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.
Coward
Vybz Kartel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Deva, dem fi know seh we a hothead
Weh squeeze bullet inna face like blackhead
Some bwoy a talk
But dem a crack head, man a real bad man
Dem bwoy deh a coward dem only talk bout bad
Mi neva leff mi gun
Mi wi' buss it inna face and
Mi wi' buss it inna chest
Mi nuh buss it inna sky
Because mi nah shoot God bread fruit coward
Dem only talk bout bad mi neva leff mi gun
Dat mean mi walk bout mad
Mi wi' buss it inna face and
Mi wi' buss it inna chest
Mi nuh buss it inna sky
Because mi nah shoot God
Dem seh sticks and stone bruk bone
Gunshot send bwoy go funeral home
Pussy come a flip like Milla gyal phone
Blood a run like di water, di mineral own
From me a likkle bwoy big man nuh diss me
Yuh mad if a even fi fling a one stone
Mi colder than di cream in a million cone
Importing shoota, every killa unknown (yeah)
Di Ak sound like jackhammer
Every man drop, Bramma cock dat Glock hammer
Me have a mac and a chrome and black hammer
Mek police back up, backup, cop gramma
When it scream like Angela and Donna
Headshot, headshot bore up yuh bandana
Dem nah come pon di bloodclaat turf
Ask bloodclaat Smurf
Dem bwoy deh a coward dem only talk bout bad
Mi neva leff mi gun
Dat mean mi walk bout mad
Mi wi' buss it inna face and
Mi wi' buss it inna chest
Mi nuh buss it inna sky
Because mi nah shoot God bread fruit coward
Dem only talk bout bad mi neva leff mi gun
Dat mean mi walk bout mad
Mi wi' buss it inna face and
Mi wi' buss it inna chest
Mi nuh buss it inna sky
Because mi nah shoot God
Hey! We cook him three-minute flat
Before di police can reach him, him drop
So how mi so cold, vybz rum wid no ice
Hot grabba wid di weed, mi keepin' it hot
If a shootout, mi beatin' it back
War blood out, anuh
Mi nuh touch di road wid
Badness haffi genuine like leather
Of di pig back
Avalanche seh hothead and hothead haffi par
Nah run leff my thugs inna war
How mi fi bail out fire
Gunshot, when mi look round
Di bwoy drive off wid di car
A coulda heaven yuh deh, dat nuh far
Mi send fi di S to di L to di R
And circle dem ends wid mi gyal cah
Nuff man nuh bad like har
Dem bwoy deh a coward dem only talk bout bad
Mi neva leff mi gun
Dat mean mi walk bout mad
Mi wi' buss it inna face and
Mi wi' buss it inna chest
Mi nuh buss it inna sky
Because mi nah shoot God bread fruit coward
Dem only talk bout bad mi neva leff mi gun
Dat mean mi walk bout mad
Mi wi' buss it inna face and
Mi wi' buss it inna chest
Mi nuh buss it inna sky
Because mi nah shoot God
Dem seh sticks and stone bruk bone
Gunshot send bwoy go funeral home
Pussy come a flip like Milla gyal phone
Blood a run like di water, di mineral own
From me a likkle bwoy big man nuh diss me
Yuh mad if a even fi fling a one stone
Mi colder than di cream in a million cone
Importing shoota, every killa unknown (yeah)
Di Ak sound like jackhammer
Every man drop, Bramma cock dat Glock hammer
Me have a mac and a chrome and black hammer
Mek police back up, backup, cop gramma
When it scream like Angela and Donna
Headshot, headshot bore up yuh bandana
Dem nah come pon di bloodclaat turf
Ask bloodclaat Smurf
Dem bwoy deh a coward dem only talk bout bad
Mi neva leff mi gun
Dat mean mi walk bout mad
Mi wi' buss it inna face and
Mi wi' buss it inna chest
Mi nuh buss it inna sky
Because mi nah shoot God bread fruit coward
Dem only talk bout bad mi neva leff mi gun
Dat mean mi walk bout mad
Mi wi' buss it inna face and
Mi wi' buss it inna chest
Mi nuh buss it inna sky
Because mi nah shoot God
Vybz Kartel's song "Coward" is a strong and aggressive track that talks about the singer's readiness to use his gun on anyone who threatens or disrespects him. The song begins with the singer instructing someone to get their rifles closer, indicating that they are in a position to use them. The song then moves on to talk about how only cowards talk about being bad, while the real bad men take action and fire bullets. The song talks about how the singer is not afraid to use his gun on anyone and how he only shoots at people and not in the sky or God.
