He was born at Kingston's Victoria Jubilee Hospital, and was one of six children. Originally from Waterhouse, Kingston, he was raised in the Waterford district in the community Portmore, Jamaica. Adidja attended Calabar High School in Kingston but was expelled as a teenager. Determined to continue his education, he completed his studies at a tutorial technical school.
He was exposed to a wide variety of music from a tender age by two uncles who were themselves aspiring musicians. Every weekend he was treated to new musical offerings, on his uncle's old component set, ranging from Sam Cooke to country and western ballads to Ninja Man, who became one of his musical heroes.
At 10 his favorites included artists as diverse as Ninja Man, Papa San, Charlie Chaplin, Will Smith and KRS-1, all of whose lyrics he would study word-for-word, performing them later for friends.
He decided he wanted to be a deejay and began writing his own lyrics when he was 11. Eager to flaunt his skills, Adidja and his friends frequented the weekly Gong Talent Show at the Coney Amusement Park on the outskirts of Kingston. To their chagrin, they were always gonged off when they got a chance to perform.
Undeterred by his weekly failure to impress the talent show audience, Adidja decided to hone his skills and concentrate on winning over his own community of Waterford until he was ready for bigger things. With that goal in mind, on weekends he would practise on neighborhood sound systems Soul Signal and Electric Force.
In 1993, Adidja recorded his first single, "Love Fat Woman," for Alvin Reid's One Heart Label under the name Adi Banton, a name he chose in tribute to a role model, Buju Banton. He recorded several more tracks for local producers, perfecting his craft.
In 1996 he and two friends, Mr. Lee and a singer called Escobar, decided to form a group. One night, after watching a movie about Pablo Escobar and his infamous cartel, Adidja came up with a name for his trio: Vibes Cartel.
Vybz Kartel's new role as Killer's protege caught the attention of the public and led to a meteoric career rise, first as a ghost-writer for Bounty, Elephant Man and other members of the Scare Dem Crew, followed by collaborations with Bounty Killer, such as "Gal Clown" and "Girls Like Mine (Liquid Riddim)."
He came into his own with early hits like "Gun Clown," "Guns Like Mine (Trafalga Riddim)," "Badman (Panty Raid Riddim)," "Bus Mi Gun Like Nuttn," "Most High (Mexican Riddim)" and "War Organizer (Clappas Riddim)." He also had a string of successful collaborations with Wayne Marshall, including "New Millennium (Mad Antz Riddim)," "Why (Krazy Riddim)" and "Why Again (Good To Go Riddim)." This unprecedented debut led to Vybz Kartel being crowned 2002 Deejay of the Year at Stone Love's 30th anniversary, a feat unmatched by any new artist in dancehall.
Kartel has--aside from incredible rhymes and subtle, clever pop culture references--a unique lyrical flow all his own. It is to be noted that Kartel rarely does dance "chunes" along the lines of Elephant man or Beenie Man. Nevertheless, he has already had several high-profile collaborations with international hip-hop and pop stars, and is being touted as the next big thing in dancehall.
In terms of singles sold, he has had the second-best year on the 2003 reggae charts, outsold only by Elephant Man, and has released two albums this year for UK label Greensleeves. He was featured twice on the Def Jamaica project, and nominated for Source, VIBE and UK MOBO awards. His MOBO nominations, along with those of Beenie Man, Elephant Man and Sizzla, were subsequently withdrawn over concerns of homophobia, a common issue with dancehall reggae in general.
His video for "New Millennium/Why," with Wayne Marshall, though decidedly low-budget, has seen play on MTV. His underground following is so large that a bootleg version of, in his own words, "a very, very low budget film" made in 2001 has begun circulating. He has two albums, several mixtapes and a prolific library of singles.
