Bounty Killer, Mr. Vegas Both Declare Victory After Recent Clash
The two-decade-old feud between Bounty Killer and Mr. Vegas appears to be approaching another lull, with a series of victory-declaring posts by both Dancehall artists after their recent lyrical exchanges.
In an Instagram post two days ago, Bounty highlighted the fact that clash was getting out of hand, with a screenshot of a YouTube copyright strike that Vegas sent one online commentator.
Bounty’s post read: “See what he’s doing to ppl’s livelihood… that’s why this has to be over now. It ain’t going to end lovely folks. It’s going to get really personal soon bcuz me, myself, took this extremely personal. Who don’t can go listen my last song. I meant it all, I care. Hero pooosie trying to be a hero kool.”
The song he referred to – Target Practice – was recorded on Big Ship’s Power Cut riddim, known for its popularity in the clashes that dominated the mid-2000s, and it provided Bounty with perhaps his best showing yet in the lyrical boxing match. Indeed a deeply personal nuke dropped in Mr. Vegas’ direction, Target Practice mentions Vegas’ ‘Police brother’, and went to extraordinary lengths to suggest that he was gay, and in fact not a “badman”.
Killer’s spirited retaliation came after Mr. Vegas posted a clip from a YouTube channel, Live25 TV, which levied some rather serious allegations against the Benz and Bimma singer. There, Mr. Vegas called for a break from the clash, and insisted that Bounty answer to the claims.
Vegas even challenged a few prominent media houses in Jamaica to report on the allegations.
“This is bigger than a stupid clash! I agree with this vlogger. Bounty Killa should address this! The clash should not be more important,” Vegas wrote, in part.
“History will not be kind to you! It will not go away, as long as I am alive!” he went on.
In the absence of a musical response, Mr. Vegas still kept firing the proverbial shots in Bounty’s direction, and doubled down on his accusations while challenging the Warlord to respond to them.
In a post just a day later, Bounty seems to have had just enough.
“Respectively,” he wrote with a screenshot of the artwork for Target Practice, “I don’t think that I should entertain this clown anymore since we all know what this is about. Now, it’s not musical. This is a real personal conflict; he’s trying to hurt my character and my career. He went as far [as] to wish death upon my life in one of his songs. Says a lot.”
Bounty added: “Plus, it’s like 30 years me and Beenie been clashing and none of us has ever said ‘S#@k mother”. This is not going to finish on stage or record. It will continue and it won’t be pretty so it was a very entertaining and exciting moment for the culture and young generation, but I know what’s best to do folks. Give thanks to all the fans on both sides. Back to business as usual. Lots of work to do. Salute.”
Following Killer’s decision, a number of his fans chimed in.
One fan wrote: “Dat me a say as well. THIS IS NOT ABOUT MUSIC. Vegas really hate you, fam. We all can see.”
Another fan took things a step further in his appraisal of Bounty’s decision to abandon the clash. He explained: “General I respect this move wholeheartedly. I realize several years that bredda is a complete and utter mess. I stopped following him when I finally realized how unhinged he is… Low him and let him gwaan wid himself. You are the general bout ya.”
Since Bounty’s admission that he was stepping down from the clash, Mr. Vegas released two new songs clearly targeting the Sufferer singer – War Tanka and Death Threat. Both songs were uploaded to his YouTube page.
Mr. Vegas followed up those tunes with a post of himself in his Florida International University (FIU) graduation gown, with an interesting caption to follow it.
“Intelligence is needed when you are going up against tyrants, narcissists, lovers of men, and societal idols. The fact of the matter is, you cannot fight crabs without vision; you will get stuck in the mud!” he shared.
He continued, with a tone suggesting he too was over the clash, “To the fans/real music lovers who stood strong, BIG UP! To the naysayers, we proved you wrong regardless of what you say or feel at this point.”
He reinforced his allegations against Bounty, telling fans that the Dancehall icon was no longer a gatekeeper in the industry, and promised fans, “We will get back to giving you some fun music.”
Vegas also promised that an EP titled “The Death of Bounty Killa” will be coming soon, encouraging fans to keep it as a historical piece.
With the clash seemingly at an end, fans were expectedly divided on who the winner was.
One fan, who attempted to give an objective critique of Vegas’ War Tanka, in part shared, “The musical clash has undoubtedly been entertaining, and each participant has performed to the best of their ability. However, it is difficult to ascertain a clear winner without a proper staging or performance setup.”
The recent iteration of Mr. Vegas and Bounty Killer’s feud seemingly began in January this year when Bounty released Watch Yuh Mouth – a track many believed was a subliminal shot at Mr. Vegas.
In February, Mr. Vegas answered the challenge with two songs of his own – All Out and Run Up, which officially revved things up, demanding Killer’s attention. A few days later, Bounty Killer’s Drag Queen (Bup Bup) was released.
Though the feud seems to have settled for now, a number of figures in Dancehall caught a few strays from it – among them Vybz Kartel, Foota Hype, and Delly Ranx.
Both men seem to be on to the next thing, with Mr. Vegas announcing a collaboration with Yemi Alade, Bright Future, set to be released on March 10.
For Bounty, a project titled Who Deh Like U by Morgan Heritage, which features himself, Cham and Stonebwoy, is expected to be released soon.