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. Adidjah 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 Adidjah 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.

Eager to show off his skills, Adidjah and his friends Arif and Boyie 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, Adidjah came up with a name for his trio: Vybz Kartel.

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 meteoric 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 unprecedented and impressive debut led to Vybz Kartel being crowned Deejay Of The Year at Stone Love's 30th Anniversary, 2002, a feat unmatched by any new artist in dancehall's history.

From the outset, Vybz Kartel was more of a 'badman' deejay than a pop artist, most likely owing to his influence from hardcore legends Bounty Killer and Ninja Man. 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*ssy 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 his burgeoning stardom. His newfound mainstream success, coupled with his hardcore street credibility, critical acclaim and widely-hailed lyrical ability set the stage for the inevitable; a showdown with another artist to prove his worth. What was surprising to many was the unlikely challenger: Vybz Kartel's longtime idol Ninja Man.

In summer 2003, Bounty Killer and a group of young artists whose careers he had helped jumpstart came together as a loosely-knit group self-styled the Alliance. This group consisted of former Bounty proteges Elephant Man, Kiprich and Wayne Marshall, longtime Bounty collaborators such as Angel Doolas and new artists Vybz Kartel, Jagwa and Predator. The presence of Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel in the Alliance carried a great deal of industry clout, which was resented by some artists. The group was seen by some as a cartel seeking to gain control of dancehall through dictating which 'riddims' got popular by choosing only to work with certain producers and determining which stage shows and concerts did well by contractually performing as a group. Ninja Man expressed his displeasure through a series of media outlets and appearances threatening to undermine the Alliance by targeting each of its members in turn. To Bounty Killer, who regarded Ninja Man as his professional mentor and his 'deejay father', this came as a betrayal. The matter was expected to be resolved at the infamous annual Sting stage show, held every Boxing Day (December 26th) and regarded as hardcore reggae's most important stage show, notorious for onstage clashes between rival dancehall deejays ( Super Cat vs Ninja Man, Bounty Killer vs Beenie Man, Bounty Killer vs Merciless to name a few). In the weeks leading up to the event, Bounty Killer let his disappointment at his one time mentor become known publicly and expressed no reservations at having himself or one of his camp accept Ninja Man's challenge. Vybz Kartel accepted the challenge and the stage was set for a lyrical showdown

In the early morning hours of December 27, 2003, Vybz Kartel took the stage at Sting prepared for musical battle. After performing a string of his more popular hits from earlier in the year Kartel launched into a musical assault of his most deadly 'badman chunes', designed to get the crowd firmly in his corner. Using his hometown advantage (Sting is held at the Jamworld Entertainment Complex, within walking distance of Waterford) Kartel threw down the gauntlet and challenged his opponent to battle. Ninja Man accepted the challenge and came onstage, greeted by water-filled plastic bottles hurled from the strongly partisan crowd. Ninja Man attempted a lyrical counterstrike of his own, but was cut short by another verbal barrage from Kartel. Ninja Man, who seemed to have lost his composure by then, shoved Kartel, who struck back several times in retaliation. This was the first onstage physical altercation in Sting's 20 year history.

The fallout from Sting 2003 seemed to help Kartel's career rather than hurt it. What was perceived as Kartel's beatdown of Ninja Man, both lyrical and physical, added immeasurably to his street credibility among hardcore fans. At the same time his raunchy, X-rated lyrics in Tekk Buddy and other sexually explicit songs to follow won over a large following of female admirers, who ignored his less-than-appealing physical demeanor in favour of his seductive voice and seductive wordplay and naughty rhymes on Tekk Buddy sequels such as Picture Me And You (Blackout Riddim), When Gal Want Buddy (Good To Go Riddim), Buddy Nuh Done (Allo Allo Riddim), Likkle Lady (Chrome Riddim) and p*u**yy Haffi Good (Highty Tighty Riddim). His arrest and subsequent three day stint in jail following Sting only helped to give him new subject material (When Shotta Guh A Jail, Chrome Riddim), as did rumours that he had been killed in a driveby shooting the day after Sting (More Life, Thrilla Riddim). When conservative media protested the 'slackness' of his lyrics, he responded by releasing even rawer songs (More p*u**yy Fi Mi Buddy, Arriba Riddim). By early 2004, Kartel had become reggae royalty, the crown prince of dancehall, but another showdown was yet to come.

In late 2006, Vybz Kartel reportedly changed his stage name to "Addi di Teacha". This makes sense in the context of his introduction of his song on the Seasons riddim "Can't Move We", where he says "you know its tha teacha". Reasons for the name change may include an ultimate goal of changing his lyrical content, but it is rumoured to be an attempt to distance himself from Greensleeves Records. Fans still generally refer to him as Vybz Kartel.

In the later part of 2006, rumours arose of tension within The Alliance. Kartel's insistence on remaining associated with Bounty Killer's longtime adversary, Beenie Man. Vybz Kartel infuriated his mentor Bounty Killer by attending Beenie Man's wedding to Bounty Killer's ex-girlfriend, D'Angel. Vybz eventually announced his departure from The Alliance, and a number of disses were sent between the two parties. Rumours arose that Vybz Kartel was going to join Beenie Man's Mafia House record label run by Abdullah Hamid, however Vybz stated his departure was due to his desire to be a solo artist, independent from a group, and that he would not join Mafia House but instead head his own group, The Portmore Empire. It had seemed that tensions had died down, but a shooting and Bounty Killer recently branding Kartel a "battybwoy" and a "blo*o*dclaat informer" seems to indicate that there is still bad *lo** between Vybz Kartel and The Alliance. Vybz Kartel's protegé Aidonia was recently kicked out of the The Alliance.

And as they say the rest is history.