Vybz Kartel

Kartel’s appeal has always come from range as much as attitude. He could cut a flirtatious anthem one moment and a hard-edged tune the next, often with the same clipped, melodic delivery. Songs like “Romping Shop” pushed his name deeper into the mainstream, while his work with Major Lazer on “Pon de Floor” helped carry his style to listeners well outside Jamaica. He also recorded prolifically under his own Adidjahiem Records imprint, adding to a catalogue that became central to the sound of the Portmore era and the wider modern dancehall landscape.

His career was later overshadowed by serious legal trouble. After being arrested in connection with the 2011 killing of Clive “Lizard” Williams, Kartel was convicted in 2014 and spent more than a decade in prison. Even during that period, his music remained in circulation and his name stayed active in dancehall conversation. In July 2024, Jamaica’s Court of Appeal ordered that he and his co-defendants be freed after the Privy Council ruled the conviction should be quashed because of juror misconduct. He was released on July 31, 2024.

Since then, Kartel has moved quickly back into public life and new releases, with his voice still shaping dancehall’s present as much as its recent past. Whether through classic singles, remix culture, or newer projects such as “War Start,” he remains a major figure in the genre: controversial, influential, and impossible to ignore.