Kartel, who spent 13 years behind bars before he was acquitted earlier this year, will play a blowout concert on New Year’s Eve at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, which holds some 35,000 people.

“The importance of this concert is a whole generation of people have never seen Vybz Kartel perform,” he told The New York Times.

The star, 48, also hyped up the performance to The Gleaner, a Jamaican newspaper.

“It’s giving Madonna energy, it’s giving world-class because it’s a full, four-corner, almost 360 stage vibe,” he said. “The lighting, the sound, the lasers, the surprises — it’s going to be like an NFL Super Bowl halftime show 2.0… It’s an experience you don’t want to miss.”

Kartel, who has collaborated with stars like Eminem and Rihanna, is up for best reggae album at the 2025 Grammy Awards, as he released dozens of songs while behind bars. His nominated album, Party with Me, came out in May.

The performance marks the first time Kartel (né Adidja Palmer) will perform since he was released from prison in July. The musician was convicted in 2014 of the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams, and sentenced to life in prison, according to the BBC.

The musician allegedly gave two unlicensed guns to Williams and another man to hold for him, according to court records, per the BBC. A dispute arose over the missing guns and Williams was killed. His body has never been found.

Kartel appealed his conviction, and in March, it was overturned by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, who cited alleged juror misconduct, as an anonymous juror allegedly tried to bribe other jurors, The New York Times reported.

The Jamaican appeals court reportedly said in July it would not retry Kartel, whose lawyers had alleged that the star — who has Graves’ disease — faced “inhumane” conditions in prison, according to Fox 5 New York.