After a 24-year wait, Jamaican superstar Vybz Kartel returns to NYC

Jamaican dancehall legend Vybz Kartel will perform at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Friday and Saturday – his first concert in the United States after serving a decade in prison for a murder he maintains he did not commit.

For his fans in New York City, many of whom are young adults of West Indian descent, Kartel’s music has been the soundtrack to their lives. But most of them have never had the chance to see him perform live.

Tee Smith said she's been waiting all her adult life to watch him perform.

“ If anybody went to college in the 2000s, they know that Vybz Kartel was very important,” said Smith, adding that his music was played at every party. “It was always a good time.”

She paid $300 to see Saturday’s performance at Barclays Center, about what she paid to see Beyoncé perform in New Jersey next month.

Kartel, born Adidja Azim Palmer, started recording music as a teenager in Jamaica and burst to fame in the United States around 2003 with his album "Up 2 Di Time." In 2009, his song “Ramping Shop,” featuring dancehall artist Spice, hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In 2013, Kartel was charged with murder and illegal possession of a firearm. The following year, he was sentenced to life in prison after a 64-day trial, among the longest in Jamaica's history.

Last year, Kartel’s conviction was overturned by a London court, the final court of appeal for some Jamaican cases. His defense team argued that a juror accused of trying to bribe others should have been removed from the trial.

How a man who has been imprisoned for more than a decade can dominate a genre is a testament to Kartel's legend and productivity.

Kartel released music throughout his prison sentence. In 2016, two years into his incarceration, he made the song “Fever,” his biggest hit to date.

In an interview last year with the hip-hop podcast "Juan Ep Is Life," his first after his release from prison, Kartel said he used a smartphone and a table to record the song from a prison cell. In May 2024, weeks before he was freed, Kartel dropped the LP "Party With Me," which was nominated for the Best Reggae Album at this year's Grammys.

Still, some fans found that they've outgrown Kartel's music in the 20-plus years they’ve waited for his return.

Marlon Brown, who goes by DJ Club Killa and has been performing for decades, said that dancehall, much like American rap, is often criticized for lyrics that are sexually explicit, violent and degrading toward women.

He said if he was younger, or if the Vybz Kartel of 20 years ago was performing, he would be more willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket. But now, he is less drawn to it.

“I don’t like the message that it puts out in some of the songs,” he said. “Music to me is supposed to be fun and just makes you want to dance and party.”

Kartel’s lyrics, famed for their raunchiness and accused by some of being too violent, were even used in the 2014 murder case against him.

Kartel’s return to the stage may look different for people who remember him as an active 20-something when he last performed in the United States.

In 2016, Kartel was diagnosed with Graves disease, an autoimmune condition that causes the thyroid gland to produce too much thyroid hormone. It can cause fatigue, tremors and an irregular heartbeat.

Kartel looks visibly older after spending a decade in prison and the disease has left his face and neck swollen. That’s shocked some fans and has left them to wonder if the dancehall artist could still perform with the same energy he used to. Even Cardi B entered the fray in August to urge people to mind their business.

Still, American fans rushed to buy tickets for the April 11 concert, and in large enough numbers that the event group Reggae Fest – which is organizing the Barclays Center concerts – added a second date for the following night.

Godfrey Lewis, who owns PiCH, a popular brunch spot in Brooklyn among New Yorkers of Caribbean descent – said he’s expecting the West Indian diaspora in New York City to flock along Flatbush Avenue in big numbers, whether they have tickets to the concert or not.

He’s hosting parties through the weekend at the restaurant to give some of those ticketless fans a place to celebrate what he said is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

“Flatbush Avenue is going to become Vybz Kartel Avenue,” Lewis said. “He loves Brooklyn.  He has a song that represents Brooklyn and people are just dying to see him perform.”