‘Big disappointment’ Skatta Burrell says of Bounty Killer’s absence from Sumfest
Published:Sunday | June 2, 2024 | 12:09 AMAdrian Frater - News Editor
Western Bureau:
While seemingly disappointed that the plan to honour legendary dancehall star Bounty Killer, which was supposed to be an integral part of this year’s staging of Reggae Sumfest, has fallen through, Cordel ‘Skatta’ Burrell, a member of the Downsound Entertainment management team, which is staging the music festival, says all is not lost.
Earlier this week, a social media post attributed to Bounty Killer, who was among the first acts promoted for the festival, stated that the artiste, a perennial crowd-pleaser at Reggae Sumfest, will not be appearing. No specific reason was given.
However, in an exclusive interview with The Gleaner following Thursday night’s official launch of the 2024 edition of the annual music festival, in Montego Bay, Burrell said negotiations broke down because the planning turned out to be a very challenging undertaking.
“The Bounty Killer aspect of the show was one of the first things we came up with … a member of the team came up with the plan and we loved it so much that we delved into it quickly,” explained Burrell.
“Negotiations were proceeding … however to execute something of this magnitude, it required a lot of resources and at the time we were unable to get enough information what is needed to proceed in terms of the dollar amount, so the negotiation broke down.”
“It is a huge spent to celebrate an artiste like Bounty Killer, it is not like booking an artiste and writing one cheque, it takes a lot of measures to put in place … a lot of personnel want to celebrate Bounty Killer, it is not just a regular or typical thing,” added Burrell.
Burrell said that it is a big disappointment, even to Bounty Killer, that the plan to honour him did not materialise based on his enviable status as important column in Jamaica’s music.
“The fact that he makes the explanation that he will not be on the show, I think it is a part of him being disappointed and acknowledging that this was gonna be a great thing … so he cannot afford to let his fans think that it is gonna happen,” noted Burrell.
While this year is seemingly off the table, Burrell thinks it is important that effort to honour Bounty Killer should continue, especially since there is no animosity between the artiste and the promoters.
“There is still room (for it to happen) … because it is not based on a disgruntled situation between Reggae Sumfest and Bounty Killer, so I know it is not hard for us to get back to the drawingboard and make it happen, whether this year or next year. He has an obligation to his fans as well, who are probably asking him, so before we even think negative of it, we made an announcement, but we were not able to make it happen, but there is still room to make it happen.”
Speaking against the background of the many top-flight artistes, whose early careers were guided by Bounty Killers, Burrell saluted the veteran dancehall star as ‘The Dancehall General’. Bounty Killer’s Allliance camp has churned out artistes like Vybz Kartel, Mavado, Busy Signal, Aidonia and Wayne Marshall.
“Bounty Killer has to be celebrated because he is the general for dancehall. He has opened the door to so many artistes. So, we still have to know that, if we are going to say we are the leading reggae festival, and we celebrate so many persons, Bounty Killer should be right at the top of the list. The fact that it has not happened this year, because it is such a huge undertaking, it means that when it does happen, it will be awesome,” Burrell said.
Reggae Sumfest will kick-off on Sunday, July 14, with a Family Funday, the first event of what is packaged as ‘seven days, eight events,’ and will be followed up with a free Street Dance in Monday, July 15; an All White Party on Tuesday, July 16; the popular Global Sound Clash on Wednesday, July 17; Blitz, which has been incorporated into Appleton Jamaica Rum Festival, which will feature Beenie, will take centre stage on Thursday, July 18; which will be followed by the two major night’s at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre, which will feature a galaxy of stars.
The impressive line-up of stars for the two main nights includes international R&B star Baby Face, iconic Jamaican crooner Beres Hammond, Anthony B, Luciano, Capleton, Turbulence, Teejay, Valiant, Dexta Daps, Aidonia, YG Marley, Jada Kingdom, Munga, Ras I and new sensation Nigy Boy.