Would There Be A Vybz Kartel Without Bounty Killer?

It’s always a good day in Dancehall when veteran artistes pay homage to each other. It’s a great day when those artistes are Bounty Killer and Vybz Kartel, two of Dancehall’s most prolific pioneering entertainers.

Rodney ‘Bounty Killer’ Price chronicled the making of Vybz Kartel and his career in a nostalgic post uploaded to his Instagram account three days ago. Killer recalled his introduction to Adidja ‘Vybz Kartel’ Palmer by Dancehall producer and Kartel’s former manager, Rohan Butler, in 1999 – a meeting he described as pivotal in the beginning of Kartel’s rise to fame.

“I just said fux it one day in 1999 [Butler] bring mi a cassette since CD’s wasn’t in as yet…Butler brought the cassette I listened to it crazy lyrics, sick rhymes and metaphors”, Killer wrote.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5x4i6QJuxu/?utm_source=ig_embed

Kartel went on to record his first hit single, Gyal Clown, with Bounty Killer and producer Jazzward on the Narcotic riddim in 2001.  “The most outstanding songs on it was Gyal Clown and Black Power, vocally Kartel wasn’t ready but everything else was on point”

Killer also mentioned his influence in Kartel’s collaboration with top industry producers, like Snow Cone, Dave Kelly, Jeremy Harding, Don and Computer Paul, throughout his early career and the evolution of Kartel’s stage name from “Vibes Cartel” to the Vybz Kartel we know today.

“So I took him to Jazzwad/Snow Cone/Dave Kelly/Jeremy Harding/Don just to name a few, Computer Paul was the first top producer who recorded Kartel with Black Power but bcuz his vocal immaturity at the time u just wasn’t getting serious and rebellion vibes out of the song that’s when both Butler and Paul decided that it ‘d work better if I record Black Power that’s how it became my song”

“Then it was Jazzwad my personal musician friend and producer who recorded Gyal Clown collaboration Kartel first official local hit, then I assigned Roach as his road manager”

Killer added, “also his name was spelled VIBES CARTEL, bcuz other persons was using the name Cartel too I decided he should spell his different to VYBZ KARTEL anyways google knows the”.

Since the public declaration of his role in the creation of one of Dancehall’s most renowned artistes, fans have been calling for Killer’s crowning as “the true King of Dancehall”. Comments from many users beneath Killer’s social media post recall his involvement in the start of the careers of many popular and successful Dancehall artistes like Elephant Man, Nitty Kutchie, Harry Toddler and Boom Dandimite of Scare Dem Crew; and Bling Dawg, Wayne Marshall, Busy Signal and Mavado. Killer’s impact in Dancehall is genuinely undeniable and has since been officially recognized and awarded by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) for mentorship in 2018.

Kartel has not yet responded to Bounty Killer’s online history lesson. Since then, he has released the new single, Protect Them, that has racked up over 300,000 views on YouTube following its upload two days ago.