A king’s coronation

In 1996, the group Vibes Cartel was formed. It consisted of Mr Lee, Escobar and Mr Palmer. Within the next few years, the group would release several tracks, including Drive By and Weed Partner. By the end of the decade, the group was being managed by Rohan Butler, who throughout the years stated that Mr Palmer was the standout member of the group. In a July 2021 Onstage interview with Winford Williams, he recalled an interaction he had with cultural icons, Jack Scorpio and King Jammy, after Vibes Cartel did a set at Champions In Action. “They called me over an’ they said ‘you see the tall black one – him bad’,” he recounted.

As fate would have it, Vibes Cartel would soon disband, but Mr Palmer, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, continued to press on. Rohan Butler began to manage his solo career and would pass his tape to Bounty Killer. Killer took a liking to Palmer’s demo, and by the turn of the new millennium, Palmer became a ghostwriter to Bounty Killer and eventually became a member of Killer’s musical group, The Alliance. It was around this time that he decided to keep Vibes Cartel as his solo stage name, but his new mentor made a suggestion. As Bounty Killer stated in a 2019 Instagram post: “His name was spelled Vibes Cartel, [because] other persons was using the name Cartel too. I decided he should spell his different [as] Vybz Kartel,” said the post.

Palmer took the suggestion and thus Vybz Kartel was born. By 2004, he was one of the headline acts of the greatest reggae/dancehall show on earth – Reggae Sumfest. Running high off his acclaimed Don Corleon-produced album, Up 2 The Time, Kartel entered the stage of the 2004 staging of Sumfest, wearing a jacket bearing the words, ‘Destruction is Creation’. Performing a string of hits, Kartel would declare himself, “one a de slackess deejays”.

He was back the next year and delivered a fiery performance, although soon after, his mentor, Bounty Killer, was banned from the festival by a coalition of corporate sponsors. By 2008, the title sponsor, Red Stripe, pulled out of the festival. In a statement, the organisation stated that the company cited violence in dancehall music and the conduct of several top dancehall musicians. Kartel was one such musician who, by this time, would be in a history-making musical battle with Mavado. Despite this, that year saw Kartel as one of the headlining acts for Dancehall Night. In what would be one of the boldest fashion moments at the festival, the artiste came out on stage clad in a full white suit, a matching fedora and a long white fur coat.

In 2009, Kartel performed on the Sumfest stage in a black and white Arab-style suit. His set would include members of his Gaza Empire. He was joined on stage by Blak Ryno, Shaun Storm, Lisa Hype (now known as Lisa Hyper) and Jah Vinci. Despite being charged for swearing during his own performance, Kartel returned to the stage during Beenie Man’s set to formally congratulate the veteran artiste on his crowning as King of Dancehall. As Kartel told him, “Beenie Man, you a King of the Dancehall from yuh come outta yo madda belly ... mi respect and honour yuh. A mi and you say Breast Specialist – A mi first No. 1”.

2010 performance

Still, in 2010, Kartel’s attendance at Sumfest would go down as one of the most talked-about moments in Jamaica’s live show history. In the wake of a state of emergency called as a result of Tivoli Gardens’ third incursion, he was one of six persons with whom the St Catherine South police announced they wanted to speak with. Kartel eventually surrendered himself to the Greater Portmore Police Station, where no one would know the length of his detention. This was an issue as he was the headline act for the dancehall portion of the festival.

As history would have it, Kartel was released just in time for his performance. He opened his act handcuffed while wearing a US prison uniform – an orange jumpsuit bearing the words ‘JAIL BIRD’. As he told Boomshot TV in the aftermath of his performance, the jumpsuit was customised, with a “touch of Vybz Kartel”. His set would include a theatrical performance of him being released from prison, where, ironically, his opening song was, Babylon Seh Jail. In 2022, Dexta Daps would re-enact the opening performance to start his own set. Like the year prior, Kartel was joined throughout his set by members of his Gaza Empire.

Still, 2012 marked the beginning of his absence from the festival, following his incarceration and conviction for a crime for which he was acquitted by the Court of Appeal in July 2024. In the months that followed, the artiste, who was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, would embark on a world tour beginning with his well-attended Freedom Street concert in Jamaica in late December.

Come this Friday, Kartel, who has emerged as the most influential artiste of the 21st century in dancehall, will make his widely awaited return to the Sumfest stage. As Joe Bogdanovich, CEO of DownSound Entertainment, the organisers of Reggae Sumfest, told Caribbean Life: “The energy surrounding Kartel’s return is electric. People have been waiting for this moment for years. It’s shaping up to be a historic night”.

As well as being the headline act for this year’s staging, the artiste will also be honoured when he is crowned King of Dancehall. According to Bogdanovich, he has personally hand-picked the jewels for Kartel’s crown. As he told THE STAR in a June 20, 2025, article: “I just gotta choose the right one and let the crown speak for itself,” he shared.

With anticipation building around Kartel’s return after a 13-year absence from the festival, the organisers have promised that it will be a historic event. “[It’s] all just gonna be all positive, it’s gonna be real good and you’re gonna love it,” said Bogdanovich.

J.T. Davy is a member of Tenement Yaad Media, where she writes and co-produces their popular historical podcast, ‘Lest We Forget’. Send feedback to jordpilot@hotmail.com and entertainment@gleanerjm.com.