh mi si she a try pon him. Di way mi vex mi wi kick ar down but mi know him love ar, suh a better mi jus leave. She mek a plea bargain seh either me (Roach) drop out or she step out. An not even Kartel modda or fadda coulda mek dem talk deh bout me an him stop talk to me, suh mi know, a she have power...di two a dem togetha a di perfect devil," Roach said.

He continued: "She deal wid him a way an mi a try show him, till all him name start call up inna song."

A line in one of Mavado's songs says "Roach catch him a bow an stop par wid him".

Roach says Kartel believed that he was the one who carried news to Mavado, "but a nuh me guh tell Mavado nutt'n. Kartel hear di song pon him birthday."

Roach says Kartel has never approached him directly to say they are no longer on good terms and the artiste has been going around telling people that "is because him a carry two a him fren guh Turks (and Caicos Islands) an Roach bad mind, an mi don't even know seh him a guh foreign. It look like duppy deh pon him."

According to Roach, it was not hard to depart from Kartel "cause mi nuh achieve nutt'n roun him. All mi achieve a mi name. Sean Paul mek mi have every ting weh mi have, cause him voice di tune Breakout pon mi 'Siren' riddim," Roach said.

So where does this leave Roach and who will Kartel turn to for management?

Roach says he will continue to produce and he has two new artistes working with. But he says he cannot speak about Kartel's new management. "I don't even know who a run him ting now, cause is a hard yout fi manage," Roach said.

"Mi have mi new riddim call 'Mad Ting' weh a run di place, crazy artiste deh pon it. An mi have two new artistes, Wissy Wassy and Ira, two forces to be reckoned with," Roach said.

When contacted, Vybz Kartel was in no mood for a long conversation about Roach. "I do not remember that person, who is that again?" he said.