Bounty Killer Proud Of His Dancehall Feuds: ‘Mi Build Some, A No Nothing If Mi Kill Some’

Bounty Killer took to Instagram on Wednesday to make it clear that he has no regrets, but instead delights in the fact that he has lived up to his name Warlord, by engaging in a long string of high-profile lyrical and personal feuds with his own mentees, rival artistes, former friends, collaborators, and even his mentors.

The Kill or Be Killed artist made his musings in a post that featured five of the artists whose careers he honed, and also propelled to their big musical breaks.

“This was and is the biggest Unit and symbol of Unity ever inna dancehall and first what unuh did chat bout Killer created Alliance to fight against other Artiste then after that full up di youth dem head bout dem hotter than Killer and then egos have it’s way but today my work speaks for it self☝🏿,” Bounty noted, insidiously taking aim at some of the artists, whom he had rubbished in the past, but in most cases, rekindled friendships.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPUpNeCpQmE/

He then made a statement for which some of his followers cheered, while others declared it egotistical.

“Mi build some aint ntn if mi kill some😂🤣😅😅,” he declared.

“So nuh man nuh tell mi ntn bout nuh unity go unite with unuh family and friend dem simple mi unite wid who mi trust👈🏿,” he added, in a barb aimed at Mr. Vegas, who has accused him of being divisive and upbraided him for his recent verbal attacks on Alkaline.

Some of his followers, in responding to the post expressed agreement, while some chose to rebuke him, resulting in him spewing a slew of clapbacks.

“Until this man grow up he will never get the respect him deserve,”
prickyanthony write, to which Bounty responded: “@prickyanthony Tiki tiki mi nuh get weh mi deserve mi tek weh mi deserve bully or bulldozer dem Gad a grung we never run weh🏃🏾‍♂️👈🏿😂😂😂”.

“Do thing you are d una of dancehall brother go sit an relax… man u tok about unity you don’t even know what is that…,” wiz_xx2 wrote,  to which the Warlord responded: “Batty b-tch mi nuh waah nuh unity wid nuh fish and fag unuh gwaan go unite wid unuh mumma and family.  Mi diss any p-ssy mi feel like diss unuh defend it simple👈🏿.”

While his decades-old war with Beenie Man is well known, among the other artists involved in Bounty’s long list of battles are his former Alliance stablemates Mavado, Vybz Kartel, Aidonia, Cham and selector Foota Hype. His other imbroglios involved Super Cat, Mr. Lexx, Mr. Vegas, Ninja man, Merciless and Chase Cross.

Supercat

One of Bounty’s earliest clashes was with Super Cat.  The two squared off in 1994 when, after Bounty recorded a single dubbed, Riding West.  Supercat, who is of Indian descent, took offense to a lyric in the song referencing Indians and recorded the diss track, Hear Dem Seh.  Bounty counteracted with Ancient Days Killings declaring that Super Cat was using old-fashioned style and lyrics.

After Super Cat threatened to knock Bounty’s teeth out, at Reggae Sunsplash 1996, a hot-headed Bounty responded, calling him ‘old furniture’.  In 2002, long after the issue fizzled, Supercat revived the hostilities at the Sashi stage show threatening the Warlord on stage and later complained to The Gleaner, that the Callalo Bed native “had no manners”.   Bounty later waved the “white flag of peace” in an open letter, noting that he always had respect for Supercat and that he believed the Wild Apache only used Sashi as an opportunity to get old feelings off his chest.

Mr. Lexx

Lexx has lamented the fact Bounty had never respected him as an artist and was jealous of his success.  He also accused him of trying to prevent his music from being played.   The rivalry between the two had even resulted in a big fight at Weddy Weddy Wednesdays in 2005 between Lexx and Bounty’s then selector Foota Hype.

Mr. Vegas

The never-ending tiff between the two started in 2000, when Vegas took lyrical aim at Bounty during his performance of the song Hard at STING. An upset Bounty lashed out at Vegas, saying he had never called his name and vowed to lyrically slaughter the Heads High singer.   Over the years the vendetta has continued with Bounty often questioning Vegas sexuality,  referring to him as ‘Gaygas’  even as Vegas accused him of preventing producers from recording him and trying to destroy his career.

