Vybz Kartel

At 48 years old, Vybz Kartel has this physical status:

Adidja Azim Palmer (born 7 January 1976) better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican reggae dancehall recording artist, record producer and entrepreneur.

Among his various nicknames, he is referred to as "Worl' Boss" and has been recognized as one of the genre’s most prolific and skilled lyricists credited with further popularizing dancehall.Kartel's singles have achieved cultural ubiquity across the Caribbean, including "Romping Shop" (2009), "Summer Time" and "Dancehall Hero" (2013).

Having collaborated with a number of internationally prominent hip hop and R&B artists such as Major Lazer, Rihanna and Jay Z, he has also been credited as an inspiration for the dancehall-infused work of a number of Western artists, including Drake, who has cited Kartel as being one of his "biggest inspirations".In 2014, Kartel was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his associate Clive "Lizard" Williams.

He will be eligible for parole once he has served a minimum of 35 years in prison.

Despite being imprisoned, Kartel continues to release new music prolifically, releasing over 50 new songs in 2016 alone.

Personal life

Vybz Kartel's first child was born on 18 April 2003, when he was 27 years old. This child, along with two other children, he had with longtime girlfriend Tanesha 'Shorty' Johnson. Kartel also has six more children from other relationships. On 17 May 2020, it was revealed that Kartel's 15-year-old son was expecting a child with an 18-year-old woman, making Vybz a grandfather for the first time.

Kartel has come under controversy over perceived skin whitening, or "bleaching", leading him to claim the use of "cake soap" to lighten his skin. The Blue Power Group, Jamaican manufacturer of the popular cake soap (or "blue soap"), has refuted claims it changes skin color. Kartel stated the soap used to lighten his skin was his own company brand, which he intended to release on the local market and to overseas clients.

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Life and career

Vybz Kartel began his music as a youth in 1993 with his first album "Love Fat Woman," which he released on Alvin Reid's label "One Heart" as a salute to Buju Banton. Palmer later became a protege of Bounty Killer after the company split up and became a member of the three-member group "Vybz Cartel." He claims to have written nearly 30 songs with them, including the one called "Gal Clown."

Following a string of hits in Jamaica, Kartel came to fame in 2003. The year came to an end with a planned on-stage confrontation with Ninjaman at the annual dancehall festival in Sting, Kartel's hometown of Portmore. When Kartel's crewmembers, as well as Kartel's chairman, threw punches and assaulted Ninjaman onstage, the confrontation became violent. Although Kartel's chief initially blamed Ninjaman, Kartel's chief apologised to Ninjaman and the Sting orchestrators for the fiasco. The two artists appeared in the press four days after the shooting to announce a peace of their differences and put an end to any animosity.

Kartel's career spanned many albums, including Up 2 Di Time, More Up 2 Di Time, and J.M.T. With his business partner and producer Ainsley "Notnice" Morris, he formed Adidjahiem/Notnice Records. Kartel, a group of dancehall DJs and singers from his Portmore neighborhood, has joined the Portmore Empire, a consortium of dancehall DJs and singers from his Adidjahiem/Notnice Records after splitting with Bounty Killer-led Alliance in 2006. Popcaan, Deva Bratt (founder), Gaza Slim, Sheba, Gaza Indu, Tommy Lee, Singing Maxwell, Singa Blinga, Lisa Hype, Gaza Kitty, Dosa Medicine, and Merital Family were among the supporters.

Corey Todd, an American businessman, and Vybz Rum's chairman, Ron Vybz Rum, signed an endorsement contract with Vybz Rum in 2008. Todd's friendship with Kartel has developed into a company partnership. Daggerin Condom and Street Vybz Rum were launched together. Todd bought Asylum, Jamaica's most popular dancehall nightclub, which then became home to their weekly festival called Street Vybz on Thursday. In 2011, Street Vybz Rum production was suspended due to a rift between Kartel and Todd. Despite Kartel's ongoing detention, the partnership revived in 2012 as the two parties resolved their differences, and the two were reunited in 2012.

"Romping Shop" by Jamaican deejay Spice debuted on the Billboard Top 100 Singles chart in 2009, and "Dollar Sign" was on regular rotation on urban radio stations in the United States. His 2010 album "Clarks" was one of his biggest international hits, debuting in the top three reggae singles and gaining the most radio plays in North America for 40 weeks. "Clarks" was also on the television show "So You Think You Can Dance Canada" and on a CNN segment on dancehall dancing. When his singles "Clarks," "Clarks 2 (Clarks Again)" and "Clarks 3" (Wear Weh Yuh Have)" increased in Jamaica in 2010, sales numbers and prices increased sharply. He introduced Addi's shoes as well as his own line of "cake soap," a form of soap mostly used for clothes in 2011. Cake soap is less often used for skincare to address skin disorders such as acne. However, Kartel's brand was not intended for the purpose of skin lightening or bleaching.

