You don’t own women, Bounty Killer tells men - Deejay advises that moving on is best when a relationship falls apart

Dancehall artiste Bounty Killer wants Jamaican men to understand that when they contribute financially to their spouse’s well-being while in a relationship, they should not feel like they have ownership to said woman. He expressed that once that relationship has ended, men should cut their losses and move on. The deejay says most domestic violence-related deaths have occurred because men have fallen prey to the illusion that they own a woman once they’ve offered up some amount of financial support.

“The man dem now affi know say when you a spend pan a woman a maintenance, it’s not investment. Yuh a pay fi inna the space, yah pay rent. When yuh time up, yuh time up, no interest,” he said at a recent forum hosted by Red Stripe. “Yuh nuh born wid no woman; you and her anuh twin. Di man dem weh a hold pan the woman dem when dem say it’s over, let dem go.”

Offering up some solid advice, Bounty Killer encouraged the audience to pay attention to their significant others, urging them not to ignore red flags just because they want that person to be the right one. “The right woman will always do the right thing. When yuh have a woman weh a do yuh wrong, she’s the wrong woman. The wrong woman can never do the right thing. Only the right person can do the right thing,” he explained. “Yuh know me meet girl weh me nuh tell her weh me like and my choice and my interest, we just meet formally and we a link. And yuh know she just fit in and a do most a di things weh mi like already because she is the right type a girl.

“And yuh know how much girl me meet and me and dem a reason fi months and me a tell her how me stay and the things dem weh me like and she still a do all a di things dem weh me nuh like? Because she is not the right girl,” he continued. “All when yuh a gi her instructions and a teach her, she a just nuh the right girl. But a dat a nuff a we problem, we wah make the girl our girl. Your girl a guh come wid everything weh yuh want, yuh nuh affi make nothing.”

PAST ABUSE

Killer, whose birth name is Rodney Pryce, has had his fair share of problems as it relates to domestic violence. At the forum he shared openly how his abusive past affected his life and why it was necessary to change his ways. The entertainer said that although the journey to reformation was not easy, he had to do it, as he vowed to uphold the wishes of his late mother. “My mother make a will and say she don’t want to see me ever inna courthouse again, fi assault or nothing. She died and me hold dat will to myself and say I’m not going to try and get into that. Me a hold dat fi Miss Ivy,” he said. He also shared that anger management classes, numerous visits to church and the Dispute Resolution Board helped transform his life.

Although many feel based on his past that the entertainer is not the best advocate on the issue of domestic violence, organisers of the forum insisted that was exactly what made him the perfect voice. “His presentation was very good. We thought it was authentic, it came from a very real place. I found him to be very articulate and he connected in a way that was very relevant to the audience, and the truth is, there is nothing more powerful than the testimony of someone who has been there,” said Stacy Ann Smith, organiser of the Red Stripe’s Stand Up For Life forum.

“Yes, we know sometimes it is difficult for people to see that people do change and reform but he has done the work. He mentioned that he has done anger management and looked at his spiritual life and the influence of his family, his mother, to change his ways,” she said. “When you hear him describe his experience and how he has been able to come out of that and be in the place where he can advocate and speak out against this activity, and when you hear how passionate he is about it, you know it’s coming from a real place.”

shereita.grizzle@gleanerjm.com