Vybz Kartel is arguably the best artist in dancehall history. I discovered his music in 2004 while listening to a CD one of my friends had lent me. I remember the song that caught me was ‘Badda Than Dem’ on the Kasablanca Riddim.
The first two lines of his verse were ‘me nah care where yuh bad from or the ends where ya trad from, gunshot mek yuh fall like the bridge ova London. The song was one of the most lyrical tracks of that year and I became an instant fan. Kartels style and lyrical content were unique which made him stand out.
Is Vybz Kartel a Dancehall Legend?
kartel, born Adidja Azim Palmer is arguably one of dancehalls most famous and influential artists of all time. Referred to as the ‘World Boss’ he is highly respected as being one of dancehalls most skilled lyricists.
However, has Vybz Kartel reached legendary status and does he deserve the title of king of the dancehall? In short my answer is yes, what makes an artist a legend is a combination of their skills, record sales and their impact on the music industry.
Not only does he fulfill all three categories but he has impacted popular culture as well. In this article we will take a look at the reasons why Vybz Kartel has gained legendary status.
Vybz Kartel Early Career
In 1993, he released his first single ‘Love Fat Woman’ for Alvin Reid’s label ‘One Heart’. He released under the name Adi Banton, as a tribute to one of his role models, Buju Banton. He continued to record tracks for local producers until 1996.
Later he formed his own group Vibes Cartel, along with his friends Mr. Lee and singer Escobar. The group eventually broke up; however, he adopted the name in an altered form, Vybz Kartel and became a solo artist.
Kartel performed a stage show ‘Champions in Action’ in his hometown, Portmore, in 1998. Dancehall icon Bounty Killer noticed the artist and took him under his wing. As a protégé of Bounty, he began writing lyrics for him, Elephant Man and other members of Scare Dem Crew.
Collaborations
He also collaborated with Killer on ‘Gal Clown’ and ‘Girls Like Mine (Liquid Riddim)’. In 2002, he released solo tracks such as ‘Most High’, ‘Guns Like Mine’, ‘Badman’ and ‘Bus Mi Gun Like Nuttn’.
He collaborated with Wayne Marshall for hits such as; ‘Why (Krazy Riddim)’, ‘New Millennium (Mad Antz Riddim)’, and ‘Why Again (Good To Go Riddim)’.
Portmore Empire
Kartel split with Bounty and the Alliance in 2006 and formed the ‘Portmore Emire. The group consisted of dancehall artists from his Portmore neighborhood.
The members included Popcaan, Tommy Lee, Gaza Slim, Shawn Storm, Sheba, Gaza Indu, Lisa Hype, Blak Ryno and others. Each of these artists rose to stardom under kartel’s leadership.
Kartel and Spice
In 2009, Kartel released ‘Ramping Shop’ with female Jamaican deejay Spice. The song debuted on the Billboard Top 100 Singles chart. This is when kartel had his first major mainstream hit. From 2009, kartel’s career took off.
Clarks
Clarks, shoes that had fell out of fashion in the 90’s were given a breath of life with Kartel’s release of the hit song Clarks. In 2010 Clarks sales skyrocketed and prices on the shoes went from 46 pounds to 78.
It was rumored that kartel owned 50 pairs. His 2010 single “Clarks” was one of his biggest international successes. It remained in the top three reggae singles and gaining the most radio plays in North America for 40 weeks.
“Clarks” was also featured on the TV series So You Think You Can Dance Canada, and on a CNN segment on dancehall dance. When his singles “Clarks”, “Clarks 2 (Clarks Again)” and “Clarks 3 (Wear Weh Yuh Have)” featured the British shoe brand Clarks in 2010, its sales numbers and prices in Jamaica increased considerably.In 2011, he released his own shoe line, named Addi’s.
Feuds with other artists/Beef
Diamonds are formed under immense pressure and great artists are forged in this same manner with kartel being no exception. Throughout Kartels career he would be involved in fueds with many artist of which he never backed down. However, what is surprising is in all of these beefs not only did Vybz kartel hold his own he won.
In 2004 Vybz kartel went against another dancehall legend ‘Spragga Benz’ with Spragga Benz releasing ‘We Ready on the Red Square Riddim and ‘We Done See it’. Kartel released a slew of diss tracks but the most memorable was ‘Faggot Correction’.
