The numbers keep stacking up for Vybz Kartel. Updated Luminate data, obtained by Kaboom Magazine, shows the dancehall heavyweight has now passed 7 billion career streams, with his next album The Sun just weeks away.

The breakdown

• Latest reporting period: about 1.06 billion streams, made up of 588.6 million ad-supported streams and 479.5 million premium streams.
• Same period: 597.1 million stream equivalents and around 29,000 digital song sales.
• Career totals: more than 7 billion streams, 3.8 billion stream equivalents and about 1.4 million digital song sales.
• YouTube: his official channel has passed 2.6 billion views.
• Spotify: more than 1.5 billion streams.

One detail stands out: a little over half of his recent streams came from free, ad-supported listening. DancehallMag points out that this can be read two ways. It shows how far his music reaches, including into markets where fewer people pay for subscriptions, but premium streams usually pay artists more.

‘The Sun’ rises on 18 December

The Sun, his second album of 2026, is set for 18 December (we covered the preorder here). Tracks named so far include ‘Live It Up’ with Pablo YG, ‘I Don’t Wanna Go’ with Jafrass and ‘Zelle’ featuring Fixavelli, which is already out as a single. Kartel has also hinted at a deluxe edition of God & Time with more big-name guests, though no names have been confirmed.

Kartel, born Adidja Palmer, walked free in July 2024 after the UK Privy Council quashed his murder conviction and Jamaica’s Court of Appeal declined to order a retrial, ending more than a decade behind bars.

Source: DancehallMag