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.
Death Row
Vybz Kartel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With dem that strive with mi
Fight against dem, that fight against mi
Take hold of shield and buckler
And stand up for my help
Free world boss
1:
Mi did born as a discipline child
Inna di scheme weh di youth dem live
Society nuh duh nuttn positive
Ghett youth nah get nuh justice
Di system nuh provide nuh work fi mi
So di yute look a next alternative
Wi hav smaddy pickney a wi waan money
Big man dont gimmie nuh story
What about poor people glory
Dem seh is a criminal zone this
So nuh love di police nuh show wi
Dem waan wi pon death row
Watch yuhself enu ghetto youth
Dem waan wi pon death row
Watch yuhself enu ghetto youth
2:
Round a Sparta roun a Red Dirt
A nuff yute round deh so waan work
Memba seh dem hav pickney fi mind
Society fi hav a heart sometime
Nuff gyal have whole heap CXC
Cyan pay fi guh UWI nor UT
Some drop out a school from early
Now she unemployed with a baby
Big man dont gimmie nuh story
What about poor people glory
Dem seh is a criminal zone this
So nuh love di police nuh show wi
Dem waan wi pon death row
Watch yuhself enu ghetto youth
Dem waan wi pon death row
Watch yuhself enu ghetto youth
1:
Mi did born as a discipline child
Neva kno when I got so wild
Inna di scheme weh di youth dem live
Society nuh duh nuttn positive
Ghett youth nah get nuh justice
Di system nuh provide nuh work fi mi
So di yute look a next alternative
Wi hav smaddy pickney a wi waan money
Big man dont gimmie nuh story
What about poor people glory
Dem seh is a criminal zone this
So nuh love di police nuh show wi
Dem waan wi pon death row
Watch yuhself enu ghetto youth
Dem waan wi pon death row
Watch yuhself enu ghetto youth
The lyrics of Vybz Kartel's "Death Row" address the struggles and hardships faced by ghetto youths in Jamaica. The song highlights the issue of social injustice, lack of opportunities and poor living conditions in the ghetto. The first verse speaks to his upbringing and how he was born as a disciplined child but eventually turned to a life on the streets due to the lack of positive opportunities available for the youth. The line "society nuh duh nuttn positive" means that society does not provide any positive opportunities for them. The system does not provide work for them and therefore, they look for alternative means to make money.
The second verse continues to describe the dire situation in the ghetto. It speaks to the fact that many young people are out of school and unemployed with children to feed. It is a desperate situation, and they are left with no choices. The lines "big man don't gimmie nuh story, what about poor people glory" implies that the leaders of society are not doing enough to help those in need. The chorus "dem waan wi pon death row, watch yuhself enu ghetto youth" is a warning to young people in the ghetto to be careful because the authorities are targeting them and want them to end up in prison.
Overall, the song is about the struggles and hardships faced by ghetto youths in Jamaica due to social injustice and a lack of opportunities. It is a powerful social commentary on the plight of young people living in poverty in Jamaica.
Line by Line Meaning
Mi did born as a discipline child
I was born as a well-behaved child
Neva kno when I got so wild
But I don't know when I became rebellious
Inna di scheme weh di youth dem live
Because of the environment in which the youth live
Society nuh duh nuttn positive
The society doesn't provide anything positive for us
Ghett youth nah get nuh justice
The youth from the ghetto get no justice
Di system nuh provide nuh work fi mi
The system doesn't provide any work for me
So di yute look a next alternative
So the youth look for another option
Wi hav smaddy pickney a wi waan money
We have children to take care of, and we need money
Big man dont gimmie nuh story
Don't give me any excuses
What about poor people glory
What about the success and happiness of poor people?
Dem seh is a criminal zone this
They say this is a criminal area
So nuh love di police nuh show wi
So don't show love to the police
Dem waan wi pon death row
They want us on death row
Watch yuhself enu ghetto youth
Be careful, ghetto youth
Round a Sparta roun a Red Dirt
In Sparta and Red Dirt
A nuff yute round deh so waan work
There are many young people who want to work there
Memba seh dem hav pickney fi mind
Remember that they have children to take care of
Society fi hav a heart sometime
The society should have compassion sometimes
Nuff gyal have whole heap CXC
Many girls have completed many CXC exams
Cyan pay fi guh UWI nor UT
But they can't afford to go to UWI or UT
Some drop out a school from early
Some dropped out of school early on
Now she unemployed with a baby
And now she's unemployed with a child
Dem waan wi pon death row
They want us on death row
Watch yuhself enu ghetto youth
Be careful, ghetto youth
Dem waan wi pon death row
They want us on death row
Watch yuhself enu ghetto youth
Be careful, ghetto youth
Writer(s): Linton Timajae White Copyright: Music by Greensleeves
Contributed by Thomas A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@craigwaul4890
Goose bumps when I hear this song..🥺 Gaza forever 💯💯
@siphesihlesangweni
Same here, yooooh I love this song
@devandobarrett3871
No jks the man jus bwoiii 1 wrulboss
@clive.lizzard
The Older this gets, the better it sounds
#FREEWORLDBOSS 🇰🇪
@kenkendrick2759
A VERY INTERLLECT AND VERY POWERFUL SONG TUNE YOU CAN RELATE IT GIVE ME GOOSEBUMP EVERY I LISTEN TO IT STILL LISTENING IN 2023 IN FULL EFFECT #ANTHEM
@charleslawrence7335
True
@Bekele2174
This song should have a million views before June let's make it happen....Free World Boss!!!
@markaylabrown1517
We were born to do greatness 💪💎💯
@yibanathimatambo3976
Miss his old style, where he used to quote relevant bible verses.
@stephonnurse3477
I believe I'll be bumppin into this for #2020 and beyond one of his greatest🙏💪👣 FREE VK