When news that celebrated dancehall reggae artist Adidjah “Vybz Kartel” Palmer was releasing a brand of skin lightening creams this year, it continued the swirling controversy surrounding the application of “cake soap” (also known as “blue soap) – a soap that contains bleach and traditionally used to clean white fabrics that eventually morphed into individuals in Jamaica and abroad using the product on their skin.

At the top of the year, Vybz turned heads with his new light complexion to which he attributed to the bleaching soap. This month, the gruff-voiced deejay will be releasing his own "Vybz" brand of skin cosmetic products.

Although deemed as detrimental and harmful by the Jamaican government in 2007 (which ran an anti-skin bleach campaign), Vybz told VIBE in an interview, “I'm my own man, and as such I do my own thing. When black women stop straightening their hair and wearing wigs and weaves, when white women stop getting lip and butt injections and implants, when bald men stop getting hair transplants, and when people stop getting nose jobs and cosmetic surgery then I'll stop using the 'cakesoap' and we'll all live naturally ever after.”

Vybz has larger issues on the table as he awaits a bail hearing on a murder charge levied upon the wildly popular artist on October 3. This past Friday (October 14), fans and supporters gathered outside the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court complete with signs and cheers for the troubled deejay. Initially arrested for a marijuana possession charge, further investigations into Kartel’s affairs led to the murder charge after police officials linked the entertainer to the July death of local promoter Barrington Burton.

Vybz Kartel is reportedly being in the court’s holding area while his bail application is handled by his legal team.

What do you think about Vybz Kartel and his new skin cosmetics line? Do you think his bail application will go through? Tweet to us at @MTVRapFix or leave us a comment below.