World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

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Vybz Kartel

Artist. Dancehall

Active
1998-present
Sunrise
January 7, 1976, Kingston, Jamaica
Also known as
Worl' Boss, Addi, Teacha

Adidja Azim Palmer, who records as Vybz Kartel, is what Kyle Denis of Billboard calls "the most influential Jamaican recording artist since Bob Marley," and a "divisive cult figure."

He began as a teenager in 1993 with "Love Fat Woman," released under the name Adi Banton, and was briefly in a three-man group called Vybz Kartel whose name he kept when it broke up. He became a protege of Bounty Killer and broke through in 2003 on a run of hits and a staged clash with Ninjaman at Sting. He founded the Portmore Empire, later the Gaza, whose feud with Mavado's Gully faction divided Jamaican audiences to the point where the prime minister intervened.

Denis credits his "slick wordplay and head-spinning flows," and says he "could, and still can, dictate Jamaica's culture with the flip of a single phrase." "Clarks," with Popcaan, moved shoes off shelves across the island. His skin lightening, which he defended publicly and turned into the song "Cake Soap," set off a long argument about colorism that has not ended. Abroad he is known through Major Lazer's "Pon de Floor," which Beyoncé sampled for "Run the World (Girls)."

He was arrested in 2011 and convicted in 2014 of the murder of Clive "Lizard" Williams, whose body was never found, and sentenced to life with thirty-five years before parole, later reduced. He kept releasing music from prison throughout, in quantity, and stayed at the top of the Jamaican charts while incarcerated.

On March 14, 2024, the Privy Council quashed the convictions of Palmer and his three co-defendants on the ground of juror misconduct, a juror having been accused of attempting to bribe the others. The Court of Appeal of Jamaica declined to order a retrial, citing the time elapsed, the state of the evidence and his health, and he was released on July 31, 2024, after thirteen years. He had been diagnosed in prison with Graves' disease and heart complications. He returned to performing at the end of 2024 and has toured internationally since, and Party With Me was nominated for Best Reggae Album at the 2025 Grammys.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Kyle Denis, "The Return of Vybz Kartel After 13 Years," Billboard, via Yahoo Entertainment, January 6, 2025, https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/return-vybz-kartel-13-years-150124136.html.
  2. Wikipedia says "Love Fat Woman" appeared on Alvin Reid's One Heart label under the name Adi Banton, "an homage to Buju Banton," and that he kept the group's name after it split. "Vybz Kartel," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vybz_Kartel.
  3. Wikipedia, citing Claude Mills's Gleaner report "Terror at Sting" (December 28, 2003), describes a "pre-planned on-stage clash" that "turned violent." "Vybz Kartel."
  4. Wikipedia says Kartel and Mavado met Prime Minister Bruce Golding on December 8, 2009, in an attempt to end the feud. "Vybz Kartel."
  5. Denis, "Return of Vybz Kartel."
  6. DancehallMag says "Clarks" and "Clarks Again" (2010) "sparked the highest demand for Clarks shoes in Jamaican history." "Dancehall's Love Affair With Clarks Shoes," DancehallMag, March 25, 2020, https://www.dancehallmag.com/2020/03/25/features/dancehalls-love-affair-with-clarks-shoes.html.
  7. On the 2011 controversy, see "Cake soap company lightens Kartel's claim," Jamaica Observer, January 11, 2011, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2011/01/11/cake-soap-company-lightens-kartels-claim/.
  8. The sample is documented at "Beyoncé's 'Run the World (Girls)' sample of Major Lazer feat. Vybz Kartel's 'Pon De Floor'," WhoSampled, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.whosampled.com/sample/94079/Beyonc%C3%A9-Run-the-World-(Girls)-Major-Lazer-Vybz-Kartel-Pon-De-Floor/.
  9. The Gleaner gives his arrest on September 30, 2011, the guilty verdict of March 13, 2014, the sentence of April 3, 2014 (life, with "a minimum of 35 years before he becomes eligible for parole"), and the Court of Appeal's reduction of that period "by two years and six months" on April 17, 2020. "A timeline of the case against Vybz Kartel," Jamaica Gleaner, March 15, 2024, http://past.jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20240315/timeline-case-against-vybz-kartel. Rolling Stone notes that "Williams' body was never found." Daniel Kreps, "Vybz Kartel Freed After Appeals Court Declines to Retry Murder Charges," Rolling Stone, July 31, 2024, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/vybz-kartel-freed-no-retrial-1235071898/.
  10. Wikipedia, citing Rolling Stone (2017), says he released more than fifty new songs in 2016 alone. "Vybz Kartel."
  11. The Privy Council ruled on March 14, 2024, that the convictions "should be quashed on the grounds of juror misconduct" and remitted the case to the Court of Appeal; the co-accused were Shawn "Shawn Storm" Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John. "Conviction Quashed: Privy Council sends Kartel case back to local Appeal Court," Jamaica Observer, March 14, 2024, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2024/03/14/conviction-quashed-privy-council-sends-kartel-case-back-local-appeal-court/. See also "Timeline of the case against Vybz Kartel."
  12. Rolling Stone quotes the Court of Appeal: "The interests of justice do not require a new trial to be ordered." Kreps, "Vybz Kartel Freed."
  13. Grammy.com refers to "his diagnosis of Graves' disease in 2016." Patricia Meschino, "Vybz Kartel Talks First GRAMMY Nomination, Tattoos, Finding God & Prison Reform," Grammy.com, January 31, 2025, https://www.grammy.com/news/vybz-kartel-interview-2025-grammys-first-nomination-new-album/. Wikipedia adds a heart condition. "Vybz Kartel."
  14. Grammy.com says Party With Me, recorded in prison, was nominated for Best Reggae Album, and that his first performance after his release was the Freedom Street concert in Kingston on December 31, 2024. Meschino, "Vybz Kartel Talks First GRAMMY Nomination."

World of Jamaican Music: the whole map