Vybz Kartel was born at Kingston's Victoria Jubilee Hospital.
Originally from Waterhouse, Kingston, he was raised in the Waterford
community of Portmore, St.Catherine. 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. The young Adidja was exposed to a wide variety of
music from a tender age by two uncles who happened to be aspiring
musicians themselves. Every weekend he would be 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
foes. At the age of 10 his favourites included artists as diverse as
Papa San, Charlie Chaplin, Will Smith and KRS-1, all of whose lyrics he
would write down and study word-for-word, performing them later for the
entertainment of friends. Deciding he wanted to be a deejay, he began
writing his own lyrics at the age of 11.

Career

Early career

Adidja and his friends Arif, Boyie, and Saif, often frequented the
weekly Gong Talent Show at the now defunct Coney Amusement Park on the
outskirts of Kingston, but to their chagrin were always gonged off
whenever 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 his art on neighbourhood sound systems Soul Signal and
Electric Force. In 1993, the young Adidja, now in his early teens,
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 Buju
Banton, another of his role models. He recorded several more tracks for
local producers, perfecting his craft until 1996, when 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: Vybz Kartel.

Career route

Vybz Kartel's new role as Killer's protege (a spot once held by
prodigal prodigy Baby Cham) caught the attention of the public and led
to a 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),
then finally coming into his own with early hits such as 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, such as New Millennium (Mad Antz Riddim), Why (Krazy Riddim)
and Why Again (Good To Go Riddim). This led to Vybz Kartel being
crowned Deejay of the Year at Stone Love's 30th Anniversary, 2002.

From the outset, Vybz Kartel was more of a 'badman' deejay than a
pop artist. In his early career he mostly concentrated on
unapologetically hardcore, undiluted songs extolling the virtues of
guns, sex and ganja, but his biggest hit was yet to come. He had
success with more mainstream, club-oriented singles such as Big Man
(Engine Riddim), P**y Jaw (Mad Antz Riddim), Sweet to the Belly
(Egyptian Riddim) and Bruk Buddy (G-String Riddim), but in late 2003
his single Tekk Buddy on the Thunder Clap Riddim proved to be the one
which catapulted his career into the stratosphere. The single stayed on
the charts for months and spent weeks at the number 1 position, and
finally brought Vybz Kartel to the attention of those who hadn't yet
become aware of him.

Name change

In late 2006, Vybz Kartel reportedly changed his stage name to "Addi
di Teacha". Fans still generally refer to him as Vybz Kartel.