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.
Yeah Though I Walk
Vybz Kartel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Surely goodness, persons shall comfort me, all the days of my life
The bagon did afta kartel, dem try fi tek mi flesh but dem stumble and fell
Dem neva study from mi fuss sound suh well
It nuh easy fi run in like hotel
Mi nuh ansely, but mi notnyce;
Yuh betta tink twice,
Mi nah guh mek dem crucify me like wah dem do christ
Mi nuh device fi mek di pussy dem rejoice
Listen to di teacha voice, lend mi yuh ears
Di one wah peter slice, man ah; sell out dem bruddah fi a pizza slice
Black people sell out Marcus Gravey fi peas & rice
Notnyce, wah dem ah guh do when di contract from B.M.I, fi yuh deats arrive
People have yuh music inna di streets a drive
Dem ah guh judge you bout jah isnot dead enuh, he's alive.
Who god bless, no man cure enuh, yuh must survive
When dem gone to di obia man, raise yuh bible, pray, and then yuh read a pslams
Yea though I walk, through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil
Surely goodness, persons shall comfort me, all the days of my life .
Hold on nuh! Di bwoy dem try everyting,
Dem run gaw obia man; dem buy everyting,
Fi get out di teacha . Nutin nuh work (Mi deh yah same way)
Dem instigate (Mi deh yah same way)
Sell me off (Mi deh yah same way) selassie send mi laugh
Neva know, ah suh mi strong
Neva know, ah suh wi fit
Di race is not fi di swift, but obia endure it
Teacha come run it, ova; mi lifee, bless it all di while
Ayee! Di hail dem a fight me, mi a strive fi di betta
I shall dwell in the house of the lord, foreva and eva and eva and eva
Yea though I walk, through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil
Surely goodness, persons shall comfort me, all the days of my life
"Yea though I walk" by Vybz Kartel is a song that talks about struggling through life and keeping faith alive despite any difficulties encountered. The song starts by referencing Psalm 23:4 "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." The word "through" implies that the struggles are temporary, and the author has faith that they will see better days.
The song also mentions the struggles that Vybz Kartel had in his life, especially with the legal system. He talks about how people tried to take him down but failed, and how they will keep failing in the future. The song also references Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican political leader, who was deported from the United States after being found guilty of mail fraud. Vybz Kartel seems to suggest that some people sold out Garvey for their own gains, implying that there is a larger issue with people not supporting each other as they should. He also suggests that people who have faith in God should not worry because God will protect them.
In the last section of the song, Vybz Kartel talks about persevering through the struggles he has encountered. He refers to a common Jamaican belief system - Obia - which he deflects as not being able to take down someone who has God on their side. Vybz Kartel also mentions how he strives always to be better and is not afraid of the struggles.
Line by Line Meaning
Yea though I walk, through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil
Even if I walk through the most dangerous situations, surrounded by death and darkness, I won't fear any evil.
Surely goodness, persons shall comfort me, all the days of my life
I'm convinced that good things and good people will be with me throughout my entire life, giving me comfort and support.
The bagon did afta kartel, dem try fi tek mi flesh but dem stumble and fell
The people who come after me often try to harm me, but they end up falling and failing in their attempts.
Dem neva study from mi fuss sound suh well
They didn't learn a lesson from my early work, which was so well-received.
It nuh easy fi run in like hotel
It's not as simple as checking into a hotel to approach me or take me down.
Mi nuh ansely, but mi notnyce;
I may not be polite, but I'm not a pushover.
Before yuh try fi diss,
Before you try to disrespect me,
Yuh betta tink twice,
You better think twice,
Mi nah guh mek dem crucify me like wah dem do christ
I'm not going to let them crucify me like they did to Christ.
Mi nuh device fi mek di pussy dem rejoice
I don't have a plan to give my enemies reason to celebrate.
Listen to di teacha voice, lend mi yuh ears
Listen to my teachings and advice, lend me your ears.
Di one wah peter slice, man ah; sell out dem bruddah fi a pizza slice
The one who betrayed Peter, selling out his brother for a pizza slice,
Black people sell out Marcus Gravey fi peas & rice
Black people have sold out Marcus Gravey for food.
Notnyce, wah dem ah guh do when di contract from B.M.I, fi yuh deats arrive
People won't be nice when the contract from BMI (record label) arrives after your death.
People have yuh music inna di streets a drive
People are playing your music in the streets and loving it.
Dem ah guh judge you bout jah isnot dead enuh, he's alive.
They're going to try to misjudge you by saying that Jah (God) isn't dead; He's alive.
Who god bless, no man cure enuh, yuh must survive
If God has blessed you, no one can bring harm to you. You'll survive.
When dem gone to di obia man, raise yuh bible, pray, and then yuh read a pslams
When your enemies go to a healer, raise your Bible, pray, and read a Psalm.
Hold on nuh! Di bwoy dem try everyting,
Wait a minute! The boys have tried everything,
Dem run gaw obia man; dem buy everyting,
They've gone to a healer, they've tried everything,
Fi get out di teacha. Nutin nuh work (Mi deh yah same way)
To get rid of me, the teacher. But nothing has worked (I'm still here).
Dem instigate (Mi deh yah same way),
They're trying to provoke me. (But I'm still here)
Sell me off (Mi deh yah same way) selassie send mi laugh
They've tried to sell me out, but I am still laughing (a reference to Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian emperor seen as the Rastafarian messiah)
Neva know, ah suh mi strong
They never knew how strong I am.
Neva know, ah suh wi fit
They never knew how well we fit together (with God).
Di race is not fi di swift, but obia endure it
The race is not won by the fastest, but by those who can endure the obstacles.
Teacha come run it, ova; mi lifee, bless it all di while
The teacher (Kartel) came and took over, blessing my life all the while.
Ayee! Di hail dem a fight me, mi a strive fi di betta
Hey! The enemies are fighting me, but I'm trying to do better.
I shall dwell in the house of the lord, foreva and eva and eva and eva
I will live in the house of the Lord (in the afterlife) forever and ever and ever.
Lyrics Β© Ultra Tunes
Written by: AINSLEY MORRIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
shirley burris
VYBZ KARTEL THE BEST Kartel never fails with his tunes No one has so many tunes like him Kartel will soon be a FREE MAN Him bring one big smile to my face every time he comes with those BAD lyrics
Jay Dee
Road Block videos mke me feel proud to know jamaica is well represnted where music videos are concerned.these guys raise the standards of local music vids.
DiiZeh
Classic tune! Still a banger!
Ken Kendrick
STILL LISTENING TO THIS CLASSIC MASTERPIECE IN 2022 FROM THE DANCEHALL GREATEST OF ALL TIME
Sashy Moya
2020 and am still listing this song
17broderick
LOVE THIS SONG I WISH I HAD HIS CD
problemsalvagfam
Can't stop play this song big up the world bass
A Life of Carlontae
2023 and Kartel is still relevant sedway π₯π₯βπ½
Lisa music ruby
Vybz sending this back to u . Stay strong πͺ
Pinky Bless
Love this song they need to free up the realist dancehall #freeworldboss