A strident Bounty Killer has revealed what he says are the two real reasons the United States Embassy has refused to grant him a visa: his strong opposition to the LGBTQ community, and his perceived close acquaintance with former West Kingston don, Christopher “Dudus” Coke.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Fix, Bounty Killer explained that Dudus was merely fond of him because he saw him as a defender of the people and because he gave support to the don’s stage shows such as Champions in Action.
“Mi neva vote yet yuh nuh. I born an grow up in a PNP constituency and then when mi buss everybody think mi a Labourite enuh, choo Dudus like mi. Cause him si mi as a rebel weh stand for the people and him know me born a Trench Town and grow a Riverton and Calaloo Bed an Seaview – die hearted PNP communities but he never see me as a political advocate. That’s why him join force with me and then we used to do all a di Jamboree an all di Champion in Action and everything,” Bounty explained.
“That’s one thing why America took my visa too. And they don’t want to admit it. It’s all about (expletive deleted) LGBT and Dudus. That’s why they took my Visa. I done nothing! Me is a straight man and me naw like no ben-up man, no lean bway!” Bounty said.
Bounty, whose given name is Rodney Basil Price, in elaborating on his contention that the embassy’s decision is directly linked to his utterances about his dislike of homosexuals, said that his position on the LGBTQ grouping will remain the same.
“I send this to the world: LGBT don’t like me and me don’t like dem! What the problem? It’s hypocrisy or democracy? Me have no right? Whappen to my pride? Whappen to my dignity? Whappen to my sovereignty? Mi like weh me like an mi no like weh mi nuh like and who nuh like guh fight! Dat is it!” he stated.
He also declared that contrary to what was initially thought, the visa denial has no connection to a prior ganja spliff offense with which he was charged during a previous visit to the United States.
“An mi nuh shy from speak what it is! Di one spliff weh mi charge fah inna America could not cause no Visa cancellation. I have been granted waiver for 12 years after for that, mean pardoning yuh, pardoning yuh, pardoning yuh. How all of a sudden yuh nuh pardon mi again, fi di same spliff? A two spliff?” he said.
“Mi good a Jamaica man. My place mi deh. A me run dis yah grung. Me all right pan mi grung,” he added.
In an interview with Gaza Uncle and DJ Everlina in September last year, Bounty had described his inability to travel to the United States, for more than a decade, as “devastating” to his career and his family.
“I don’t know what I did to not have a visa for 13 years, but up until this day, di embassy nuh even have a good explanation for me,” Bounty had explained.
“I don’t even know how I survive… Most of my fans are in the US, and that’s where the music market is biggest, and I can’t even get to go promote my songs or greet my fans or even my family, my kids. I got several kids in the US, so this affected me devastatingly,” he had added.
The Coppershot artiste had also brought up the Ganja possession charge he had faced in the US, which he said was regarded as a “misdemeanour” as it was “less than five grams”.
“I never went before a judge. I paid a custom 500 USD in the airport where they found the weed in my pants in my luggage,” he had explained.
“I’ve been traveling on waivers from 1997 up until 2010. 13 years they kept giving me waivers. That mean they pardon you to travel. So, they’ve been pardoning me to travel up until weed became decriminalized. Then, all of a sudden, my weed charge became a problem in the era of weed being decriminalized,” he said.
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