[6] As summarized by Rolling Stone, he "attained folk-hero status in Jamaica with provocative lyrics, and a mischievous public persona", and "few have captivated [the dancehall] audience – or offended the sensibilities of its detractors – as consistently and thoroughly as Kartel.

[6] His conviction was quashed in March 2024 by the UK Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, who cited juror misconduct and declared that the Jamaican Court of Appeal had to decide if a retrial would take place.

The year culminated in a pre-planned on-stage clash with Ninjaman at the annual dancehall festival Sting, held in Kartel's hometown of Portmore.

Todd then purchased Jamaica's most popular dancehall nightclub, Asylum, which became the home to their weekly event called Street Vybz Thursday.

Six years later, he endorsed the Reggae Compassionate Act, a petition organized by the Peter Tatchell Foundation and LGBT advocacy groups to oppose homophobia in music.

[22] As described by Rolling Stone, Kartel is "credited with helping to erode Jamaica's long-held taboo against oral sex by singing about blow jobs".

[23] NCN spokesman Martin Goolsarran said his music contained "obscene lyrics" and brought "nothing positive" to the entertainment industry, on Wednesday, 21 September after a week of internal debate.

A public feud between Kartel and former collaborator Mavado arose towards the end of 2006, stemming from Vybz's much-publicised departure from the dancehall conglomerate group The Alliance.

[25] However, by the summer of 2008, tensions flared with a renewal of "diss tracks" from each artist, and a lyrical clash between the two at Sting 2008 left mixed views as to the "winner".

[28][29] On 8 December 2009, Kartel and Mavado met with Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding in an attempt to end the feud, which had by that time fueled mob attacks in some of the inner-city neighbourhoods of Kingston.

[30] The two had performed together on-stage the previous night in a sign of goodwill at the West Kingston Jamboree, a concert promoted by drug lord[31] Christopher "Dudus" Coke.

[24] After the truce in December 2009, the two artists were scheduled to perform an unity concert in March 2010 in Barbados, which was later cancelled by Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson.

[32] In 2009, his song featuring Jamaica's "Queen of Dancehall" Spice, "Romping Shop", debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart,[33] and "Dollar Sign" was in regular rotation on urban radio stations in the US.

The premise of "Teacha's Pet" found 20 women living in a Kingston house vying for the artist's affection; the show's lascivious content elicited condemnation of its sponsor, telecommunications company LIME.

Jamaica's Major Investigation Taskforce (MIT) later charged him with the murder of Jamaican businessman Barrington Burton, conspiracy and illegal possession of a firearm.

[60] On 17 April 2020, the Court of Appeal reduced Kartel's parole eligibility to 32 years and 6 months, citing Justice Campbell's failure to consider time the singer had spent in jail while awaiting trial in 2014.

[61] On 14 March 2024, Kartel's conviction was quashed by the UK Privy Council due to juror misconduct, requiring the Jamaica Court of Appeal to decide if a retrial would take place.

[66] In 2019, both were featured on the "Fully Gaza" riddim on separate songs, with Likkle Vybz teaming with father Vybz Kartel on the title track "Fully Gaza", while Likkle Addi performs solo on "Dolla Sign", which interpolates portions of the chorus from his father's single of the same name, on the Goodlife riddim, from 2009.

During the event, he openly addressed the controversial practice of skin-lightening, tied to colorism and Jamaica’s colonial history, and asserted that it was not motivated by self-hate or racism.