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.
Summa 16
Vybz Kartel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Summer time fi di gyal dem
Summer time yeah yeah
I gotta car full a girls
And its going real slow and
Pon di beach everybody wah go and
Pool party tun up like wow
Everybody feel happy
Inna dream weekend
Put dung your school shoes
Don't put it on unless a Clarks boots
Foreigner, fly down, a Jordan will do
Love see the gyal dem inna bath suit
Unno ready fi guh home (No!)
Arite den mek the dancehall start
If you cyaa drink rum
Wul a fruit juice
Every gyal roll out inna tight up shorts
Me a pree to mi self say yuh look good
Me wah your love fi never end
Me call wah cab fi go a hotel
Guess weh the taxi driver seh
I gotta car full a girls
And its going real slow and
Pon di beach everybody wah go and
Pool party tun up like wow
Everybody feel happy
Inna dream weekend
Put dung your school shoes
Don't put it on unless a Clarks boots
Foreigner, fly down, a Jordan will do
Love see the gyal dem inna bath suit
You remember weh yuh park (No!)
Mouth just a move but ah Vodka a talk
Yow dawg, wah gwaan fi di goat soup
The fruit and the meat and the grains a nuh all
Waah put my weed inna food group
Me waah your love fi never end
Me call waah cab fi guh a hotel
Guess weh the taxi driver say
I gotta car full a girls
And its going real slow and
Pon di beach everybody wah go and
Pool party tun up like wow
Everybody feel happy
Inna dream weekend
Put dung your school shoes
Don't put it on unless a Clarks boots
Foreigner, fly down, a Jordan will do
Love see the gyal dem inna bath suit
Summertime fi di ladies
Inna bath suit
Summertime fi di gyal dem
Inna bath suit
Summertime fi di ladies
Inna bath suit
Summertime fi di gyal dem
I gotta car full a girls
And its going real slow and
Pon di beach everybody wah go and
Pool party tun up like wow
Everybody feel happy
Inna dream weekend
Put dung your school shoes
Don't put it on unless a Clarks boots
Foreigner, fly down, a Jordan will do
Love see the gyal dem inna bath suit
I gotta car full a girls
And its going real slow and
Pon di beach everybody wah go and
Pool party tun up like wow
Everybody feel happy
Inna dream weekend
Put dung your school shoes
Don't put it on unless a Clarks boots
Foreigner, fly down, a Jordan will do
Love see the gyal dem inna bath suit
The song "Summa 16" by Vybz Kartel is a lively celebration of the summer season, specifically for the ladies and the girls who don their bathing suits and hit the beach or the pool party scene. Kartel boasts about his car full of females he's driving slow to soak up the vibe and enjoy the various summertime festivities. Among other things, he praises seeing the women in their swimsuits and advises leaving school shoes behind in favor of stylish Clarks boots or Jordans.
Kartel encouragingly croons for the dancehall to begin, inviting the crowd to indulge in fruit juice or rum while the women show off their tight shorts. The lyrics also mention goat soup and weed, and Kartel notes his desire for never-ending love. The chorus repeats throughout the song, telling the ladies and the gyal dem to enjoy the season in their bathing suits. The song maintains an upbeat, carefree vibe that captures the essence of the summertime feeling.
Line by Line Meaning
Summer time fi di ladies
It's summertime for the ladies and they should enjoy it.
Summer time fi di gyal dem
It's summertime for the girls and they should have fun.
Summer time yeah yeah
It's the summertime and it's time for everyone to have a good time.
I gotta car full a girls
I have a car full of girls with me.
And its going real slow and
We are driving slowly.
Pon di beach everybody wah go and
Everyone wants to go to the beach.
Pool party tun up like wow
The pool party is amazing.
Everybody feel happy
Everyone is feeling happy.
Inna dream weekend
It's like a dream weekend.
Put dung your school shoes
Take off your school shoes.
Don't put it on unless a Clarks boots
Only wear Clarks boots.
Foreigner, fly down, a Jordan will do
Even foreigners can wear Jordans.
Love see the gyal dem inna bath suit
I love seeing the girls in their bathing suits.
Unno ready fi guh home (No!)
Are you ready to go home? (No!)
Arite den mek the dancehall start
Let's start the dancehall party.
If you cyaa drink rum
If you can't drink rum.
Wul a fruit juice
Just drink fruit juice.
Every gyal roll out inna tight up shorts
All the girls are wearing tight shorts.
Me a pree to mi self say yuh look good
I am thinking to myself that you look good.
Me wah your love fi never end
I want your love to never end.
Me call wah cab fi go a hotel
I called a cab to go to a hotel.
Guess weh the taxi driver seh
Guess what the taxi driver said.
You remember weh yuh park (No!)
Do you remember where you parked? (No!)
Mouth just a move but ah Vodka a talk
I'm just talking, but it's the vodka doing the talking.
Yow dawg, wah gwaan fi di goat soup
Hey friend, what's going on with the goat soup?
The fruit and the meat and the grains a nuh all
There are more ingredients than just fruit, meat, and grains.
Waah put my weed inna food group
I want to add my weed to the food group.
Summertime fi di ladies
It's summertime for the ladies.
Inna bath suit
And they should wear their bathing suits.
Summertime fi di gyal dem
It's summertime for the girls.
I gotta car full a girls
I have a car full of girls with me.
And its going real slow and
We are driving slowly.
Pon di beach everybody wah go and
Everyone wants to go to the beach.
Pool party tun up like wow
The pool party is amazing.
Everybody feel happy
Everyone is feeling happy.
Inna dream weekend
It's like a dream weekend.
Put dung your school shoes
Take off your school shoes.
Don't put it on unless a Clarks boots
Only wear Clarks boots.
Foreigner, fly down, a Jordan will do
Even foreigners can wear Jordans.
Love see the gyal dem inna bath suit
I love seeing the girls in their bathing suits.
I gotta car full a girls
I have a car full of girls with me.
And its going real slow and
We are driving slowly.
Pon di beach everybody wah go and
Everyone wants to go to the beach.
Pool party tun up like wow
The pool party is amazing.
Everybody feel happy
Everyone is feeling happy.
Inna dream weekend
It's like a dream weekend.
Put dung your school shoes
Take off your school shoes.
Don't put it on unless a Clarks boots
Only wear Clarks boots.
Foreigner, fly down, a Jordan will do
Even foreigners can wear Jordans.
Love see the gyal dem inna bath suit
I love seeing the girls in their bathing suits.
Contributed by Hunter P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ivanka_music
how many of you are still enjoying this even up today?
@shemarlawson
Meeee
@wurltimeless9691
2022
@mrbrando1987
how the fuck your locked up for 5 years now and a still make hit songs. this man isnt human.
@lenniekidaman9422
Vybz is like a Leader to all the youth of Kenya and jamaica
@wurltimeless9691
2022
@ibruzlee9188
World boss 🇰🇪✊
@miky5941
Gaza 4 ever!
@djmckali6084
🇰🇪
@nicholasnyamuponza6597
World boss me say