In 2005, Vybz and Bountkiller fell out after Vybz preformed a song with Di Angel, Beenie's former girl, "Yuh Know Yuh Baby Father." Vybz walked out of the Alliance. Aidonia also left, because he took Vybz side, falling out with Busy Signal and making the song "Adid A Mi Daddy Who Wa Vex Wan Vex." It was said Vybz took side with Beenie by showing up at his wedding. Vybz said Beenie was his artist and would not and that's as far as it went. Afterwards, he and Movado which led to throwing of words through songs like "Movado di Failla," "Them Start War and Dead" and "Them a Pu@#* Pon di Battle." But this mis happas only made Mr.Palmer express his war side.
Vybz is the head of the territorial gangland in Portmore known as the Gaza and Mavado is the same for the Gully. Due to their feud a physical war arose between people in the two areas. Fans loyal to each artist have taken part as well. Their fan base in the youths has been seen, as entire schools claiming to be Gully or Gaza supporters have been known not just in Jamaica but in other Caribbean countries such as Trinidad to break out into physical war resulting in stabbings and street fights.
Following the 2009 Summit of the Americas the Jamaican government called a meetings between Vybz Kartel and Mavado calling on them to end the war. Since its conclusion both artists have turned away from war songs and focused on different topics, Kartel on women and Mavado on uplifting the people, although both still make songs of all types.
Following differences with record label Greensleeves, Vybz Kartel changed his name to Addi Di Teacha near the end of 2006. All new material he produces will be released under this name. Greensleeves will continue to release his older, unreleased material under the name Vybz Kartel.
He now owns the label Portmore Empire, founded in 2007, on which releases new deejays' music. To clear up why this was done he had an interview with Antony Miller. "If I had join Moffia House, I would be taking side which I said I would not do," he said.
He owns a rum called STREET VYBZ as well as a condom line called DAGGERING.
Recently, he collaborated with artists like D.I. aka Daniel and Di Angel--Beenie man's former wife. But that's another story...
In 2011 Kartel has recently come under fire for bleaching his skin, something that is frowned upon in Jamaican culture and even Kartel spoken against it in past songs. He has come under even more fire for his rumored involvement in devil worship with a satanic group known as the Illuminati, which is known to have other popular musicains such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, Rihanna.
Back to Life
Vybz Kartel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Me wa go (back to reality)
Listen, you can get pum pum a prison
A next man have you gal when you missing
Stay far from war that a coppa
And led you can't get head when you dead.
The food a shit, bed concrete, sunday gleaner ah me damn sheet
Bare roach and rat crawl pon you
When the cage lock you gave to thug it up
Inna them place yah dutty like rubbish truck
Me just a preeback (reminescence) happy day memories
Weh me kids, weh me wife, weh me benz is
Them place yah make you know who you friends is
Make you know the real gal them from
If you a punk if you nah nuh defen-is
Badman jailer beat out you senses the electric fances and the tall wall
Regular me see man siddung and staat bawl
Society deh suh near but you can't go
Everyday suh me just a pray suh me want guh
(Back to life) me wa go (back to reality)
Me wa go (back to life) me wa go (back to reality)
Listen, you can't get pum pum a prison
A next man have you gal when you missing
Stay far from war that a coppa and led
You can't get head when dead
Lock down fi 23 hour
1 hour split up inna 2 half hour
15 fi food and 15 fi showa
Couple hour lata the next 3o minutes is
15 fi wash dutty clothes if you got none
15 fi look smoking fi guh lock down
Real thugz nuh backdown
Inna them pl; ace fi youh get a jamma stop
The medical a wait fi yuh
The victim surrenda
Waada fuck up the offenda
Su whi a the real winna?
