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.
The Cure
Vybz Kartel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Smaddy badmind di boss
Badmind cyan get me down
Me cyan stop 'cause me don't know how
Portmore, Downtown, Uptown
Bun badmind, Bun badmind
'Cause if me no happy
Me a grab it and claat it
A weh you did deh when me a suffer
To rawtid?
When me a go a school with one suit a khaki?
So, don't see me a floss and
A mash up di party
No grudge me fi mi Fendi nor mi Issey Miyake
When hungry a kick-kick me like karate
Weh you deh?
Dem deh time me have mi big Glock 40
Weh you deh?
Dem deh time deh when me just know Shorty
Di way how me cross
You wouldn't waan fi cross me
Di killing dem nasty and di life dem costly
Society fi happy say me put that pass me and
Anuh aids, anuh Diabetes
Badmind a di worsest disease
A no syphilis, a no Herpes
Badmind a di worsest disease me sure
Hey, Mr badmind, come fi di cure
Go jump off of di Twin Tower top floor
Go drink some gas & light your throat hole
Bet say you cure
You fi stop, badmind lowe me fi me try nuh
Even likkle herbs me will sell and buy now
Me just nah bow fi get rich
Nuff of dem a bathe inna
Shower with man like Kyino
A bere gyal come a mi yard oh!
Otherwise me a hustle fi rich like HiLo
Finger print a jail, then di system file you
A so dem deal with ghetto youth
But di whole a we a champion
Without we haffi drink Milo
Look out fi extradite when your
Money start pile up
Ghetto rise up, society boil up
And a class we as criminal
We idem a style up
Anuh aids, anuh Diabetes
Badmind a di worsest disease
A no syphilis, a no Herpes
Badmind a di worsest disease me sure
Hey, Mr badmind, come fi di cure
Go jump off of di Twin Tower top floor
Go drink some gas & light your throat hole
Bet say you cure
Badmind cyan get me down
Me cyan stop 'cause me don't know how
Portmore, Downtown, Uptown
Bun badmind, Bun badmind
You fi stop, badmind you fi happy mi happy
'Cause if me no happy
Me a grab it and claat it
A weh you did deh when me a suffer
To rawtid?
When me a go a school with one suit a khaki?
So, don't see me a floss and
A mash up di party
No grudge me fi mi Fendi nor mi Issey Miyake
When hungry a kick-kick me like karate
Weh you deh?
Dem deh time me have mi big Glock 40
Weh you deh?
Dem deh time deh when me just know Shorty
Di way how me cross
You wouldn't waan fi cross me
Di killing dem nasty and di life dem costly
Society fi happy say me put that pass me and
Anuh aids, anuh Diabetes
Badmind a di worsest disease
A no syphilis, a no Herpes
Badmind a di worsest disease me sure
Hey, Mr badmind, come fi di cure
Go jump off of di Twin Tower top floor
Go drink some gas & light your throat hole
Bet say you cure
In Vybz Kartel's song The Cure, he addresses the issue of 'bad mind' in society - this refers to people being envious and jealous of others' success, and actively wishing for their downfall. Kartel uses this song to remind listeners that he will not allow bad mind to bring him down, and encourages others to focus on being happy for each other's success instead. He reflects on his own struggles and perseverance through hard times, such as wearing one uniform to school, and draws attention to the fact that bad mind is a toxic disease that is worse than any physical ailment.
Kartel's lyrics paint a very vivid picture of the impact of bad mind on individuals and society as a whole. He suggests that those who suffer from bad mind should seek the cure by jumping off the twin tower or drinking gas and lighting their throat on fire - the metaphorical message being that bad mind is a self-destructive path. He also highlights the ways in which bad mind is perpetuated by the class divide and societal perceptions of 'ghetto youth', and offers himself up as an example of someone who has overcome these obstacles to become a champion. Overall, The Cure is a powerful commentary on the negative impact of bad mind on individuals and society as a whole, and serves as a call to action to change this toxic mindset.
Line by Line Meaning
Russian yo word come to pass
Words from Russian come true in reality
Somebody bad mine di boss
Someone envies the boss
Bad mine cyan get me down
Jealousy cannot bring me down
Mi cyan stop caw mi don't know how
I cannot stop because I don't know how
Port more down town up town
From the poorest to the wealthiest parts of the city
Bun bad mine
Hate and jealousy burn
Yuh fi stop bad mine
You should stop being envious
Yuh fi happy mi happy
If I'm happy, you should be too
Cause if mi no happy mi a grab it an clop hi
If I'm not happy, I'll do whatever it takes to change that
A weh yuh did deh when mi a suffer to rawthid
Where were you when I was going through difficult times?
When mi a go a school wid one suit a karki
When I went to school with only one khaki suit
So don't si mi a floss an a mash up di party
So don't be jealous when you see me enjoying myself
Yow grudge mi fi mi fending or mi issy mi harky
You're jealous of me for my clothes and accessories
When hungry a kick kick mi like karate
When I was hungry and struggling, you ignored me
Weh yo deh
Where were you?
Dem deh time mi have mi big glock 40
Back then, I had my big gun
Dem deh time deh when mi just know Shorty
That was when I first met Shorty
Di way mi cross yo wouldn't waan fi cross mi
You wouldn't want to cross me the way I did you
Di killing dem nasty an di life dem costly
The killings are terrible and the lifestyle is expensive
Society fi happy seh mi put that pass mi
Society should be happy that I've moved on from my past
An a no aids a no diabetes
It's not AIDS or diabetes
Bad mine a di worsest disease
Jealousy is the worst disease
A no syphilis a no harpies
It's not syphilis or herpes
Mi sure hey missa bad mine come fi di cure
I'm sure that Mr. Envy needs a cure
Go jump off a di twin tower top floor
Jump off the top floor of the Twin Tower
Go drink some gas an light yo throat hole
Drink some gasoline and light your throat on fire
Bet seh yo cure
Bet you'll be cured
Low mi fi mi try no
Let me try and do my thing
Even likkle herbs mi wi sell an buy no
I'll even sell and buy herbs if necessary
Mi just naw bow fi get rich
I won't bow down just to get rich
Nuff a dem a bade in a shower wid man like Tyno
Many of them are showering with men like Tyno
A bay gyal come a mi yard oh
A lot of girls come to my house
Other wise mi a hustle fi rich like Hilo
Otherwise, I'm hustling to be rich like Hilo
Finger print a jail den di system file yo
Your fingerprints will end up in jail and the system will find you
A so dem deal wid ghetto youth
That's how they deal with ghetto youth
But di whole a wi a champion
But all of us are champions
Without wi haffi drink milo
Without the need to drink Milo
Look out fi extradite when yuh money start pile up
Watch out for extradition when your money starts piling up
Ghetto rise up society boil up
The ghetto is rising up while society is boiling over
An a class wi as criminal w idem a style up
We are classified as criminals while they copy our style
Lyrics Β© Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Adidja Palmer, Tarik Luke Johnston
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@flyboiant34
2020 and track still have relevancy
@JayFresh98
2019 still bumping
@raccoonoffica1417
2016 n still listening to dis track
@6ixboss623
Nostalgic π₯π₯
@andrekelly3946
2020 still listening to this
@KingBruckz
This tune is underrated nuh fuck
@unrulykoolie8767
2019 and still a gwaan
@JohanRamiro
2020 π₯π₯π₯π₯ free world boss
@GaryDidIt
timeless
@kerlesterjohnney5587
2019 who still listening !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!