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.
Sweet Victory
Vybz Kartel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
An guide mi from de enemies wah wan fi tek me life (mi nar go dead)
Ye though I wallk through the valley of death tonight (ah woo)
Thou art with mi, so everything alright.
Please jah jah guide and protect mi, we a show dem love and them hate we
But memba the hotter the battle, me a tell yuh a de sweeter de victory
De system dun forget we, society didn't even care if we drink tea (mm-hmm)
(Den not nice)
Me dey pon solid ground,
Dem nar go get me down,
Jah neva let me down before him nar go fail mi now,
Whole heap a youth in ya every morn a wait fi bail ya now,
Show de ghetto youth a way dem tired fi gone a jail ya now,
Gaazaa mii seh, nuh pound a labor yo,
System build de garrison an a we dem fraid a now,
Cause dem know de youth dem wise an nar go tek nuh talk,
Plus we born poor but we have to mek it.
Please jah jah guide and protect mi, we a show dem love and them hate we
But memba the hotter the battle, me a tell yuh a de sweeter de victory
De system dun forget we, society didn't even care if we drink tea (mm-hmm)
But memba de hotter the battle, me a tell yuh a de sweeter de victory.
(Den not nice)
(Den pimpin)
Me done spot out de way,
How dem warn we live,
Fi de ghetto dem nuh do nothing positive,
Dem style we as gun man say we aggressive,
Dat a dem politricks so to we, we still bun politics
Gaazaa mii seh! till dem bury mi,
Right beside de whole a de innocent youth dem inna de cemetry,
Weh babylon murder,
Espically, fi every one weh job a thousand more a we. (mi nar go dead)
Please jah jah guide and protect mi, we a show dem love and them hate we
But memba the hotter the battle, me a tell yuh a de sweeter de victory
De system dun forget we, society didn't even care if we drink tea (mm-hmm)
But memba de hotter the battle, me a tell yuh a de sweeter de victory.
(Den not nice)
The lyrics of Vybz Kartel's song "Sweet Victory" speak of the artist's need for guidance and protection from those who wish to harm him. He asks for Jah Jah's assistance in staying away from hypocrites, parasites, and enemies who seek to take his life. He mentions walking through the valley of death, but he knows that as long as the Lord is by his side, he will be alright. In the chorus, he asks Jah Jah for guidance, and he tells his listeners that love overcomes hate and that the victory is sweeter when the battle is tougher.
Vybz Kartel talks about how society has forgotten about him and his community. He mentions that they don't even care if they drink tea. The system, he says, has built a garrison and is afraid of the youth because they are wise and don't take any talk. He acknowledges that he was born poor, but he has to make it. He wants to find a way to help the ghetto youth who are tired of going to jail.
In the last verse, Vybz Kartel speaks about how the politicians label the ghetto youth as gun men and see them as aggressive. He refuses to be influenced by their politics and vows to keep fighting till they bury him next to the innocent youth. He reminds his listeners that he won't die and assures them that the victory will be sweeter when the battle is hotter.
Line by Line Meaning
Jah jah guide me from di hyproctires an parasites,
Please protect me from deceitful people and those who feed off of me for their own benefit.
An guide mi from de enemies wah wan fi tek me life (mi nar go dead)
Please guide me away from people who wish to do me harm (I will not die).
Ye though I wallk through the valley of death tonight (ah woo)
Even if I am in a dangerous situation and facing death (oh yes).
Thou art with mi, so everything alright.
I know that you are with me and that makes everything alright.
Please jah jah guide and protect mi, we a show dem love and them hate we
Please protect and guide me as I face those who hate me but I will still show them love.
But memba the hotter the battle, me a tell yuh a de sweeter de victory
Remember that the harder the fight, the more satisfying the victory.
De system dun forget we, society didn't even care if we drink tea (mm-hmm)
The system has forgotten about us and society doesn't even care about our basic needs.
Me dey pon solid ground,
I am standing on firm ground.
Dem nar go get me down,
They will not bring me down.
Jah neva let me down before him nar go fail mi now,
God has never let me down and I believe he won't fail me now.
Whole heap a youth in ya every morn a wait fi bail ya now,
There are many youths here waiting for help each morning.
Show de ghetto youth a way dem tired fi gone a jail ya now,
Show the youth in the ghetto a better way of life because they are tired of going to jail.
Gaazaa mii seh, nuh pound a labor yo,
I say do not work hard for little pay.
System build de garrison an a we dem fraid a now,
The system created the garrisons but now they fear us.
Cause dem know de youth dem wise an nar go tek nuh talk,
They know that the youths are wise and will not be fooled.
Plus we born poor but we have to mek it.
We were born into poverty but we must make something of ourselves.
Me done spot out de way,
I have found the right path to follow.
How dem warn we live,
They warned us about how to live.
Fi de ghetto dem nuh do nothing positive,
For the ghetto, they do not do anything positive.
Dem style we as gun man say we aggressive,
They stereotype us as dangerous gun men.
Dat a dem politricks so to we, we still bun politics
That is their politics, but we still reject it.
Gaazaa mii seh! till dem bury mi,
I say until the day I die.
Right beside de whole a de innocent youth dem inna de cemetry,
Next to all the innocent youths who have died and are buried.
Weh babylon murder,
Those who have been killed by the authorities.
Espically, fi every one weh job a thousand more a we. (mi nar go dead)
Especially for everyone who has lost their job and there are a thousand more like me (I will not die).
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ADIDJA PALMER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Theo Sealey
2020 we still give thanks 🙏
tatanisha martin
sing my heart!!!
Sersy British
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Shawn Welch
tuff general lift up mobay and town.....! me deh pon solid grown !!!!!!!!!!!
Alhassan Bajaha
Free world boss