Vybz Kartel (born Adidja Azim Palmer January 7, 1976 in Portmore, Jamaica) is a multiple award winning Jamaican dancehall artist/lyricist.

Kartel has already had several collaborations with international hip-hop and pop stars. In terms of singles sold, he has had the second-best year on the reggae charts for 2003 (outsold only by Elephant Man) and has released 2 albums for UK/US based label Greensleeves Records Ltd.

He was also featured twice on the Def Jamaica project, and nominated for Source, VIBE and UK MOBO awards although his UK MOBO award nomination was withdrawn amidst controversy over the homophobic content of his lyrics. By the age of 15 young Vybz was practicing singing in his neighbourhood of Waterford, and then recorded his first single Love Fat Women. Success was around the corner but Mr Palmer need a name that would compliment his lyrics. After watching a movie on Pablo Escobar the infamous Colombian Drug dealer he decided to change his name to Kartel.

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.

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), ****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.

Feud with Mavado
Towards the end of 2006 and due to disagreements and internal rivalries Vybz Kartel left the Alliance. Tensions arose following Kartel's continued association with Bounty Killer's longtime enemy, Beenie Man, including Kartel attending Beenie Man's wedding to Bounty Killer's ex-girlfriend, D'Angel. Vybz Kartel cited his departure as being due to him wanting to be an independent artist. It was reported that Vybz and Bounty Killer performed together ahead of the annual Sting show. Due to Kartel's defection from the alliance and his 'parring' with the enemy 'the doctor' Beenie Man, a series of songs and counteraction songs ensued - the main proponents being Kartel and Mavado.

A very public feud between Vybz Kartel and former collaborator Mavado arose towards the end of 2006, stemming from Vybz' much publicized departure from the dancehall conglomerate group, The Alliance. The feud resulted in numerous diss-tracks released, in which each artist dissed the other and their associates over popular dancehall rhythms.

The feud threatened to escalate beyond lyrics, however, in the following months with shoot outs at the popular hangouts of the artists, and on-stage scuffles between members of each camp. This intensification prompted a police-overseen press conference in which both Mavado and Vybz publicly announced an end to hostilities and apologized to fans.