Kartel appeared at MTV's Vice Guide to Dancehall at his weekly dance party, Street Vybz on Thursday. On CVM Jamaica's first reality television show hosted by a dancehall artist in Jamaica, Vybz Kartel has also hosted his own reality television show "Teacha's Pet" on the CVM Jamaica broadcast channel. Twenty women women lived in a Kingston house vying for the artist's affection; the show's lascivious content encouraged condemnation of its sponsor, telecommunications firm LIME. In September 2011, the show came to a halt due to the artist's deposition on murder charges.

Kartel was arrested by police on September 29th, 2011 for medical marijuana use. Barrington Burton, a Jamaican businessman, was charged with murder, complicity, and unlawful possession of a weapon by the Jamaican Major Investigation Taskforce (MIT). His book The Voice Of The Jamaican Ghetto: Incarcerated But Not Silenced was released in prison in 2012, but not Silenced, co-written with business associate Michael Dawson.

Despite being granted bail for the Burton murder on March 23, 2012, for JMD$3,000,000, he stayed in jail in connection with a second murder, of Clive 'Lizard' Williams, of Waterford, St Catherine. Since Saddler reportedly admitted that Williams had robbed her in order to mislead the police into believing he was still alive, he was charged with perverting the path of justice, alongside two others, including Vanessa "Gaza Slim" Saddler. Kartel's trial was originally scheduled for January 21, 2013, but it had to be postponed due to a shortage of jurors and was postponed until July 11th.

A jury found Kartel not guilty of the murder of Barrington Burton on July 24th. However, Kartel remained in detention as a result of the second murder investigation. Clive Williams' trial began on November 18, 2013, and an eleven-member jury (10-1) found him guilty of the murder of 27-year-old Clive "Lizard" Williams on March 13, 2014. According to reports, the 65-day trial was the longest in Jamaica's history. Kartel was sentenced to life in prison on 3 April 2014. After 35 years of service, Justice Lennox Campbell said he would be eligible for parole.

Since being imprisoned in 2011, Vybz Kartel has been releasing new music on a regular basis. Jamaican prison authorities have declined to allow recording privileges to him, and Kartel has refused to disclose the exact source of the recordings, although lyrical ones include current events.

When in jail, Kartel unveiled King of the Dancehall, his most commercially successful album, which debuted at number two on the US Billboard Reggae Charts, a hit on the US Billboard Reggae Charts. The album also included "Fever," which debuted on local music charts and became his most popular on streaming websites.

In 2017, Kartel re-teamed with Kingston Story writer Dre Skull for the single "Real Bad Gal" from Dr. Skull. As a pair known as Kartel Sons, two of his seven children, as Jaheim, also known as Little Vybz, and Akheel Raheim Palmer, also known as Little Addi, have been producing music since 2014. Both were on the "Fully Gaza" riddim in 2019, with Likkle Vybz and father Vybz on the title track "Fully Gaza," while Likkle Vybz appearing solo on "Dolla Sign" which interpolates portions of the chorus from his father's single of the same name on the Goodlife riddim from 2009.

Tanesha Johnson, Kartel's ex-girlfriend and mother of his three children, died in January 2020. Short Boss Muzik and Vybz Kartel Muzik co-produced the album with their respective record companies: Short Boss Muzik and Vybz Muzik. Of Dons & Divas, Kartel's fifteenth studio album, debuted on June 26, 2020. He appeared on Busta Rhymes' 2020 album Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God.

A three-member panel of the Jamaican Court of Appeal affirmed Kartel's conviction on April 3, 2020, exactly six years ago. The Court of Appeal sentenced Kartel's parole eligibility to 32 years and six months to 32 years and six months on April 17, 2020, citing Justice Campbell's inability to consider the fact that the singer spent in prison while awaiting trial in 2014. In 2046, Kartel will be eligible for parole.

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Awards

• 2003
  • Stone Love's 30th Anniversary
    • DJ of the Year 2005
• 2008
  • CUMA (Caribbean Urban Music Awards)
• 2009
  • EME Awards
    • Male DJ of the Year
    • Lyricist/Songwriter of the Year
    • Song of the Year (Romping Shop ft. Spice)
• 2010
  • EME Awards