BEENIE MAN VERZUZ BOUNTY KILLER CLASH: THE DANCEHALL CULTURE OF JAMAICA THE REAL WINNER
The Jamaican dancehall culture was the real winner in the confrontation of Bounty Killer from Beenie Man "Verzuz" on Saturday evening on Instagram Live.
Verzuz in Jamaica does not amount to any social distancing, but not even the Jamaican Prime Minister, the Hon. Andrew Holness could withhold approval for such an event starring two of Jamaica's biggest names in dancehall culture, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer. The confrontation took a different approach from Verzuz's usual battles. It was an authentic dancehall confrontation, a well-fought musical war. The battle has taken on such epic proportions that it has become the number one trending topic in the world on Twitter.
Doors opened at 7:00 p.m. Jamaica time, 8:00 p.m. EST. Like all Jamaican-themed soundclashes, there were some early juggling of the two disc jockeys / selectors for the night, Kurt Riley and Richie D. Beenie Man first appeared with Gucci and an elegant look as he usually does. , Bounty arrived a little late but also came out in black and gold.
After about 35 minutes of soft and soft reggae music and the correction of technical difficulties, the battle was engaged between two of the titans of reggae and dancehall. The early parts of the clash saw the two iconic deejays embark on some of their most international collaborations, but it should be noted that it was quite difficult to keep a score throughout a clash of this magnitude with two rivals who became friends
Beenie Man provided epic intros during the early aspects of the confrontation, and for some strange reason, Beenie's microphone was a little inaudible in some sections. However, early selections such as Bounty Killer's collaborations with The Fugees - "Its A Party", "Guilty" with Swizz Beatz, "Summer Breezin '" with Diana King and more songs from his 20-track double album My Xperience did some damage. However, it was still difficult to say who participated in the first rounds of the confrontation, since Beenie also attracted impressive international collaborations. Beenie played her song with Mya with "Compton" by Guerilla Black on which he played as well as "Love Me Now" with Wyclef Jean.
Other early selections included “Romie” from Beenie Man, while Bounty drew for his classic cut with Barrington Levy, “Living Dangerously”. The comments were also quite entertaining with celebrities from all walks of life logging into the epic battle. The princess of the island Rihanna was a favorite in the comments with Erykah Badu and other artists such as Spice giving her shootings. RiRi replied with a hearty: "I love you at @spiceofficial."
Other artists include Popcaan, footballer Daniel Sturridge, Diddy, Papoose, Dj Snake, Boi1da, Teddy Riley, comedian Chico Bean, Ludacris, D Nice, popular Jamaican hip hop commentator Dj Akademiks and many others. However, somewhere between the 8th and 10th rounds, something bizarre happened when the Jamaican law enforcement intervened to stop the fun, which took place in a studio in the capital of Jamaica. After some deliberations by Beenie and others on the ground and presumably of a higher power, the confrontation continued.
It seems that the cops' warning was just right, as things have turned around from now on. Beenie Man then asked for one of the best riddims of the 90s, Showtime, and the two artists started recording some of their best hits recorded on beat and off beat. It was really one of the touching points of the confrontation.
After the mega mashup ended, Beenie Man was cheeky, "A mon chanson ça." The confrontation continued and Bounty dropped the poor "Fed Up". Beenie Man then turned the tide and dropped a dance floor in the form of "World Dance". Deejay's eldest daughter Desha of the dance group Ravers Clavers went out to stop some movements with her father and Bounty Killer.
Bounty Killer abandoned his 1994 release "Gal", to which Beenie then went on with "Modeling A Gwaan", just as Bounty did throughout the confrontation, he counterbalanced Beenie with a track of his own with a similar title "Model". Beenie gave a bit of history for his next selection and said he changed the dancehall at the time because everyone was doing simple lyrics. He played "Oysters And Conch".
Bounty KIller then drew his most controversial song for the night "Badman", prompting Swizz Beatz to apologize to anyone offended in his post-shock conversation. Beenie Man then followed "King of the Dancehall" for the ladies.
Back then, it was just a big party, and all the scorecards were out the window. After congratulating his opponent, Bounty drew for another custom dubbing built especially for the Verzuz challenge. The intro imitates a funeral procession-like sensation while "People Dead" echoes. It quickly turned into an EDM style rhythm, and Beenie being the artist that he is, started to go from 4 to track. They swapped a few other favorites on the beat before calling to quit.
It was a party that no one wanted to end. British artist Stefflon Don wrote: "I think it's the happiest I've been since the lockdown." After a few acapella renditions of more of the two men, the selectors launched "One Love" by Bob Marley, who saw Beenie take out his girlfriend and little daughter to dance and shut things down. However, the selectors had to leave one more for growing, and Burning Spear's "Recall Some Great Man" closed overnight.
During Swizz's interview, he admitted to having cried before specifying that "it will be a difficult act to follow".
Jamaican culture is winning big and Beenie Man and Bounty Killer have raised the bar for fighting in Verzuz.