Vybz Kartel

Adidja Azim Palmer was born in Kingston and raised largely in the Waterhouse area. He attended Calabar High School but was expelled around age 16, later completing his schooling at a technical institution. Drawn to music from childhood, he released his first single, "Love Fat Woman," in 1993 under the name Adi Banton, a tribute to Buju Banton. In 1996 he formed a group called Vibes Cartel with friends, a name later shortened and restyled into his enduring stage name, Vybz Kartel.

Kartel broke into the wider dancehall scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a member of Bounty Killer's Alliance crew. In 2006 he split from the Alliance to launch his own camp, which evolved into the "Gaza" empire, igniting a fierce and highly publicized rivalry with fellow former Alliance affiliate Mavado (aligned with the "Gully" side), known across Jamaica as the Gaza vs Gully feud. The rivalry, which ran roughly from 2006 to 2010, split dancehall fans into rival camps and was serious enough that Prime Minister Bruce Golding personally brokered a public reconciliation between Kartel and Mavado at Jamaica House in December 2009.

At his commercial peak, Kartel was extraordinarily prolific, releasing an enormous volume of singles and albums including Up 2 Di Time, Pon Di Gaza, and the Dre Skull-produced Kingston Story (2011). His 2009 duet with Spice, "Romping Shop," crossed onto the U.S. Billboard singles chart, and he won multiple Excellence in Music and Entertainment (EME) awards.

In August 2011 Kartel was arrested in connection with the murder of his associate Clive "Lizard" Williams. In March 2014, Kartel and three co-accused were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment; he continued to record and release music from prison over the following decade. On March 14, 2024, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London — Jamaica's court of final appeal — unanimously quashed the convictions, ruling that the trial judge had committed a "fatal" error by allowing the jury to reach a verdict despite credible evidence that one juror had attempted to bribe fellow jurors. Jamaica's Court of Appeal declined to order a retrial, and Kartel and his co-accused were released from custody on July 31, 2024, after having served nearly thirteen years. It is important to state this outcome precisely: his murder conviction was quashed/overturned on grounds of juror misconduct and no retrial was pursued — he was not merely paroled or released early. Since his release he has mounted a high-profile comeback, headlining the "Freedom Street" concert at Jamaica's National Stadium on December 31, 2024, earning his first Grammy nomination (Best Reggae Album, for the Party With Me EP) in early 2025, and touring North America and Europe on his Freedom Street/World Boss tour. He remains one of dancehall's most commercially and culturally dominant figures.