Vybz Kartel Meets Daughter Amani For First Time: “Humbled Me Deeply”
Vybz Kartel has met his daughter Amani for the first time, nearly two years after his release from prison.
The Dancehall star shared the moment on Instagram on Thursday (May 21), posting a photo of himself standing beside Amani outdoors near a pool lined with palm trees. Amani wore a pink striped top, jeans, and black glasses as she stood close to her father for the picture.
“Words could never fully express how happy I felt in this moment,” Kartel wrote. “Since the day before yesterday, meeting my daughter Amani for the very first time has filled my heart in ways I can’t even explain.”
The two had not met because Kartel, 50, was incarcerated from September 2011 until his conviction was overturned in 2024. Amani is now about 15.
He said the meeting left him unexpectedly nervous.
“I never thought a woman could make me nervous… but standing beside my daughter for the first time humbled me deeply,” he wrote. “Life has a way of reminding you what truly matters, and moments like these make everything feel bigger than yourself.”
He closed the caption by crediting God’s timing, adding the hashtags #GodistheGreatest and #GodandTime.
The post came days after Kartel shared a short video clip of himself with Amani’s mother, Amanda.
Amanda was previously discussed publicly by producer and former Head Concussion Records affiliate Crime Minister, who revealed in 2021 that he and Kartel shared the same baby mother. He did not identify her by name, but said she had migrated to Canada with her two daughters and praised her for raising them. “Mumma is doing a very wonderful job now,” he said at the time, adding that she was raising “two beautiful daughter.”
Kartel first introduced Amani publicly in 2016 while he was still incarcerated, posting a photo of her on Instagram to correct claims that he had a third daughter. “My next princess Amani,” he wrote at the time, adding that they had “never met.”
In total, he has seven children with five different women — five boys and two girls — a family structure he referenced in songs including Man Straight (2014) and Family (2015).
Three of the boys — the oldest, Jaheim ‘Likkle Vybz‘, Akheel ‘Likkle Addi‘, and Aiko ‘World Boss Jr.’ Palmer — are with his former wife and businesswoman Tanesha ‘Shorty’ Johnson. In 2020’s About Us, he referenced his son Shahiem, who resides in Brooklyn, New York. His fifth son is named Kahieme.
The deejay’s oldest daughter is Adi’Anna ‘Girl Boss’ Palmer, shared with businesswoman Sherika Todd.