Bounty Killer was totally fanning out over Rihanna and even dance with Beenie Man’s daughter on Verzuz Clash.
There were plenty memorable moments on the first-ever Jamaican Verzuz clash. Beenie Man and Bounty Killer set some record-breaking numbers and raised the bar for future battles on Instagram Live. Among the most memorable moments includes the segment where Rihanna got a huge shout-out from the Killer and also at the end when the dancehall legend dance with Beenie’s daughter, Desha Ravers. He also gave Desha a big shout-out. Arguably the most memorable segment was when police officers tried to shut down the clash, but Beenie handled it with class and conviction, and the show went on.
Swizz Beatz knew that there is no clash like a dancehall clash, so putting this together was a no brainer. Before the clash, Bounty Killer and Beenie Man spoke to Vibe Magazine & Boomshots in separate interviews where they broke word about their uncanny methodology. According to Beenie Man, “Never you try to prepare for nothing like this. If you try to prepare, nervousness kill yuh.”
Bounty Killer shared the same sentiments during his interview when he mentioned that he never go into a clash prepared, especially with a big catalog like 200 songs and you have to select 20.
The “Girls Dem Sugar” singer began his career as a child star when he dropped his debut album, The Invincible Beenie Man: The Ten Year Old DJ Wonder in 1983. He paused his career to take on school before he resuming in the late 80s. From there it was no looking back, as he went on to achieve his first Billboard entry with his 1995 Slam and has recorded tremendous other major collaborations with the likes of Mya and Janet Jackson. His music has also been sampled heavily over the years.
Bounty Killer rose to fame from the slums of Kingston during the early 90s. His deep baritone voice and energetic performance led to collaboration with the likes of The Fugees, Mobb Deep, and No Doubt, with whom he secured a Grammy award. He also secured other notable Billboard hits over the length of his career that spans almost 3 decades.
Both men have engaged in numerous clashes against each since the onset of their careers. Therefore, history played a big factor in the song selections they threw against each other. The 1993 staging of Sting is still considered one of the industry’s most spectacular live clashes to date. According to the two entertainers at the time, the bout was not fully orchestrated, which made it even more spectacular.
During the most recent interview with Vibe Magazine, Bounty further expounded on his words from almost 3 decades ago, while bashing the current battles taking place in dancehall.
“It get intense but it never get serious as in these stupid people who do clash today,” Beenie said. “At the end of the day, it’s really music why we clashing, so we cannot afford to clash and destroy the music.”
The battle series developed by producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland has already seen many big names throwing down their best hits. The format is also largely sticking to the era of the late 80s to the early 2000s, creating quite a nostalgic experience. So far, we saw the likes of Teddy Riley vs Babyface, Jill Scott vs Erykah Badu, DJ Premier vs RZA, and Nelly vs Ludacris. Each battle has seen an increase in viewership, and with Memorial Day weekend in full swing, we could see the battle between Beenie and Bounty breaking records.
Beenie Man himself confessed about being a fan of the series and expressed that his favorite battle was the clash of the songwriters’ Teddy vs Babyface.
Rihanna wasn’t the only celebrity tuning into Beenie Man and Bounty Killer’s clash. A ton of other celebrities were on IG Live dropping fire emojis, including Ashanti, Diddy, Busta Rhymes, as well as a lot of other dancehall acts.
Of course, Desha Ravers also got Bounty Killer to dance live, something we don’t usually see.
