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.
Story of My LIfe
Vybz Kartel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wine fi di movie you must get a pension
Di first movie was a hit so
Chimney Pictures come back with a next one
Lights, camera, action
Lights, camera, action
Lights, camera, action
Lights, camera
Gyal yuh get di glory
You first come to mind
Every single time when mi write di story
The show name Story of My Life
Dat mean seh a you fi hold me
Nuff gyal wah play yuh role
But get mi numba and telephoney
But a you one star di movie yeah
You only
You a di leading lady
When yuh whine every gyal a get crazy
Gih yuh weh mek yuh do Dirty Dancing
Nuh Jennifer Grey a nuh Patrick Swazye
A nuh comedy yuh star gyal a drama
Yuh director a Addijah Palmer
Lara haffi go hold har corner
And yuh do di forbidden dance di lambada
Gyal yuh get di glory
You first come to mind
Every single time when mi write di story
The show name Story of My Life
Dat mean seh a you fi hold me
Nuff gyal wah play yuh role
But get mi numba and telephoney
But a you one star di movie yeah
You only
Cud you be a friend of mine
Inna mi heart and inna mi mind everytime
Gyal bring yuh girlfriend cud you be so kind
Do di next love scene with Miller 9
What a natural talent, yuh nuh practice
Badda dan every Hollywood actress
Every movie yuh do it box office
And bruk it, smash it
Gyal yuh get di glory
You first come to mind
Every single time when mi write di story
The show name Story of My Life
Dat mean seh a you fi hold me
Nuff gyal wah play yuh role
But get mi numba and telephoney
But a you one star di movie yeah
You only
Chimney Pictures Thugs a seh
Gyal wen yuh whine da bumba deh
Me nuh comedy like Three's Company
Is a triple x movie
Film inna 3D fi come pan yuh TV
Gyal all di fame weh yuh get di press
Weh yuh get all di angles envy
Gyal yuh get di glory
You first come to mind
Every single time when mi write di story
The show name Story of My Life
Dat mean seh a you fi hold me
Nuff gyal wah play yuh role
But get mi numba and telephoney
But a you one star di movie yeah
You only
Every gyal stand at attention
Wine fi di movie you must get a pension
Di first movie was a hit so
Chimney Pictures come back with a next one
Lights, camera, action
Lights, camera, action
Lights, camera, action
Lights, camera
Gyal yuh get di glory
In Vybz Kartel's song Story of My Life, the artist praises a leading lady who has stolen the show in his movie. He describes every other girl as standing at attention, waiting for their turn, while the star of the show remains distinctive. Kartel appreciates her natural talent and suggests that she possesses more prowess than Hollywood actresses. He admires the way she moves, and how every time she appears on the screen, she captures the hearts of the audience. He praises her skills in whining (dancing) and states that her talents are so good that her movies are always box office hits. In the end, he alludes to shooting a triple x movie that is being filmed in 3D for TV.
Line by Line Meaning
Every gyal stand at attention
All the girls are paying attention to you
Wine fi di movie you must get a pension
You're so good at dancing, you'll be doing it even after retirement
Di first movie was a hit so
Your first performance was amazing, so
Chimney Pictures come back with a next one
The production company wants to work with you again
Lights, camera, action
Get ready to start the show
Gyal yuh get di glory
You're the star of the show
You first come to mind
You're the first person I think of when I'm creating the story
Every single time when mi write di story
I always include you in my writing
The show name Story of My Life
The name of the show is about my life
Dat mean seh a you fi hold me
That means you should be my partner
Nuff gyal wah play yuh role
Many girls want to take your place
But get mi numba and telephoney
But only you can be the star, so call me
But a you one star di movie yeah
You're the only one who can be the star of the movie
You a di leading lady
You're the principal female actor
When yuh whine every gyal a get crazy
Your dancing is so good that it makes other girls go crazy
Gih yuh weh mek yuh do Dirty Dancing
Give you something that will make you dance like in the movie 'Dirty Dancing'
Nuh Jennifer Grey a nuh Patrick Swazye
You don't need a partner, you can dance alone
A nuh comedy yuh star gyal a drama
You're not in a comedy, you're acting in a drama
Yuh director a Addijah Palmer
You're directed by Addijah Palmer
Lara haffi go hold har corner
Lara (another actress) has to find another role to play
And yuh do di forbidden dance di lambada
You perform the dance known as 'the lambada'
Cud you be a friend of mine
Can we be friends?
Inna mi heart and inna mi mind everytime
I'm thinking of you all the time
Gyal bring yuh girlfriend cud you be so kind
Can you bring your girlfriend too? It would be nice
Do di next love scene with Miller 9
Let's do the next romantic scene together
What a natural talent, yuh nuh practice
Your talent is natural, you don't even need to practice
Badda dan every Hollywood actress
You're better than every Hollywood actress
Every movie yuh do it box office
Every movie you perform in is successful at the box office
And bruk it, smash it
And you break records
Chimney Pictures Thugs a seh
The people at Chimney Pictures are saying
Gyal wen yuh whine da bumba deh
When you dance, it's amazing
Me nuh comedy like Three's Company
This isn't a comedy show like 'Three's Company'
Is a triple x movie
It's an adult movie
Film inna 3D fi come pan yuh TV
It'll be filmed in 3D and you can watch it on TV
Gyal all di fame weh yuh get di press
You're getting a lot of attention and fame from the press
Weh yuh get all di angles envy
Everyone is envious of how successful you are
Lyrics ยฉ O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Adidja Azim Palmer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
cobra di steppa
10 years later still jamming like a fresh tune
Oshane Patterson
Yuh know how long mi nuh hear it!
KP Castio
underrated song...sickest lyrics
Weave and dice keeping black men out the home
Fi real
alrick shaw
๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ Black Kartel!!!!! Nothing normal
Weave and dice keeping black men out the home
Big facts
Born High
"What a natural talent yuh nuh practise/
Badder dan every Hollywood actress!!
Kartel Forever.
๐ฐ๐ช Kenya
trish wikk
this song is so big and 347 likes in 2020 come on ppl worldboss. deserves better die hard fan 2001 till forever
Gunners
From dem days yah song still a chop๐คซ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ
Kevin Mccalpin
Vybz kartel greatest ๐