The Story Behind The Song: Bounty Killer’s Dad Mistakenly Thought He Was Throwing “Shade” At Him In “Mama”

Bounty Killer‘s father was upset at him for a long while, this after the deejay released the single Mama (Not In A Good Mood), thinking the lines about a ‘gambling papa’ were falsely aimed at him, according to the songwriter Angel Doolas.

Doolas said that the song Constantine Basil Price thought his son had unjustly directed at him was actually written from his (Doolas’) own experience with his parents as a youth.

“A my madda mi write dat offa. Mi madda come home one day hungry. An wi cook enuh. Di yute dem cook, an nuh lef none fi mi madda enuh. An shi come si one kitchel-load a dutty plate enuh. Suh si just lif upa figuree an fling it offa mi, cause a me alone deh a di yard when shi arrive; everybaddy else gone play wid dem bredrin,” the singer/songwriter recalled in an interview with Teach Dem.

“Shi fling it offa mi, an mi haffi duck it. Figuree pound out inna di wall,” he added.

According to Doolas, not too long after, the lyrics, which aptly described his home situation then, popped into his head.

“Suh mi guh do weh mi fi do; wash up di plate dem an ting and guh outside, siddung unda di ackee tree an mi start pree: ‘Mama she’s not in a good mood/Di basket inna di kitchen runnin outta food/Papa can’t find no excuse/Him drink out di money and gamble and lose/ Mama can’t find di next dime…,” he explained further.

Angel Doolas, to whom Bounty Killer has given credit for writing most of his songs, later voiced the track for producer John John on the Cus Cuss riddim in 1995 .

“An yuh know seh Killa faada blame him, seh him a sing bout him seh him ‘gamble and lose’? An him nuh give nuttn to di household an ray-ray-ray? But a pity him neva know. Mi si him a Rae Town, a one Rae Town party and seh ‘no man, nuh give it [blame] to yuh son. A me write di song. A my faada an madda me a talk bout. Him just deliver it’. A suh him calm down,” he recalled of the encounter with the elder Price, who passed in 2008.

He said in response Mr Price had said: “Awrite, from yuh seh suh. From yuh seh suh yute. All di while mi check seh a me. Awrite yuh great”.

Mama appeared on the Warlord’s 12-track album No Argument in 1996, on the Greensleeves label.

No Argument had scored big with hits such as Cellular Phone, Scare Him, Seek God, More Gal, Miss Ivy Last Son and Action Speak Louder than Words.

The album also features Searching featuring Sanchez, Woman a Run Mi Down, Oh Please, the title track No Argument and Cellular Number.