The whole beef started between a fued between Assassin and Kartel, with Spragga Benz being Assasins mentor he defended his protégé. To this day it is agrued that Spragga Benz is the only artist to come close to ending Kartels career.
Vybz kartel vs Movado
This is by far one of the biggest feuds in dancehall of this era following Bounty Killer and Beenie Man. Not only Jamaica but the Caribbean was divided into ‘Gully’ Mavados supporters and ‘Gaza’ Vybz Kartel.
Gully vs Gaza
People lost lives in Jamaica on both sides with the government having to step in and convince the two artists to call a truce. In this beef we saw the best music being produced from both these artists with mavado releasing songs like ‘Nuh Bleach Wid Cream, Top Shotta Nah Miss, Chiney K’ and kartel releasing songs such as ‘Mofraudo, Weh Dat Fag and Songwriter’.
The climax to the beef was at Sting in 2008 with Kartel clashing Mavado. Vybz Kartel clearly won the clash and at points Mavado ran out of lyrics continuously saying ‘level’, one would have sworn that level was a member of the Alliance. After Sting Kartel released a hit song entitled ‘Don’t Run’ stating Movado ran off the stage at Sting from the lyrical beatdown.
Bounty Killer
Vybz Kartel even went against his mentor Bounty Killer in a short feud where he more or less went against the entire Alliance. He released songs such as ‘toilet paper bounty, Nuh bore tongue, Dem Fraid a Me, When Since and A wha Do Dem (the latter being Alliance disses). Bounty Killer being a legend in the game as well for his lyrical ability fired back at kartel with a host of diss tracks as well with the most memorable being ‘Chatter Box”.
Lets be honest any other artist clashing with the calibre of artists from the Alliance, Spragga Benz, Bounty Killer and Mavado careers would be over. Vybz kartel stood his ground against these opponents and although it is debatable many can agree he won these beefs, you cannot deny this mans talent.
Vybz kartel Lyrical Skills
Vybz Kartel is regarded as one of the most lyrical dancehall artists in the world even by international standards. Since his inception he has never fell off even after his incarceration. Tell me which dancehall artist has consistently been dropping hit after hit for this long.
If we take this to international standards let us ask which other artist in the world is as consistent and lyrically potent. Kartel has been in the business now for over 16 years and has never fell off think about that. The only other artists I can think of that fit in that category are Jay-z or Eminem and even those two artists are debatable.Kartels lyrics span over a decade but here are some snippets of his lyrical ability.
Some of kartels Most Lyrical Songs
Song: Without My Own
Ya cant diss Adija de teacha
The man dem a Gaza will rise every creature
And deliver the beef to your door like toppings on a domino pizza
How you di hype and never know Lisa, Something will fly and it aint no Visa
Song: Still the Lyricist
Me a still the lyricist, vocabulary physicist
Like Michael Angelo me paint the graphic images
Get a condom for your ears cause the tune a shot like syphilis
See the title like gimme this, empire is the wickedest
Song: Murderous
My war bigger than World Cup, Fi dem a Corner League
War come we kill them first gone a lead, head will pop like weed with marijuana seed
From the brother to the cousin to the father bleed
One Rifle one matic is all I need, to terrorise and torture is a Gaza Deed
Song: Every Girl
Mi 2(x) dem a fight Everybody ask if mi know (y)
If (y) + 2(x) = 9 Do the maths take 5
(Let me further break this down, if x=5 in order to find y then y = 9 – 2(5) Therefore Y = -1. So they were fighting because 1 would be subtracted from his life. Greatest dancehall lyricist period.
Vybz Kartel’s Impact
Vybz Kartel has influenced many artists over the years and many have tried to copy his style. Artists such as Gage have admitted that Vybz kartel is their idol. Over the years we have seen his influence, if kartel sings about Clarks, they fly off the shelf, if he sings about bleaching, skin bleaching products sales increase.
These are things that have always been around but when Kartel puts his own spin and endorses these, whether right or wrong the fans embrace it and follow. In his more recent hit in 2017 Mhm Hm he sings about peanut, supligen and oats to increase sexual performance and those sales increase as well.