Merciless

Bounty Killer’s issues with Merciless date back to the mid-90s, when the Clarendonian debuted and had a sound very similar to him.   Following allegations that Merciless stole Bounty’s melodies the ‘war’ began and came to a head when Merciless recorded Mr. Houdini, which Bounty claimed was aimed at him.   Over the years the two engaged in various lyrical clashes, but have since mended fences.

Ninja Man

Even his godfather Ninja Man was never spared from Bounty Killer’s wrath.   Following the on stage fight between Ninjaman and Vybz Kartel at Sting 2003, Ninja had blamed Bounty for the incident and in dramatic fashion, took a roll of Bounty tissue paper, threw it to the ground and stomped on it.   Bounty had responded, likening Ninja to a “waste man”.

In terms of his Alliance team, only Wayne Marshall, Busy Signal and Ricky Rudie were spared the One General’s wrath.   The first case was Cham.

 

Cham

This first case of a fallout between Bounty Killer and one of his protégés took place in 2000 after the Warlord questioned Cham’s loyalty and accused him of being too Americanized, this after he engaged in a series of collaborations with American rapper Foxy Brown and others.   The two called a truce in 2005 after performing together at a Hot Mondays anniversary show and later joined forces on the Dave Kelly-produced single, Stronger, which also featured Mykal Rose.

Foota Hype

Foota fell out of favor with Bounty in 2016 after the Killer took offense to remarks the selector made on the OnStage show about him not being a ‘Hot Artiste” as he was voicing for the wrong producers even though he was Dancehall giant.   From then the relationship had deteriorated from then, with the two trading insults from time to time and the selector dropping Bounty’s music from his playlist and challenging him to a fist-fight.

In August 2019, Foota Hype declared that he was of the belief that someone within dancehall fraternity has worked witchcraft on his former longtime friend and mentor, to ensure that the Alliance movement, under which some of Dancehall’s best artistes got their big breaks was wrecked.

At the same time, he said although his relationship with the artiste has become strained, he still has maximum respect for Bounty who is the most generous and most supportive friend he has ever had, doing free shows for himself an Mavado in their communiies when, according to Foota, they were “nobodies”.

Foota had also credited Bounty for, among other things, creating many of Dancehall’s and Jamaica’s new millionaires, who would have perished in the ghettoes of Kingston if it were not for is kindness.

Aidonia

Bounty reportedly expelled Aidonia from the Alliance in 2007 after he recorded a song titled Addi a Mi Daddy, in which he praised Vybz Kartel, with whom the Seaview Gardens native was at ‘war’.

Mavado

Bounty and Mavado have since mended fences, but according to The Star tabloid, their friendship had become strained in 2011, following a shooting incident which took place during the My Xperience artiste’s birthday party at the Quad nightclub in New Kingston, where a member of Mavado’s entourage was killed by the police.  Mavado was reportedly disgruntled with the Warlord’s apparent ambivalence following the incident, which led to a drastic change in the relationship between them.

Chase Cross

Though not an Alliance member, the issue with Gullyside artist Chase Cross was directly linked to the Mavado incident.  Bounty had to crush a mutinous lyrical attack from Chase, which further fostered the disintegration of the relationship between Bounty and Mavado.   Chase’s diss track titled Kill the Link was voiced following the 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 left Chase dumbstruck.

Last year, Bounty delighted in the fact 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.

Vybz Kartel

Vybz Kartel made his exit in 2006 following weeks of rumored tension between himself and the Warlord.  A part of this allegedly stemmed from Kartel’s continued association with Beenie Man, who was then Bounty’s arch-rival.  Kartel though, had attributed his exit from the Alliance to his quest to be a more independent artist.

Last year Kartel heaped praises on Bounty, declaring him a “great man” whose impact on Dancehall “is ubiquitous and universal”. Describing the Warlord as someone he loved, Kartel said he was a father, mentor, teacher and provider who offered him the “great escape” from poverty.