Bounty Killer Reveals Name For New Album: ‘King Of Kingston’
King of Kingston.
That is the name the Dancehall veteran Bounty Killer says he has given his upcoming studio album, for which DancehallMag previously reported would be executively produced by Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley.
The album comes 18 years after his last album Ghetto Dictionary, which was released by VP Records in 2002.
The Grunggadzilla disclosed the name on Saturday after he posted a photograph of himself on Instagram with Admiral Bailey, Richie Stephens, Josey Wales, and producer Arthur Wale at Beenie Man’s mother’s funeral and a fan told him that: “Kings of Kingston sounds like a wicked stage show or book title”.
The Grunggadzilla corrected the fan by responding, “@thejanemichelleshow. It’s name of my next Album.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHA_dqgJGaB/
The Long Donkey Cod singer, whose given name is Rodney Pryce, had initially made the revelation about his new album, during an interview with radio disc jockey Nikki Z in June. At the time he said the album was ‘way past overdue’ as his last album Ghetto Dictionary, ‘was two generations’ ago.
Bounty had also said the album was “gonna be the real Dancehall” and that he would be reminding people ‘what Dancehall is’.
“Some people don’t remember what Dancehall is and what the real foundation is… so we gonna take them to the real hardcore,” he explained at the time.
He had also said he was in no rush to complete the album, as that was not his style, and nobody should give themselves deadlines in music, but should instead “make music come as inspiration”.
Since he erupted onto the Dancehall scene in the early 1990s, Bounty Killer has released several studio albums including, Ghetto Dictionary: The Mystery. That album had featured 20 tracks including hits such as Mystery, the ganja anthem High Grade Forever, Sufferah featuring Wayne Marshall and Pot of Gold featuring Richie Stephens, Arrow, and the title track Ghetto Dictionary.
His first album was the 15-track Roots, Reality and Culture which was released in 1994, and included hits such as Kill for Fun, his breakout song Coppershot, Spy Fi Die and Gun Thirsty. That same year the prolific One General followed up with the Down in the Ghetto album which featured 14 tracks including How the West was Won, Inspired by God, Defend the Poor, Dead this Time, and See you no more.
Two more albums followed in 1996; No Argument on the Greensleeves label and My Xperience which was released by VP Records.
No Argument scored big with hits such as Scare Him, Seek God, More Gal, Mama, Miss Ivy Last Son and Action Speak Louder than Words. My Xperience featured a slew of 20 tracks including Fed Up, Guns and Roses, The Lord is my Light and Salvation and Benz and Bimma. Bounty also voiced a few collaborations including, Living Dangerously with Barrington Levy, Maniac with Richie Stephens, Revolution featuring Beenie Man and Dennis Brown, Guns and Roses featuring Anthony Malvo and Change Like the Weather featuring American rapper Busta Rymes and Killer’s Jamaican compatriot, Junior Reid.
The 1997 King Jammy-produced Ghetto Gramma was a huge album with 20 tracks. Among the songs were Smoke the Herb, Book Book Book, Report You Missing, Fear No Evil, Income, and Time to Realize with Papa San’s slain brother Dirtsman.
The Callaloo Bed native’s 13-track Next Millennium album followed in 1998. Eagle and Di Hawk, It’s a Party featuring Wyclef Jean, Can’t Believe Mi Eyes, and Reggae Party, a collab with Third World and Shaggy were among the hit tracks on that production.
The album The 5th Element in 1999 featured the classics Anytime and Look, which were banned from radio broadcast, Bullz of Chicago, and the title track 5th Element.
Bounty also featured on No Doubt’s Grammy Award-winning track Hey Baby from their fifth studio album RockSteady in 2001. The song was released as the album’s lead single and peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also reached the top-ten in several other countries, including Australia, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The song won the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 45th Grammy Awards.