Dancehall Veteran Merciless Promises Jazz, Country And Western Album This Year

merciless
Merciless

The self-titled Gyal Dem Gizzada Merciless has again vowed that he will be putting out an album this year, four years after he promised his fans a 12-track album titled Warhead Is Back, which failed to come to fruition.

But this time around, the veteran Dancehall deejay says he will be going outside of his comfort zone and will be drawing for American music genres instead of sticking to solely Dancehall.

“Mi orchestrate out mi album fi put out 2021 with some different type a song.  Mi a go do some type a Country and Western pon it and some Jazz,” the Clarendon native said in an interview on Thursday with during Radio Jamaica’s Two Live Crew with Dahlia Harris and Wesley “Burgerman” Burger.

This album is one of several promised by Merciless in four years.  In January 2017 the Mama Cooking artiste had told the Jamaica Observer that he was back in the recording studio working on an album which was to have been released by the end of the following month.

“I found myself in the war mood, so I just eat some war food and is back to recording my album,” The Chapleton, Clarendon native, he told the Observer at the time.

Weeks ago Merciless, whose given name is Leonard Bartley, also told The Star tabloid that he was working on a dancehall mixtape, and was also compiling a 10-track gospel album.

Since he exploded onto the Dancehall scene in 1994, Merciless has recorded three albums including Mr. Merciless in 1994 and Len’ Out Mi Mercy in 1995.

In January this year, veteran Dancehall artiste and producer, Mr. G. (formerly Goofy) said it was Stone Love that served as the catalyst that skyrocketed Merciless, from a virtual unknown to one of Dancehall’s most revered sons, in just one night at the House of Leo nightclub in Kingston.

Mr. G said he said he and Wee Pow turned up at House of Leo, where the Stone Love boss handed his then-senior selector Rory the dubplate Len out Mi Mercy, which had been voiced for the sound system by Merciless, and instructed him to: “bus dah yute yah tonight”.  Mr G said that as soon as Rory played the first line of the track, the House of Leo erupted in wild cheers, and Merciless became an immediate star.

Len out Mi Mercy was a hit on the island, which started Merciless’ prolific streak as songwriter and deejay.   The Clarendonian followed up with a string of hits including Mavis, which was the top Reggae single in Jamaica in 1995; Ole Gallis, Whaddup, Mama Cookin, Gizzada, Let Dem Have It, and God Alone with Little Hero and Action Fire.

Merciless, who turns 50 on July 1, also collaborated with Lady Saw for Baby Mother and Long Till It Bend.

Over the years, Merciless who also used the clash name “Warhead”, engaged in several high-profile on-stage battles in the late 1990s and 2000s with fellow deejays Beenie Man, Ninjaman and Bounty Killer.

His most famous clash took place in 2000 when he decimated a combined force of Ninjaman, Bounty Killer and Beenie Man, who tried to ambush him in a lyrical face-off at Sting 2000 at the Jamworld Entertainment Complex in Portmore, turning his three rivals into the laughing stock of the nation following the Boxing Day music show.

The clash was one of the most talked-about in Sting history.  After Merciless, clad in full military combat gear, defeated Ninja Man, he then proceeded to frontally face and rubbish Bounty Killer and cast aside Beenie Man, who claimed he only got involved in order to help out Ninja and Bounty.  However Beenie was immediately put down in Merciless’ extemporaneous lyrical attack to wild cheers from the crowd, and promptly made his exit from the stage, as the audience howled with laughter.