Throughout the song, the singer also emphasizes how cold and calculated he is, talking about how he cooks someone in three minutes flat before the police can even reach him. He also emphasizes his ability to handle any shootout with ease and how he circles his enemies' ends with his girl. The song also talks about how genuine and real badness has to be; otherwise, it's not badness at all. The song is aggressive, in-your-face, and delivers its message powerfully.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo Doza tell smurf get di rifle dem closa
Doza instructed Smurf to bring the rifles closer
Deva, dem fi know seh we a hothead
Deva, they should be aware that we are hot-headed
Weh squeeze bullet inna face like blackhead
We fire bullets in the face like removing blackheads
Some bwoy a talk
Some boys are just talking
But dem a crack head, man a real bad man
They're just crackheads, while we are real bad men
Dem bwoy deh a coward dem only talk bout bad
Those boys are cowards, they only talk about being bad
Mi neva leff mi gun
I never leave my gun
Dat mean mi walk bout mad
That means I walk around angry
Mi wi' buss it inna face and
I will shoot in the face and
Mi wi' buss it inna chest
I will shoot in the chest
Mi nuh buss it inna sky
I don't waste shots in the air
Because mi nah shoot God bread fruit coward
I don't shoot at harmless things, I'm not a coward
Dem seh sticks and stone bruk bone
They say that sticks and stones can break bones
Gunshot send bwoy go funeral home
Gunshot sends a boy to the funeral home
Pussy come a flip like Milla gyal phone
People come at me aggressively like a girl on the phone
Blood a run like di water, di mineral own
Blood runs like mineral water
From me a likkle bwoy big man nuh diss me
I was a big man even when I was young, don't disrespect me
Yuh mad if a even fi fling a one stone
You'd be crazy to even throw one stone at me
Mi colder than di cream in a million cone
I'm as cold as ice cream in a million cones
Importing shoota, every killa unknown (yeah)
Importing guns, every killer is unknown
Di Ak sound like jackhammer
The AK sounds like a jackhammer
Every man drop, Bramma cock dat Glock hammer
Every man drops once Bramma cocks the Glock hammer
Me have a mac and a chrome and black hammer
I have a Mac, a chrome, and a black hammer (gun)
Mek police back up, backup, cop gramma
Police should back up or get hurt
When it scream like Angela and Donna
When it screams like Angela and Donna
Headshot, headshot bore up yuh bandana
Headshot, headshot, tears through your bandana
Dem nah come pon di bloodclaat turf
They don't come on my territory
Ask bloodclaat Smurf
Ask Smurf
Hey! We cook him three-minute flat
Hey! We kill him quickly
Before di police can reach him, him drop
Before the police can reach him, he drops dead
So how mi so cold, vybz rum wid no ice
How am I so cold, drinking rum without ice?
Hot grabba wid di weed, mi keepin' it hot
Smoking hot grabba weed, keeping it hot
If a shootout, mi beatin' it back
If there's a shootout, I'm retreating
War blood out, anuh
War brings out blood, you know
Mi nuh touch di road wid
I don't go out in the streets with
Badness haffi genuine like leather
Badness must be genuine like leather
Of di pig back
From the pig's back
Avalanche seh hothead and hothead haffi par
Avalanche says hot-heads should stick together
Nah run leff my thugs inna war
I won't leave my thugs in war
How mi fi bail out fire
How can I run away from fire?
Gunshot, when mi look round
Gunshot, when I look around
Di bwoy drive off wid di car
The boy drives off with the car
A coulda heaven yuh deh, dat nuh far
Even if you're in heaven, you're not far away
Mi send fi di S to di L to di R
I send for the S to L to R (a gun)
And circle dem ends wid mi gyal cah
And surround their ends (territory) with my girl (gang)
Nuff man nuh bad like har
Many men aren't as bad as her
Lyrics ยฉ O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@turbofoot30
Vybz Kartel is the greatest lyricist of all time, not even alkablind nor Movado have this amount of venom and lyrics .
@mrcolemans4504
Stop tell lie ๐
@007MRnicholas
Legendary war tunes of old boi. 08 was the prime of dancehall
@nycg801
๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฏ
@souflotv
im not kiling no body , this song is like a movie , when im in my warrior mind frame riding on the highway with all the windows down and the volume up , bass just a tump an addi a hangle di riddim wicked , ruff it up ruff it up , beat up di bombo claat riddim like bounty killa seh
@mephisto256
+SouFLoTV @ Youtube I agree! This that shit you and ya crew need to listen to when yall spot them bustas who was talking shit earlier, and you pull up on them, hop out the car and just start beating EVERYBODIES ASS!!! #FreeWorldBoss #RealGazaBadman
@marromorrison
Still listening in 2018 bredda ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ.
@DanielMorales-ng2lw
Bloodclat facts him ah talkkk
@hectsanchez3844
If a shoot-out, me beating it back ๐๐ซก
@mrcolemans4504
Sou Flow tv u Fock man ๐ take kartel diicckkk out your mouth Smfh ๐