Dancehall

Bounty Killer Defends Gwen Stefani From Cultural Appropriation Claims In Sean Paul Video

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Bounty Killer Gwen Stefani
Bounty Killer, Gwen Stefani, Sean Paul

Bounty Killer and General Degree joins a ton of dancehall fans defending Gwen Stefani from claims of cultural appropriation for seemingly wearing dreadlocks.

The dancehall general Bounty Killer is coming to the defense of Gwen Stefani after she is accused of cultural appropriation and being a “culture vulture”. This week, Stefani, 52, appeared in Sean Paul’s “Light My Fire” track which features Shenseea, where she appeared to wear blonde dreadlocks and some social media users took issue with her.

One tabloid newspaper ran a news headline referring to her as a culture vulture about her blonde dreadlocks and a black, green, and gold mesh dress to represent and pay homage to the colors of the Jamaican flag. Her outfit also fits in with the theme as Shenseea also sported soft faux dreadlocks in a dark brown color for the rocksteady ballad.

“Dear Gwen, You’re far too comfortable with cultural appropriation. Y’all remember the harajuku girls? The bindi she chose to wear in one of her videos? The bantu knots? The imitation of indigenous culture within a music video, as well as, indecently portraying Latina women?” one person wrote as they called out Stefani.

While neither Shenseea nor Sean Paul has addressed the cultural appropriation comments, they had said in a release to Rolling Stone that it was great working with her, and Sean Paul has even said he has been a fan of hers for a long time.

Stefani holds a special place in Jamaican music as she is one of the last artists known to continue the ska and rocksteady music genre. Stefani became well-known for being the front woman of the American band No Doubt, where she was the lead vocalist and songwriter. The band is known to dabble in reggae and dancehall music a lot.

Many of the band’s music has been either reggae, rocksteady, or ska- all genres of music that originated in Jamaica. She is respected among some artists for helping to grow the genre abroad and earning the respect it currently has.

On Saturday, dancehall legend Bounty Killer reacted to the news as he spoke up in defense of Stefani.
“What’s happening over here now who’s f*****g with my Gwen nobody f***s with @gwenstefani in Reggae or Dancehall she’s been loving Reggae/Dancehall all her life,” the Dancehall icon wrote.

He also had harsh words for the critics of Stefani.

“Plus most Jamaicans girls today would rather to wear a Brazilian weave than a dreadlocks wig so why the jealously bcuz she rocks it so well I guess unuh go chat bout the man… big tune billboard sh*t like unuh can tell nobody to not celebrate our culture SHUT UP,” Bounty added.

Gwen Stefani has not reacted to the accusations against her in the latest video.

Meanwhile, Bounty Killer’s defense was co-signed by several other iconic figures in dancehall, including deejay and record producer General Degree.

“Nuff a unu gwaan like unu own Jamaica an Jamaica culture, ( Reggae an Dancehall) Leave di BBC woman alone! Big up @gwenstefani,” he wrote in Bounty’s comments section.

Others also joined in defending Stefani. “Come on This Artist has been celebrating our music and culture for a long time. She even named her son Kingston if i’m not mistaken. Come on man,” one said.

“It’s most non-Jamaican saying that nonsense,” another added.

“She’s actually one of us. She even has Lady Saw on her record “underneath it all” that record was released in 2001. Her son name is Kingston. They need to stop,” another fan said about Stefani’s collaboration with Lady Saw.

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