Bounty Killer Says Current Clash Songs Are Distasteful, Lack Marketability
Bounty Killer has weighed in on the current state of clashing within Dancehall music, positing that the current musical confrontations are contributing to a decline in the art’s overall appeal.
According to the Warlord, while clashing itself is not inherently negative, the current clash songs are lacking in marketability and have become increasingly distasteful.
“Clashing isn’t a bad thing but the way it’s going today isn’t marketable and is very distasteful… no boundaries or guidelines… can’t work sponsors or corporate not looking 👀,” he noted on Instagram.
His comments came after one of his fans, in reacting to a post he shared about Spice and Shenseea appearing in the same space at a Baddies Caribbean audition, had asked whether or not Sean Paul was right in his recent comments about clashing being bad for the Dancehall genre. The two women are judges for the final round of Zeus Network’s Baddies Caribbean Auditions.
According to him, seeing the two Jamaican women together was a, breath of fresh air to Dancehall, unlike the recent tiff between Jada Kingdom and Steff London, which he said vloggers capitalized upon to stir up “controversy and contention”.
“So is me alone feels excited about this link up bcuz why it’s not on all vloggers channel I bet y’all if they were cussing or clashing like @jadakimgdom and @stefflomdon the net woulda crash today uniting is many times bigger than clashing more power to Jamaica culture but it’s a very wicked society we living in this synergy of energy kills the enemies gwaan mi gyals cheers,” the Eagle and Di Hawk artist said.
Bounty had, further in the comments, also called on Romeich Major to organise a collab with Shenseea and the reigning Queen of Dancehall.
“@Romeichentertainment, this needs a collaboration right now for the little young girls coming in both music and society😇😇,” he noted, adding later: “Nobody is taking about the program that they’re hosting the fact they haven’t been seeing eye to eye in recent times it’s a good look at a time when the whole industry is going at each other it’s a breath of fresh air. Don’t y’all think?🤔”.
Bounty Killer possibly has the record for engaging in the most lyrical clashes in Dancehall history.
In May 2021, the Kill or Be Killed artist had made it clear that he had no regrets about his lyrical battles, but instead delighted in the fact that he has lived up to his name Warlord, by engaging in the long string of high-profile lyrical and personal feuds with his own mentees, mentors, rival artistes, former friends and collaborators.
While his decades-old warfare with his former nemesis, now friend Beenie Man is well known, Bounty also engaged in other battles, sparing neither friend nor foe. Those who have come within his firing line include Super Cat, Mr. Lexx, Mr. Vegas, Ninja man, Merciless and Chase Cross.
One of Bounty’s earliest clashes was with Super Cat back in 1994. The conflict between the two had begun after Bounty recorded a single dubbed, Riding West. Supercat, who is of Indian descent, took offense to a verse in the song which made a reference to Indians, and recorded the diss track, Hear Dem Seh. An undeterred Bounty counteracted with the song Ancient Days Killings which jeered Super Cat for using old-fashioned style and lyrics.
As the battle progressed, Super Cat threatened to knock Bounty’s teeth out at Reggae Sunsplash 1996. However, the Seaview Gardens native was swift in his response, calling the Don Dadda ‘old furniture’. In 2002, long after the issue fizzled, Supercat revived the hostilities at the Sashi stage show, threatening Bounty on stage and later on complained to The Gleaner, that Bounty “had no manners”.
Bounty later called for a truce with Super Cat, and in an open letter, noted that he always had respect for the Ghetto Red Hot artiste.
Bounty’s other major warfare was waged upon rapper Chase Cross who was an ally of Mavado, with whom he had had a huge falling out. In that instance, Bounty had to crush a mutinous lyrical attack from Chase, which further fostered the disintegration of the relationship with Mavado.
Chase’s diss track titled Kill the Link was voiced following a shooting incident at Bounty’s birthday party, and resulted in irate Bounty had responding with the counteraction Waste Crosses on the Death and Funeral riddim, a lyrical onslaught that seemingly crushed the spirit out of Chase.
Up to 2021, Bounty had expressed delight that Chase remained an ‘iron balloon’, years after being branded The Jamaica Star’s 2001 Iron Balloon of the Year.
“Waste Crosses did not and will never Buss,” Bounty had said.