I couldn’t feel my feelings when I got back the UK visa, says Bounty Killer
Enjoying promoting ‘Time Bomb’ EP in England with Cham
Published:Sunday | October 29, 2023 | 12:06 AMYasmine Peru - Sunday Gleaner Writer
Legendary dancehall artiste Bounty Killer is enjoying the London weather, rain and all, and he is wearing lots of smiles. It’s been 15 years since he last trod those streets – not by his own choice – and he has major plans in place.
Top of his agenda is the promotion of the Dave Kelly-produced EP, Time Bomb, a collaboration with Cham, and the two elite artistes have been busy doing press junkets and connecting with fans.
“The EP is out and it is not enough just to go on social media and promote. The thing about promotion is that you get a different energy when you are out there to meet and greet the people,” Bounty told The Sunday Gleaner, and Cham concurred, adding that “nothing beats the physical interaction with people”.
The opportunity to connect with those who have been supporting him for the past decade and a half means a lot to Miss Ivy’s last son. The boulder in his path of progress had been the refusal by the embassy to grant him a visa to enter the United Kingdom.
Earlier this month, Rodney Price made the grand, surprise announcement of his visa being granted by holding up his passport showing the page with the UK visa. “New albomb (album), new visa, it’s a new arising like the Phoenix. So who fi start lose weight, do it now. Unuh said mi couldn’t get back nuh visa but a God in control. Never will I ever bow, stoop, bend nor sell out,” Bounty captioned the picture on Instagram.
He elaborated on that memorable day during the interview last week.
“I couldn’t feel my feelings when I got it first,” Bounty Killer said honestly when quizzed about how he felt when first realised that the long wait was finally over.
“It’s a great thing to get my visa back. The last time I was here [in England] was in 2008 with Ninja Man for a show in Stratford. I’m back now and everything is feeling so fresh,” he added, while explaining that this visit was not about performing.
Instead, the focus is getting Time Bomb to move numbers, both physically and through streaming, and already there has been progress.
“ Time Bomb was number one on iTunes Top 100 Reggae Albums charts and the songs are also charting in the iTunesTop 100 Reggae Songs charts,” Cham shared.
Time Bomb is also the title of the single, which has a feature from actor Idris Elba. The entertainers shared that it was super producer Dave Kelly’s idea to have Elba jump on the track, and a team member, Monique Blake, reached out and made it happen. “And it worked! So many people love the song,” Cham stated.
Not at all tired, although they pointed out that it was their fourth interview for the day, which was still quite young, Bounty Killer and Cham spoke in depth about the album, looking at each of the songs.
“ Slow Motion is a love song. It is all about great songwriting … We have Dave Kelly’s guidance showing us how to use metaphors and say what needs to be said in a fresh way. That’s one of the problems nowadays, the artistes are not writing good lyrics. They need some songwriting workshops. The lyrics are too raw and plain. Look at Bad Man Ting … it is a badman song, but it is not a violence song. Just like Eagle and Hawk that I did back in the days. It is a bad- man song, but it is a defensive song,” Bounty Killer reasoned.
Taking the Slow Motion love theme a little further, Cham stated, “ Slow Motion is one of the sexiest love songs in the past 20 years. And it is all about the writing techniques … We leave the listener to fill in the blanks. Sometimes when you say less you really say more,” the erudite Cham declared.
With regard to the music, the duo have one aim and it is non-negotiable.
“We want to be able to compete with every genre on every level. There is no way a mix should come out of Jamaica that cannot be played in every club across the world. Jamaica has some of the best sound engineers in the business, but the reality now is that some of the productions now are way below par … mediocre. The songs go in the clubs and they cannot be played,” Cham lamented.
Bounty explained that the team “pushed the envelope on the mixes” with Time Bomb.
“It sounds like what’s happening today, but still have the feel of the traditional dancehall. We keep the platter but change the icing. Music is always the cake. We want back the fun in dancehall … that feel like Afro … they took that from us. You can sing a badman tune and still get fun and feel like dancing. When mi seh ‘ Run come up inna mi magnum bwoy’ nuh laugh oonu waan laugh … and dance?” Bounty asked of his 1995 hit, Miss Ivy Last Son, which incidentally, was remixed last year by none other than Archbishop of Kingston Father Kenneth Richard, who grabbed headlines when he sang it during the National Prayer Breakfast.
To show their appreciation to the music fraternity, Bounty Killer and Cham are hosting a dinner for industry people before leaving England.