Merciless’ Mausoleum Costs $3 Million, Gadafi Says
Harvel ‘Gadafi’ Hart eagerly awaits the day he returns to Jamaica to see the completed mausoleum for his friend, and business partner, Merciless, who was laid to rest in September last year.
According to Hart, Merciless’ family purchased a 16-acre property on which they built the mausoleum to house the deejay’s body.
“I am going to sit and have a drink with Leonard and have a drink with him. I am going to have it in the spirit,” he said.
Hart, who managed Merciless’s career for over two decades, revealed that the mausoleum cost over $3 million to design and construct. “Is pure marble inside it,” he added.
Hart said the family had invested over $6 million to buy the property in Four Paths, Clarendon.
“We plan to keep an annual memorial stage show for Merciless at this venue. The family is putting in concrete fencing around the venue to create a show ground where the annual memorial will be held,” he explained.
He said the pricey mausoleum is part of a larger legacy project to honour the memory of the Ole Gallis artist by creating an entertainment venue where the deejay’s loyal fanbase can visit his final resting place and regale his achievements and his successes.
“The family has a plan to build bars and a stage area on the land, is 16 acres in all. Merciless had his savings with Mama Eckle. Merciless never got the energy from the industry, but in death, he was saving to make a statement, and his legacy will be there for other artists to see,” Hart said.
Merciless, whose real name was Leonard Bartley, was found unresponsive in a motel in Kingston on July 19 and later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Merciless, who hailed from Chapleton in Clarendon, exploded onto the Dancehall scene in 1994 with his hit song Len out Mi Mercy, which was initially voiced as a dubplate.
Stone Love boss Winston “Wee Pow” Powell, upon hearing Merciless deejay for the first time, immediately declared him a star, changed the Mavis artist’s moniker from Sugar Demus changed to Merciless. At the time, Wee Pow and Bounty Killer were not on good terms, and so Merciless having a similar voice to Bounty, was seen as a plus for the Stone Love boss.
Len out Mi Mercy was a massive hit in Jamaica and it started Merciless’ prolific streak as songwriter and deejay. The Clarendon native followed up with a string of other hits including Mavis, Ole Gallis, Whaddup, Mama Cookin, Gizzada, Let Dem Have It, and God Alone with Little Hero and Action Fire.
Merciless also collaborated with Lady Saw for Baby Mother and Long Till It Bend.
He recorded three albums, including Mr. Merciless in 1994 and Len’ Out Mi Mercy in 1995.
In the late 1990s and 2000s, he engaged in several high-profile lyrical battles with fellow deejays Beenie Man, Ninjaman and Bounty Killer.
His most legendary clash occurred at Sting 2000 when he emerged victorious against Ninjaman, Bounty Killer and Beenie Man, who tried to ambush him in a lyrical face-off at the Jamworld Entertainment Complex in Portmore, St. Catherine.
A controversial mural—depicting the Sting 2000 victory against the trio—was painted onto a wall at Merciless’ gravesite and was cited by Bounty Killer as one reason he did not attend the deejay’s funeral.
The family later removed the mural, which they said was the painter’s idea.