Bounty Killer Regrets Violent Themes In Some Of His Songs Including His “People Dead!” Catchphrase
Weeks after being rebuked by some of his Instagram followers for releasing a new song titled Gun Dem Ready, Bounty Killer has expressed regret for some of the violent lyrics embedded in many of his songs.
Speaking after the donation of tablets to the Seaview Primary School yesterday, the Warlord has sought to distance himself from previous actions and statements that could be interpreted as condoning violent behaviour, saying that he is now a wiser man.
“I do learn from my mistakes … One of my mistakes was to sing seh ‘murder informa’, and ‘people dead’, and ‘my gun nuh join lodge’, and all these things,” the Coppershot artist said.
“I am growing, and I am trying to move past that. That is why I did an ad recently with Crime Stop… So those are the initiatives we are taking on now to establish what side we are on and where we are going. I am going forward with Jamaica. I am for the country and for the people,” he added.
“I’m just a different man, I’m not the same age, I’m not at the same stage. But I’m still Rodney. I’m still the same person who born on 12 June 1972,” he said. “So I don’t think a person can change, I’m surely rearranged. I’m stepping different and I’m seeing things different and I’m going about things different. So people would call that a change..but I’m same the man just smarter, wiser and bolder.”
Bounty appears to have doubled-down on his opposition to the narrative being pushed by many, that Dancehall music, particularly those glorifying murder and guns, was fuelling violence in Jamaica.
As he did in January last year during a Red Stripe Forum on eliminating violence against women, he also re-emphasized that music was a very minor influence in comparison to other societal factors, but noted that all Jamaicans, including himself must take responsibility for the abyss of violence that Jamaica has found itself in.
“It’s social dysfunction that causes violence. Violence has become a culture in Jamaica. Music is just one of the little entities in the world that might have influenced anybody,” he told the newspaper.
“Personal behaviour influence people. The media itself is an influence. The movies, role models, broken homes, even corrupted leaders, they are an influence on everything, too. So tell you what: all of us are to be blamed. It is our country and it is our fault… We’ve got to work it out, but pointing fingers is not going to come up with the solution.”
In late March, Bounty was entangled in a skirmish with some of his fans who rained criticisms on him over his Gun Dem Ready track, a collaboration with upcoming deejay Machine Lawd.
At the time the followers told him that the song was not in keeping with his recent anti-violence utterances, his age nor his stature as an international Dancehall veteran. In addition, they impressed upon him that they expected him to make a difference instead of joining young artists in their musical shenanigans.
Some fans had insisted that they would not accept any excuses from Bounty that the song was only a piece of art that absolutely had no effect on the criminality rate on the island.