The Time 4×4 Exodus “Paid” Bounty Killer For Dubplates With A 10-Wheeler Leyland Truck

Bounty Killer was once ‘paid’ a 10-wheeler Leyland truck courtesy of the late owner of 4×4 Exodus Sound System, Errol “Fada Duss” Hayles, to record as many dubplates as the deejay could belt out.

According to Bounty, he sang like there was no tomorrow for the UK-made heavy-duty truck. “A sound man brought a truck and say I should sing for it,” Bounty had said, before bursting out in laughter. He then added: “an mi sing out mi belly”.

“Big up Faada Duss, yeh. He brought a Leyland Truck – 10-wheeler an park it up and seh ‘das your truck. Dubplate mi want fi it’. An mi sing out mi belly,” Bounty said in recounting the history, on a past radio programme.

Bounty had revealed that he has made millions over the decades from dubplates, far more than he has ever made from performance fees at events. He pointed out that he records every dubplate with the same professionalism and respect, even if he is doing it for free.

“The amount of millions of dollars I made offa dub plate, I couldn’t even try to calculate. I get more money from a dub plate than stage show in my career… if it was stage show alone we would not be anybody today. Dubplates is more lucrative than stage show for me. And the amount of stage show you have to do to accumulate dubplates money, it couldn’t work,” he explained.

Bounty was the toast of academics at the University of Technology (UTech) in October 2019 for his work as a dubplate specialist and for providing what was described as “more opportunities or a more professional consideration with respect to how dubplates were treated within the music industry of Jamaica.”

In fact, one of Bounty’s mentors, veteran sound system operator and music producer Lloyd ‘King Jammy’ James, had also told The Gleaner in a 2019 interview that at one point in time, The Warlord was the most expensive dubplate maker.

Additionally, Music producer and operator of Black Scorpio Maurice ‘Jack Scorpio’ Johnson, also said in a 2019 interview that dubplates, also known as “specials”, have made many artists earn a lot of money from their craft even more than they collect off of royalties from their original songs.

Dubplates are re-recorded versions of artists’ original songs, interpolated for play in a sound clash, and which mention the names of the sound system while criticizing, jeering, and oftentimes berating opposing sound system owners and selectors.

During the interview, Bounty also reiterated that his track Dub Fi Dub, an ode to dub plates and sound systems, propelled him into the limelight and made him the highest-sought-after artist among sound system selectors. For this reason, he does not take voicing dubs lightly.

“But dubplate is something sentimental to me now… the reason why, dub plate was the first break we get into the studio to learn how to ride riddim, becaw we never get recording experience. And my first break was Sky Juice (Metro Media sound system selector) playing the Dub Fi Dub. So dub become my break, like a hit song. My first little break was Dub Fi Dub, so I take dub plate serious,” the Seaview Gardens native had explained.

“So when we do dubs, we do it like recording. We do it professionally, properly and with conviction. Whenever I’m doing a dub plate, it feels like when I was doing Dub Fi Dub, suh every time they say dub it means something that breaks me so I don’t play with people dub plates,” he added.

Continued Bounty: “Even if I’m doing it for free, it comes with a conviction. It’s a platform for me. I don’t see it like I’m just doing you a favour. No. I see like it’s Bounty representing. So I represent myself, not just the sound, because if a Bounty dub sound whack, it makes Bounty look whack; that’s what I think”.