Rodney Basil Price was born on 12 June 1972 in Trenchtown, Jamaica. Bounty Killer as he’s called is a Jamaican dancehall deejay. Also known as Warlord, Five Star General, Ghetto Gladiator and Poor People’s Governor. He is the founder of the Group Scare Dem Crew and dancehall collective known as The Alliance. The Allicane helped struggling artiste such as Elephant Man, Mavado, Busy Signal and Vybz Kartel.
His father owned and ran the Black Scorpio sound system and Rodney Price started his musical career as a sound system deejay in his early teens. At the age of 14, Price was shot by a stray bullet during a gunfight between rival political parties. He decide on the name Bounty Killer while he was in the hospital. After recovering, he increased his performances and turned his attention towards recording.
One of his first tunes was the “Coppershot”, which Jammy was unwilling to release due to its lyrics glorifying gun culture. Jammy’s brother Uncle T disagreed and released the single himself.
During the 1990s, Bounty voiced for several producers and labels in Jamaica, releasing songs such as “Defend the Poor”, “Mama”, “Book, Book, Book”, “Babylon System” and “Down in the Ghetto”. At about this time, he became known in USA and in Europe, recording with such artists as Busta Rhymes, No Doubt, Masta Killa, The Fugees, Wyclef Jean, Mobb Deep, Capone-N-Noreaga, Swizz Beatz and AZ.
In 2002, he won his first grammy, Best Pop Vocal Performance by a duo or group, on a collaboration with No Doubt, for the song Hey Baby. The win made Bounty Killer one of the few hardcore Dancehall artists to win a Grammy Award.
In 2003, Price canceled two of his concerts after the LGBT magazine Outrage! petitioned Scotland Yard for his arrest, claiming songs about bashing gays would incite harassment against the gay community. He returned in 2006 after a three-year hiatus, performing uncensored lyrics at several venues without recrimination. He has since directed his focus to social commentary and party lyrics, admitting that he will not pay attention to nor attack the gay community in his music.
In 2008, Bounty Killer collaborated with Daddy Yankee in the song “Controlando El Area” for the album “Caribbean Connection”.
In 2014 Bounty Killer and long-term rival Beenie Man put aside their differences and recorded a single together, “Legendary”.
Bounty Killer was one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the ’90s.
Source: wikipedia.org
