Vybz Kartel (born Adidja Palmer, Jan. 7, 1976) is a Jamaican dancehall deej… Read Full Bio ↴Vybz Kartel (born Adidja Palmer, Jan. 7, 1976) is a Jamaican dancehall deejay.

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.

Where Mi Come From
Vybz Kartel Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Yo! Gaza
Dela hundred (Hundred, Hundred, Hundred)
Grants Pen homestead (Homestead, Homestead)

My life no pretty like fairytale
Me know me must go a Hell
It start from me 9 years old
One day me wake up and mi daddy just gone

Me start to hustle
Put the muscle to the tussle
Get mi first strap
No bwoy couldn't tell me nothing
Mi gun, enuh, it don't empty
Plus me young, black and hungry

Mi say, me try to do good (good, good)
Try fi keep myself out of trouble
Me did a move too fast (fast)
Police charge me pon a doublemurder

It rough, yeaheh eh
Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from
Sometime it get ha-a-arda-ard
Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from
The ghetto youth dem no have no work!
Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from
Nuff of dem a go under the dir-ir-irt
Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from

Wasn't really looking but I find her
5 foot 11, drive a nice car
She coming from the University
I said, "Baby, do you got a spot for me?"
She looked so boasty
But she never flexed the same
She love to drink the Henny
Put the ganja to the brain
Me even bring the girl to Matthew's Lane
And she a try look Trooper in front of me

Me try to be good (good, good)
Me try fi keep myself out of trouble
When me moving too fast (fast)
When you think say your love anuh nothing

Times a get rough, yeaheh eh
Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from
Sometimes you gotta shed a little tearea-ear
Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from
Sometimes you haffi look inna self!
Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from
And love yourself, you nah get

It from no one else, yeah
Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from

Overall Meaning

The song "Where Mi Come From" by Vybz Kartel is a powerful depiction of the harsh realities of life in the ghetto. In the first verse, he describes his upbringing and the difficulties he faced, from his father leaving when he was young, to the need to hustle and carry a gun to survive. He acknowledges that he tried to do good and keep out of trouble, but ultimately found himself charged with a double murder. The chorus emphasizes the challenges of living in the ghetto, with the lack of work and the constant threat of violence.

In the second verse, Kartel describes a chance encounter with a woman who seemed to have it all - education, money, and status. However, he recognizes the ulterior motives behind her interest in him and the dangers of trusting the wrong people. He once again stresses the importance of looking within yourself and loving yourself in a world where others may not have your best interests at heart.

Overall, "Where Mi Come From" is a powerful and emotionally charged song that speaks to the struggles faced by those living in poverty and dealing with violence and crime on a daily basis.

Line by Line Meaning

Yo! Gaza
This is an exclamation that means 'hello' or 'listen up' and acts as an introduction to the song.

Dela hundred (Hundred, Hundred, Hundred) Grants Pen homestead (Homestead, Homestead)
These are references to the Dela Vega City area and the Grants Pen community in Jamaica where the artist Vybz Kartel comes from, giving context to the song's message.

My life no pretty like fairytale Me know me must go a Hell It start from me 9 years old One day me wake up and mi daddy just gone Me start to hustle Put the muscle to the tussle Get mi first strap No bwoy couldn't tell me nothing Mi gun, enuh, it don't empty Plus me young, black and hungry
This verse is about the artist's tough upbringing in Jamaica. His father left when he was nine years old, so he began hustling and carrying a gun. He felt like nobody could stop him because he was young, black, and hungry.

Mi say, me try to do good (good, good) Try fi keep myself out of trouble Me did a move too fast (fast) Police charge me pon a doublemurder
The artist tries to do good and avoid trouble, but he ended up moving too fast and getting charged with a double murder by the police.

It rough, yeaheh eh Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from Sometime it get ha-a-arda-ard Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from The ghetto youth dem no have no work! Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from Nuff of dem a go under the dir-ir-irt Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from
This chorus is about the struggles of living in the ghetto that the artist comes from. Sometimes life is hard, young people don't have work, and many will fall into poverty.

Wasn't really looking but I find her 5 foot 11, drive a nice car She coming from the University I said, "Baby, do you got a spot for me?" She looked so boasty But she never flexed the same She love to drink the Henny Put the ganja to the brain Me even bring the girl to Matthew's Lane And she a try look Trooper in front of me
This verse shows the artist meeting a woman and trying to impress her by taking her to different places, including a dangerous area called Matthew's Lane. However, she ends up flirting with someone else in front of him.

Me try to be good (good, good) Me try fi keep myself out of trouble When me moving too fast (fast) When you think say your love anuh nothing
The artist tries to stay out of trouble and be good, but sometimes he moves too quickly and gets into trouble. He also comments on how some people may doubt the sincerity of his love.

Times a get rough, yeaheh eh Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from Sometimes you gotta shed a little tearea-ear Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from Sometimes you haffi look inna self! Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from And love yourself, you nah get It from no one else, yeah Inna the ghetto weh mi come from come from
The final chorus is about the hard times that people face in the ghetto, but sometimes you have to shed a tear and look within yourself to find strength. The artist encourages people to love themselves, as they won't get it from anyone else in the tough environment he comes from.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

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