Bounty Killer and his B****man comments at Shaggy’s fundraiser

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The media has been touting Rodney Price aka Bounty Killer’s obviously third party written apology after he made a mess of things at Shaggy and Friends 2010 concert at Jamaica House on January 2, 2010. He was apparently called on stage by his “entertainment son” and surprise act Mavado who himself has a couple of anti gay songs chief among them one entitled “Dem a Fag” (They are fags) which describes effeminate looking men with bleached faces as gays in the dancehall community and other things.

The aim of the Shaggy and Friends 2010 event according to Shaggy in a recent radio interview was to raise funds for a young girl who was at a children’s facility who needed dialysis treatment, he visited the facility and saw the need was much greater so he took on the task of using his celebrity to bring attention to the cause. 

The incident left a bitter taste in the audiences mouth according to press sound bites, articles and a friend who happened to have attended the pricy ticketed event many politicians were present were in for a treat when Bounty Killer upon entering the stage lashed out used words such as “Battyman” hinting that they were unmarried persons in the venue without children and that those who didn’t donate were “Battyman” apparently trying to juxtapose that they wouldn’t understand the needs of children or care for them. It has been described elsewhere as a most awful event as patrons in the venue went numb some literally with jaws dropped as they couldn’t believe what they were hearing from the artist whose set also included a raft of expletives (Jamaican bad words or colourful language) at one point.

Clearly this is a perception held by many Jamaicans that unmarried single men, especially professionals are gay and I feel this incident should not be taken lightly simply because Bounty Killer apologized. His apology could just be seen as a public relations stunt as the deed has already been done. This seems to be a well timed and premeditated action by Bounty KILLER as he must have known being invited by Shaggy what the reason for the cause was and the fact that the venue (Jamaica House, the Prime Minister’s official office and residence) calls for a certain amount of decorum. One radio commentator hinted that maybe because certain politicians were present why he did so or it could be a swipe at Shaggy himself who was clearly distraught by the incident, if that is so then this is really unfortunate. There were patrons in the audience who enjoyed the fiasco by the way.

Was it a way to protest Buju Banton’s arrest and the perception of him being “set up” by gays in the US?

According to many publications and surprisingly including The Star News whose editorials before now seem to support this kind of charade, persons were very upset by this act from Bounty Killer that marred an otherwise very good event at the end of the holiday season. In an article entitled Bounty Apologizes for his ‘behaviour’ at Shaggy’s show in the Star News dated January 4^th a press release from Bounty Killer was quoted

“I’ve learn to choose my battles wisely and the grounds upon which to fight them. I’ve also learnt when to admit I didn’t choose my ground wisely and Saturday night’s show was one of those occasions.” According to him he said he got caught up in the moment as he had an audience he doesn’t normally have including politicians and persons from the upper echelons of society.

So it seems they are all Battyman then Mr. Pryce?

He performed his infamous 1997 antigay song “Eagle and the Hawk” (Battyman nuh want dem around mi) translation = eagle and the hawks are guns and as for gays he doesn’t want them around him so in essence the guns are to kill gays.

He continued by saying “nuff a dem a battyman dats why dem nuh have nuh pickney” (a lot of them (them meaning politicians and powerful people in this context) are gay that’s why they have no children)

The song was originally written back in the day to counter other rival dancehall DJs at the time with which he had feuds chief among them being the person on Beenieman, for years the two clashed for dominance in the dancehall arena, however the song has since taken a new meaning to throw hate at gays in general and incite death via the gun.

Well Mr. Price my question is after all these years in the dancehall music business and you, trying in some instances to become a peacemaker in and at other major events where other DJs have feuded this incident was where you now learn where to choose your battles?

Please I don’t buy it, clearly this was a press release penned by a Public Relations or an A& R (Artistry and Repertoire) publicist person from his management team or a hired firm for him. Mr. Pryce is not known to be so well versed in the English language as he is teased continuously by public commentators and radio broadcasters alike often parodied for fun. He knows fully well that the word Battyman and songs of that inciteful nature are NOT allowed to be PUBLICLY performed on stage and is clearly a breach of many laws including his use of indecent language of which he could have been arrested. Also it could be looked from international circles as breach of the RCA, Reggae Compassionate Act of which he was said to have signed in the United Kingdom to desist from such performances so as to be allowed entry in that country and in the European Union for performances and relevant work permits as was pushed by the Stop Murder Music campaign in that part of the world.

Let’s see if he has really learnt as he hints from this as he ended the press release by apologizing to Shaggy, sponsors, benefactors and all in attendance who were offended by his performance. He then apparently made a pledge of $250,000 which I feel Shaggy should NOT accept, they should send him away with his money and foul mouth.

Friends and readers make up your own mind on this issue.

Peace and tolerance.

H