Longtime me don't eat a real dinna
Meal inya fuck uo
Suh me smuggle some rum
Through the steel winda
Just fi get me appetite happy
Right you know prison gave a code
But zip not you code
Like mavado me want do road
Suh society let me out back pon yuh road
Me waa go (back to life)
Me waa go (back to reality, back to reality)
The lyrics to Vybz Kartel’s song, “Back to Life,” express his desire to return to reality from a prison experience that he describes as hellish. Kartel cautions his listeners that being incarcerated carries the risk of having your significant other taken by someone else, and that one should avoid getting involved in prison fights as the consequences can be dire. In the first stanza, Kartel talks about how terrible prison life is, referring to the poor living conditions, the difficult sleepless nights, and the prevalence of rats and cockroaches. In the second stanza, he discusses the daily routine in prison, which is comprised of very little variation with only a few hours of free time. He concludes by expressing the desire to be released from prison and return to society, where he can enjoy the company of his family, his car, and most of all, his freedom.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo frata (back to life) me wa go (back to reality)
The singer wants to leave prison and go back to his normal life.
Me wa go (back to reality)
The singer emphasizes their wish to go back to their former life.
Listen, you can get pum pum a prison
The singer tells the listener that one can still have sex in jail.
A next man have you gal when you missing
When you're absent, someone else may take your girlfriend.
Stay far from war that a coppa
Avoid conflict with the police.
And led you can't get head when you dead.
One cannot receive oral sex when dead.
The food a shit, bed concrete, sunday gleaner ah me damn sheet
The living conditions in prison are terrible.
You can't sleep dere me a warn you
The artist warns the listener that they cannot sleep well in prison.
Bare roach and rat crawl pon you
There are many insects and rodents in jail.
When the cage lock you gave to thug it up
One must be tough when imprisoned.
Inna them place yah dutty like rubbish truck
Prison is a dirty place.
Me just a preeback (reminiscence) happy day memories
The artist recalls happier times.
Weh me kids, weh me wife, weh me benz is
The singer misses their family and belongings.
Them place yah make you know who you friends is
Prison shows who your true friends are.
Make you know the real gal them from
You can identify genuine women in prison.
If you a punk if you nah nuh defen-is
If you are weak, you won't survive in prison.
Badman jailer beat out you senses the electric fances and the tall wall
The prison guards and security measures can be brutal.
Regular me see man siddung and staat bawl
The singer often sees other men crying.
Society deh suh near but you can't go
Society is close but unreachable for prisoners.
Everyday suh me just a pray suh me want guh
The artist prays every day to leave prison.
(Back to life) me wa go (back to reality)
The artist repeats their desire to return to their previous life.
Me wa go (back to life) me wa go (back to reality)
The artist reinforces their wish to leave prison.
Lock down fi 23 hour
The singer is locked down for 23 hours per day.
1 hour split up inna 2 half hour
The one hour of freedom is split into two half-hour periods.
15 fi food and 15 fi showa
15 minutes are given for food and 15 minutes for a shower.
Couple hour lata the next 3o minutes is
30 more minutes are given a few hours later.
15 fi wash dutty clothes if you got none
If one has dirty clothes, they can have 15 minutes to wash them.
15 fi look smoking fi guh lock down
15 minutes are given for smoking before being locked down.
Real thugz nuh backdown
Real thugs do not back down.
Inna them place fi youh get a jamma stop
In prison, you can still make a romantic connection.
The medical a wait fi yuh
Medical attention is readily available.
The victim surrenda
The victim surrenders.
Waada fuck up the offenda
The wardens are cruel to the inmates.
Su whi a the real winna?
Who is winning in this system?
Longtime me don't eat a real dinna
It has been a long time since the singer had a proper meal.
Meal inya fuck uo
The meals are horrible.
Suh me smuggle some rum
The singer smuggles alcohol.
Through the steel winda
Through the bars of the window.
Just fi get me appetite happy
To satisfy their hunger.
Right you know prison gave a code
There is a code among prisoners.
But zip not you code
The listener does not understand the code.
Like mavado me want do road
The singer wants to be free like Mavado.
Suh society let me out back pon yuh road
Society should let the singer out of prison.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DAVID JONATHAN BENDETH, GLENN MUNGO, JON RICCI, SHAWN LICHTENSTEIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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