The heart of a 'Killer'

Bounty at Sting 2006. - Nathaniel Stewart photos

As I was leaving Jamworld early Wednesday morning, in the aftermath of Beenie Man refusing to clash with Bounty Killer and getting booed by the huge audience at Sting 2006, a man pointed to a large piece of g**** between the right side of the stage and the security fencing and said 'Killer heart big like da g**** deh'.

I could not have put it any better, except that the area should have been even bigger, maybe the whole field. In one moment, when the odds were stacked overwhelmingly against him, Bounty was willing to put everything on the line in front of a merciless audience in an incredible display of raw courage. One shot. It takes a lot of heart to do that, because if a man who calls himself the 'Warlord' gets whupped, it is hard to continue.

And in one moment, when Beenie Man backed down as Bounty Killer attempted to come on stage for a real face to face clash, Beenie Man went from the huge forward when only moments before he deejayed 'Angel a him fus' dey wid har/till she fin' out mout' water cyaan breed har', to boos when he said "Bounty when you a deejay, me no low yu fe sey whe yu a sey?"

That is running very scared. In front of thousands of people at the landmark show in the most anticipated clash since their 1993 square-off. And everything was in Beenie Man's favour.

When he was performing earlier, Bounty Killer said Beenie had his former backing band, his ex-girlfriend and his deejay son, Vybz Kartel. Beenie Man was called on by Kartel and, performing with that band, sent the audience literally crazy with his customary 'dem get me mad, mad'.

Thunderous forward

Everything he went for was a thunderous forward, including that oral sex tease about D'Angel. So at the point when he refused to take on Bounty Killer, Beenie Man was on a tremendous high, capping off a year of popular songs. He could not get any stronger.

Bounty Killer, on the other hand, was at his lowest.

He had been booed and given the handclap treatment at Island Explosion two days earlier when he challenged Beenie Man to come out for a clash (Beenie did not).

His Alliance has had well publicised problems. He has had an extended dry period of radio hits in an era when radio dictates popularity.

And he was fighting to go on a stage where there was Vybz Kartel, who can lyrically slaughter anything in sight, who could have chosen to side with Beenie Man in front of his huge Portmore hometown audience; a very charismatic, super talented Beenie Man who is himself loaded with tunes teasing Bounty about D'Angel.

Bounty did not care. He was charging forward for the war against superior opposition in a situation loaded against him, win, lose or draw. And Beenie Man figuratively 'gi dem a run', losing respect that is very hard to regain.

On paper and in that situation, Bounty Killer would certainly have lost. In reality, Bounty Killer has an unbelievable amount of self-confidence, bordering on madness, and sample chat that can swing things his way in any situation. It is like long distance running, where one runner is very good racing the clock, but there is another who has what coaches call 'belly', as in courage. Put them together and the runner with the belly will always wear down the one with talent but no heart.

Long ago, Beenie Man himself deejayed about Bounty Killer 'one ting me love yu full a courage'. That courage is undiminished and was on full display at Jamworld on Tuesday morning. So was Beenie Man's lack of 'belly'. Whether or not someone else should have been on the stage with him is immaterial.

It is Sting, original kill and bury ground. He has taunted the man all year. And plus I was at Sumfest 2001 when Beenie Man walked on stage and sat on a monitor while Bounty Killer was performing, refusing to move when the security personnel asked him to.

Bounty Killer did not even get to the stage on Tuesday morning.

Now Beenie Man is challenging Bounty to come to a show that he has not been billed for a clash, after he backed down from one that was handed to him. That is stupidness. Beenie Man has the popularity, the hits, the band, the girl and he still wants to choose the battlefield, wanting a big man to come out of his bed and go somewhere that he has not been paid to perform, after Beenie has said he will not clash for free?

What next? A dead microphone for Bounty? Because it seems that Beenie Man wants a guarantee of victory without having to do anything.

There is only one thing to do. Next Sting, walk up on Bounty Killer and murder that and let us say 'yeah!'.

Big man. Sure, there are many shows in between, but Sting is where Beenie Man left his stripes and his belly and Sting is where he will have to get them back.

As Beenie Man said in one phase of the clash "Christmas come but only once a year''. Yes, but it comes every year.