Beenie Man Previews New ‘Do You Want To Be That Guy?’ Song, Launches Verzuz Merch
Still riding high on his magnificent Verzuz performance on Saturday night, where he clashed musically with his long-time arch-rival Bounty Killer, Beenie Man has now unleashed a slew of merchandise. The new merch, dubbed The Verzuz Collection, consists of 15 pieces, embellished with, among other things, his viral slogan: ‘Do you want to be that guy?”
The Girl Dem Sugar released the t-shirt line today, and the items are available for purchase on his website www.beeniemanmerch.com.
The Grammy winner has also indicated that he is in the completion stages of a new song about the incident that sparked him to use those now-famous words. Beenie posted a snippet of the song on his Instagram page in which he sang:
“Right there in front di world
Here come these two police guys
Dem intention neva dat wise
So mi ask, do yu wanna be that guy
Fi stop dancehall from rising high.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAx7YJ1nGy5/
“Do you want to be that guy?” was the most memorable quote from Beenie Man which he made on the night of the clash, after members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) turned up at the Kingston-based studio where the live clash was being streamed, following reports they said they received, that the artistes were breaching the national COVID-19 curfew orders.
On Sunday morning, there was a national outcry after one of Jamaica’s investment companies, not known to support dancehall, used the slogan with an image of the artiste, apparently without permission in one of its Instagram advertisements in a bid to capitalize on Beenie Man’s momentum.
The post was subsequently removed, leading Jamaicans to believe Beenie had pointed out the breach of intellectual property rights to the company.
However, on Thursday afternoon, the artiste began showcasing the shirts which he said were limited edition, on his IG page.
“DON’T BE THE GUY WHO DIDN’T PURCHASE THE BEENIE MAN MERCH,’ he advised in one of the posts and “Where were you? WERE YOU THERE?” in another.
Over on the merchandise website, the shirts were priced at US$30.00 and bore the slogans “Team Beenie #ONEKING”, “God Bless”, “Di Girls dem sugar”.
Also featured was a shirt bearing the words “Beenie Man VERZUZ Bounty Killa 2020”.
His fans have been raving about the shirts, and some have indicated that they have already made their purchases online.
Many congratulated him on what they said was an excellent marketing strategy and the ability to turn ‘lemons into lemonade’.
“Beenie you nuh ramp inno! Love di good sportsmanship! Qualities that makes one great! You have to be able to laugh with and at yourself! The people will TRUST love and believe in you for it! me a real Gaza yute, but I must admit you’re the true #kingofthedancehall,” Fabian Moran said.
“That’s what I love about you, Beenie Man. Turn any negative into a positive. That’s true confidence,” clemmzforrester noted.
One amused follower, morelifeentnyia jokingly remarked that Beenie Man ought to give kudos to the police officers who showed up at the event, as they had triggered what was now a profitable venture for him.
“Hey Doctor aka Beenie aka Moses mek sure u give a shout out to di police who didn’t wanna b dat guy!!!! Him deserve dat much….him tek ur advise so it gone up a top….maaaaad!!” she said.
Meanwhile, Bounty Killer has been releasing new music since the verzuz clash including, Pioneer – with Maestro Don and Gal Weather – with Konshens.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAvT_y8jl4o/