On Wednesday May 29th, dancehall’s most temperamental deejay
seemed content. There he was at Float, a posh Manhattan dig, vibin’ in the
VIP—a balcony overlooking the steamy dance floor—champagne cocktail in one hand,
well-rolled high grade in the other, skankin’ away to Tony Matterhorn’s
selections. Bounty Killer was celebrating the release of his eighth solo album. And
although the VIP was ram, he stood alone for most of the night. Perhaps he was reflecting
on 2002, one of the most productive years of his career.There was the “Hey Baby” single (a first for Bounty), the barrier breaking Super Bowl XXXVI Pre-Game Show performance (a first for dancehall), a re-igniting of words between his archrival Beenie Man, and now the release of the double album, The Ghetto Dictionary. He was partying in the midst of his celebrity.
There was an MTV camera crew working the room; industry elite styling and profiling; and hungry publicists and thirsty press vying for the Killer’s attention. There were even caged go-go dancers gyrating up above. The Diwali riddim had partiers clapping all night long, while others tried to keep cool in this midtown inferno. And there was something different about Bounty. He was wearing white.
With the likes of Wayne Marshall and a hyped background crew, Bounty ran through album features “Sufferah,” “Just Dead,” and the soulfully conscious “Outcry.” It was the typical album introduction. But the night wouldn’t be complete without some acid. So it was on to Beenie Man.
About Beenie’s mediocre attacks “Bad Man Chi Chi” and “Get Yourself a Gun,” Bounty joked, “People, unno cyan help him out…Not even a poem yuh cyan write give him?”
In the realm of all this self-indulgence, he addressed the evils of materialism. “How yuh a bling and yuh house full a darkness?”
It seems that Bounty has concocted the perfect formula: If you give the people what they want, then you can say what you want. Who else could question Sizzla, the fallen prince of conscious reggae, without reprimand? “I get paid to bitch,” he says. “But this isn’t no careless bitchin’.”
Perhaps there is a method to this man. He has every reason to be content.