You cannot deny kartel’s influence on his fans and other artists alike and because of this influence Kartel has been able to enter many business ventures selling and promoting products. Below we will dive into a couple of the ways he has been impacted society.
Vybz Kartel Skin Bleaching
Skin bleaching alone is a controversial topic with many doctors advising against it. Health risks include skin cancer and other serious ailments. However in 2010 Kartels complexion started changing drastically changing him from having very dark skin to many shades lighter.
Kartel would later go on to drop the hit song ‘Straight Jeans and Fitted’ where in a verse in the song he said ‘Cool like me wash mi face with the cake soap’ and later ‘Cake Soap’. Although there was serious backlash from the public and other artists about his skin bleaching Kartel often defended his decision to bleach.
In an interview in 2011 with Winford Williams on the show On Stage he said decided to lighten his skin to show up his tattoos and it had nothing to do with self hate or denial it was all about style which black people could dictate whatever style they wanted.
Bleaching
Skin lightening was nothing new to Jamaica however, with an artist of Vybz kartel’s stature promoting this, skin bleaching products sales increased. Subsequently Vybz Kartel launched his own brand of ‘cake soap’ and sales of the soap along with other skin bleaching creams and ointments went through the roof in Jamaica.
I believe persons should love the skin and complexion they were born with unless there is a serious medical condition. However, whether right or wrong the point here is to show Vybz Kartel’s influence.
Street Vybz and Gaza Rum
In 2008, Kartel launched his own liquor line; Street Vybz Rum.The rum was introduced in Jamaica in 2008 as a joint venture between kartel and his manager at the time Corey Todd. He hosted a weekly dance party Street Vybz Thursday, at the Building, a Kingston nightclub he managed with Street Vybz Rum with Corey Todd.
Despite the rums success production was stopped in 2011 due to conflict between the two. However, in 2016 Kartel released new liquor to the market ‘Gaza Vybz Rum, although incarcerated there was no law prohibiting him from having entrepreneurial pursuits.
Record Sales
As stated earlier despite being locked behind bars Kartel has never slowed down including his record sales. In 2016, while in prison, Kartel released his most internationally successful album, King of the Dancehall, which peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard Reggae Charts. The album included the single “Fever” which topped various local music charts and became his most successful on streaming websites.
“King of the Dancehall” has since sold 3,800 units in the United States with 1,867 units sold in the first week of release, making it the highest selling dancehall project last year. The album also has the biggest first week sales in the last decade since Beenie Man released his 2006 classic album “Undisputed.” KOD is also the thirteenth top-selling reggae album of 2016.
Reality Show
Kartel is the only dancehall artist to have had their own reality show. In September 2011 kartel launched a reality show called the ‘teachas pet’ which aired on CVM TV, LIME Mobile TV and also pay per view on Teachaspet.com. The show was scheduled for 12 weeks with 12 episodes and was about the love life and career of the Artiste Vybz Kartel.
In the show he is looking for true love and genuine companionship from a special female. He goes on a worldwide search in quest of the one person who truly deserves his heart. The show featured 20 girls all living together in one house doing daily challenges trying to win the love of one man. However, production was cut short due to his murder trial.
Despite Controversy kartel is King
Kartels music career and lifestyle has had a major impact on Jamaican music and culture worldwide. To be honest some of his influence has had a negative impact on the youth in society through skin bleaching and violence.
Although it is a fact that entertainers are not exactly role models because of his immense popularity and influence many people try to emulate him via his personality traits and actions. However it is undeniable that Vybz Kartel is a living legend and has earned his place amongst the greats.
Kartel King of the Dancehall
Legendary Grammy award-winning record producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry has declared that Vybz Kartel is the best deejay of all time. According to the legend, he is hoping Vybz Kartel will be released from prison and be given the chance to repent.
Buju Banton once said in an interview with Wilfred Williams on his show Onstage ‘Vybz kartel stimulates the heavens with his music if only he could realize what he has and turn the spanner clockwise and then in the right direction.’ Despite being behind bars he has not missed a step lyrically and continues to release hits monthly.
His lyrical content and popularity have never fell of since he came out. It will be a long time until we see another artist as good as kartel.