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.
Born & Raised in the Ghetto
Vybz Kartel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dem no feel the pain wi feel
The system no really care
If wi live or wi die
Laugh or we cry
If a sad mi start try
(1)
The way time fly so fast mi no wear no watch
Mi youth waan go school mi no have no cash
Mi insane like the mad man weh search the trash
Hey, mi black empress a sell punash
The way gogo club ram no collage match
Police dem pon the ghetto youth like bandage patch
A four month dem remanding fi the bag wid stash
Why mi haffi strap up every night so hard
Mi wonder if death pretty caw life suh hard
Eternity a hell a must my reward
Caw mi a hustle fi mi vehicle and must buy mi yard
Mi have the member one criminal record
A true Jamaica even pore a that's why life tek hard
Every youth fi get a visa fi gwaan a yard
Cause wi deh yah suh a suffer like a maga dog
()
I was born and raise in the ghetto
Teacher was born and raise in the garrison
Nuff youths dead, more a suffer
Ghetto youths deserve better
(2)
Mi decide seh mi nah turn cruff
So mi link Leng a big yard and buy some stuff
In a bills a 50 bag mi wrapped dem up
The first day mi touch the road feds lock mi up
But wa, mi nah meck no bwoy….mi up
Mi prefer hustle and rob fi that
Mi buss
Mi nah bow fi drive no car mi prefer hop the buss
Cause a suh ghetto youth full a pride
Mi pore but sell out life is not fi us
Down a maggin crescent, dawgy strop mi first
Cause food haffi ever in a pot fi us
And a the road mi a touch out…fi rust
Me love the youth dem suh mi teaching dem
But no, not like the pastor wid the preaching dem
Mi tell dem seh don't rob nothing petty
Rob supn fi yo rich
Like Matterlon unleashing dem
(Repeat )
I was born and raise in the ghetto
Teacher was born and raise in the garrison
Nuff youths dead, more a suffer
Ghetto youths deserve better
(Repeat )
Society forsake we
Dem no feel the pain wi feel
The system no really care
If wi live or wi die
Laugh or we cry
If a sad mi start try
(Repeat )
I was born and raise in the ghetto
Teacher was born and raise in the garrison
Nuff youths dead, more a suffer
Ghetto youths deserve better
In this song, Vybz Kartel talks about the challenges faced by people living in the ghetto. The first verse talks about how society has forsaken them and how the system doesn't care about their lives. He talks about the struggles he faced growing up, such as not having money to send his children to school and resorting to illegal activities to make ends meet. He also speaks about the police targeting young people in the ghetto and how they are often locked up for long periods of time without a fair trial. He wonders why he has to live in constant fear of death and reflects on how hard life is.
In the second verse, Vybz Kartel talks about his personal experiences of trying to make a better life for himself. He talks about how he decided not to turn to a life of crime and instead bought and sold items to make a living. However, the police still locked him up on false charges, but he refused to give up and continued to hustle to provide for himself and his family. He speaks about how important it is for young people in the ghetto to have role models who will teach them the right ways to earn a living and not resort to petty crime. The chorus repeats the message that ghetto youths deserve better and that society needs to care more about their struggles.
Line by Line Meaning
Society forsake we
Society has abandoned us
Dem no feel the pain wi feel
They do not feel the pain we feel
The system no really care
The system does not really care
If wi live or wi die
If we live or die
Laugh or we cry
Whether we laugh or cry
If a sad mi start try
If I try to be sad
Like the phone mi, mi life a flash
My life is like a fast-flashing phone
The way time fly so fast mi no wear no watch
Time goes by so fast that I do not wear a watch
Mi youth waan go school mi no have no cash
My child wants to go to school, but I do not have any money
Mi insane like the mad man weh search the trash
I am crazy like the man who searches the trash
Hey, mi black empress a sell punash
Hey, my black empress is selling her body
The way gogo club ram no collage match
The busy gogo club has no match for college
Police dem pon the ghetto youth like bandage patch
Police are on the ghetto youth like a band-aid patch
A four month dem remanding fi the bag wid stash
They are detaining them for four months for the stash of goods
Why mi haffi strap up every night so hard
Why do I have to arm myself so much every night?
Mi wonder if death pretty caw life suh hard
I wonder if death is beautiful because life is so hard
Eternity a hell a must my reward
My reward must be an eternity in hell
Caw mi a hustle fi mi vehicle and must buy mi yard
Because I am hustling for my vehicle and have to buy my own house
Mi have the member one criminal record
I have a criminal record
A true Jamaica even pore a that's why life tek hard
It's true in Jamaica even the poor have a hard life
Every youth fi get a visa fi gwaan a yard
Every young person should get a visa to leave the country
Cause wi deh yah suh a suffer like a maga dog
Because we are here suffering like thin dogs
I was born and raised in the ghetto
I was born and grew up in the ghetto
Teacher was born and raised in the garrison
The teacher grew up in the garrison
Nuff youths dead, more a suffer
Many youths are dead, and more are suffering
Ghetto youths deserve better
Ghetto youths deserve a better life
Mi decide seh mi nah turn cruff
I decided that I will not be a criminal
So mi link Leng a big yard and buy some stuff
So I linked Leng, bought some things and got a big yard
In a bills a 50 bag mi wrapped dem up
I wrapped up some money in a $50 bill
The first day mi touch the road feds lock mi up
On the first day I hit the streets, the authorities arrested me
But wa, mi nah meck no bwoy….mi up
But I am not going to let any guy get the best of me
Mi prefer hustle and rob fi that
I prefer to hustle and rob for that
Mi buss, mi nah bow fi drive no car mi prefer hop the buss
I am making it and I am not going to bow down to anyone. I prefer to ride the bus instead of driving a car
Cause a suh ghetto youth full a pride
Because we, the ghetto youth, have a lot of pride
Mi pore but sell out life is not fi us
I am poor, but I will not sell out. Life is not for us to waste
Down a maggin crescent, dawgy strop mi first
Down at Maggin Crescent, the dog was the first to stop me
Cause food haffi ever in a pot fi us
Because we need to have food in a pot all the time
And a the road mi a touch out…fi rust
And I am touching the road, trying to gain some experience
Me love the youth dem suh mi teaching dem
I love the youth so much that I am teaching them
But no, not like the pastor wid the preaching dem
But no, not like the pastor who preaches
Mi tell dem seh don't rob nothing petty
I tell them not to steal anything of little value
Rob supn fi yo rich
Steal something that will make you rich
Like Matterlon unleashing dem
Like Matterlon is unleashing them
Contributed by Joseph V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@sherillgeorge7888
Freeedom to the dancehall king vybz kartel gaza nation awaits the freedom of the greatest dancehall artise alieve free kartel
@delonthomas2772
The king of lyrics stupezz not even mvp could test vybz kartel lyrically haha big up gully gaza jamaica one
@delonthomas2772
Free my dancehall hero
@Bikendi100
wicked+++++