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.
Mek Di Star Shine
Vybz Kartel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Drop asleep and don't wake up yo likkle badmind
(1)
Yo too badmind fi the star line
Yo fi proud a the star yow meck the star shine
Whole a unuh waan get in a the star mind
Anyweh yo si the teacher mi have a star 9
But a action a dweet while dem a use noise
Play wid the Gaza that wouldn't too wise
If mi head hurt mi yo know everything rise
()
Wi no kill champion, wi build champion
Wi no kill champion, wi build champion
Wi no kill champion, wi build champion
Calabar, Wampton
Wi no kill champion, wi build champion
Wi no kill champion, wi build champion
Wi no kill champion, wi build champion
Calabar, Wampton
(2)
Yo too badmind fi mi ears ring
Yo fi proud a mi watch, proud a mi chain king
Every, everyday couldn't be the same thing
Man a try longtime from a money making
Just fi wear the good shoes
Mi nah go low like Hollywood blues
Gyal come f that a Addi good news
A no me meck yo girl gone pon a Tom Crews
(Repeat)
(Repeat 1)
(Repeat)
(Repeat 2)
(Repeat)
Vybz Kartel's song "Mek Di Star Shine" speaks about the dangers of having a mind filled with jealousy towards someone who has a certain level of success. The first two lines of the chorus invite those who have envious thoughts towards him to simply "drop asleep and don't wake up." This implies that it is better to simply go to sleep and not think about his success if you cannot congratulate him and be happy for him.
The first verse then directly addresses those who are envious of his success, suggesting that they are simply "badmind" (having bad intentions or bad feelings towards someone). He encourages them to be proud of his success and to recognize that they could not achieve the same level of success by being envious. He also references himself as the "teacher" and promising that his success is going to continue to grow. The second verse speaks more specifically about his own success, inviting those who are jealous to be grateful for what they have, as everyone's success story is different.
Line by Line Meaning
Drop asleep and don't wake up yo likkle badmind
Stop being envious and negative towards others and change your mindset
Yo too badmind fi the star line
You're too envious of successful people
Yo fi proud a the star yow meck the star shine
Be proud of successful people because they shine and inspire others
Whole a unuh waan get in a the star mind
Everyone wants to be successful
Anyweh yo si the teacher mi have a star 9
The artist is successful and has a track record of success
You never waan si a youth rise
You don't want to see young people succeed
But a action a dweet while dem a use noise
Success comes from action, not just making noise
Play wid the Gaza that wouldn't too wise
Don't mess with the teacher's crew
If mi head hurt mi yo know everything rise
Even when faced with challenges, the artist still achieves success
Wi no kill champion, wi build champion
Rather than bringing successful people down, the artist chooses to uplift and encourage them
Calabar, Wampton
Referring to schools known for creating successful athletes
Yo too badmind fi mi ears ring
You're so negative that even the artist's success bothers you
Yo fi proud a mi watch, proud a mi chain king
Be proud of the artist's success and material possessions
Every, everyday couldn't be the same thing
The artist is successful because he works towards change and improvement
Man a try longtime from a money making
The artist has worked hard for his success
Just fi wear the good shoes
Enjoy the fruits of one's labor and success
Mi nah go low like Hollywood blues
The artist won't let his success bring him down
Gyal come f that a Addi good news
The artist's success has attracted positive attention
A no me meck yo girl gone pon a Tom Crews
The artist is not responsible for people leaving their partners for him
Writer(s): Adidja Azim Palmer, Andre Quentin Christopher Gray, Andre France Gordon
Contributed by Aaliyah K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Bubak Janneh
on Life We Living
life we living so hard
Bubak Janneh
on Ghetto Youth
some body send me this nonsese