Bounty Killer, aka Rodney Basil Price, was born 12.06.1972 in the Trenchtown area of downtown Kingston, Jamaica, with his family moving to a next ghetto area of Riverton City (formerly known as Dungle), and finally Seaview Gardens, Kingston, as a young child. One of nine children to his mother "Miss Ivy" and father, owner of a small sound system, Rodney first picked up the mic as a deejay at nine years old.
He nearly lost his life to gun violence at 14, but thankfully fully recovered from the bystander assault and soon began his music career as Bounty Hunter. He joined neighborhood friends Nitty Kutchie and Boom Dandemite in seeking out opportunities in country as well as town, performing for Metromedia and Bodyguard, as well as other local area sound systems. It was during a chance meeting with brother of King Jammy, Uncle T, which would change his career forever.
Bounty's initial recordings were done by Uncle T, after Jammy himself was skeptical due to the violent nature of the tracks. Jammy eventually relented upon witnessing the rising popularity of the deejay.
His first hit record on the sound system circuit was Dub Fi Dub and other recordings with the King Jammys label were compiled into 1993's Jamaica's Most Wanted, later released as Roots, Reality and Culture. By 1993, now known internationally as Bounty Killer, Rodney was quickly becoming regarded as one of the fiercest and most lyrically gifted of the next generation of deejays. Hits such as Coppershot, Lodge, and Spy Fi Die quickly propelled Bounty to an upper-echelon deejay, and sound system dubplate favorite. "Coppershot" was actually a hit in New York before Jamaica, which left Bounty as personally indebted to the American city as much as his native Kingston. 1993 also brought the beginning of a long, on-and-off rivalry with Beenie Man, which culminated in a battle at Sting 1993, extended through the mid-90s and flared up again in the latter half of the following decade.
Bounty won the war at Sting 1993 and his legacy as dancehall superstar was cemented as a result. The mid-1990s brought hit after hit, such as Cellular Phone, Not Another Word, and Mama. The heated war-of-words with Beenie Man gave the world many popular tunes from each side, including Ask Fi War, Suspense, and War Beyond The Stars.
The mid-90s era culminated in the release of My Xperience in 1996. The most comercially successful album of Bounty's career, and widely considered one of the best dancehall albums of the decade, it mixed popular dancehall tracks, such as Living Dangerously featuring Barrington Levy and Fed Up, with hip-hop crossover duets featuring Jeru The Damaja, Raekwon and, most popularly, The Fugees.
The decade closed out with two more albums, Next Millenium, which featued more hip-hop guest combinations, and 5th Element, which returned to a more hardcore-dancehall style.
By the year 2000, Bounty Killer, along with Capleton, was still considered the top deejay in the business, particularly with the waning popularity (at the time) of Beenie Man, and refocused career path of Buju Banton. This was due as much to being the most in-demand artist for dubplate recordings by sound systems as to actual studio material.
In 2001, he was featured with No Doubt on their international hit Hey Baby, and appeared with the band for a pre-game performance at the 2002 NFL Super Bowl.
In 2002, Bounty released his most ambitious project since My Xperience, a double CD (released seperately), titled Ghetto Dictionary: The Mystery and Ghetto Dictionary: The Art of War. While not nearly the commercial success of My Xperience, underground sales were strong, and it featured the smash dancehall hit Sufferah.
Since the Ghetto Dictionary project, Bounty Killer's influence has mostly been behind-the-scenes, working with young talent and bringing new dancehall reggae stars to the forefront. He has been credited with bolstering the careers of, among others, Elephant Man, Busy Signal, Wayne Marshall, Baby Cham, and Vybz Kartel.
He currently oversees a stable of artists known alternately as The Alliance and Gully, which includes Mavado and Aidonia.
No Supastar
Bounty Killer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
25 to life, uh, pass the lighter rude boy
The music a hot like a million fire side
Come in!
[Chorus]
Don't have to be No Supastar (Supastar, Supastar)
In everyone there's a sense of purpose
That's right so Babylon don't you try to control us
Africans who we are, every nigga is a star
Well, the top is where I'm headin far
Pretty chicks and fancy cars, and a nigga into Mars
Drink champagne, dem yam too much caviar
True players in a bar, some of dem smoke a dem cigars
Drown them fools and now we make dem bizarres
Stole the cookie from the jar but you never took him far
Well, him and Killah Priest gon' never spar
[Chorus]
We live in poverty due to prophecy from our ancestors
We all transgressors, uh Moses let us
Now cops arrest us, until the jake, job bless us
Left false scriptures to protect us
Rightful ears, the Solomon's sceptors
True Isrealians, Rastafarians
We handle beef like vegetarians, we very sinned
My players sip Dacari's, we live the life of Judas Maccabee
Black fatigues with our hair raggety!
We all Supastars even without +CREAM+ and cars
[Chorus]
Know why? Street tycoon up before high noon
Followed by the spot, zoom lens, ghetto peepers singin my tune
They say I'ma die soon, livin without time, sketchin my outline
(It's a hitman!) Too late to make a speedy recovery
Lovely, with shots that done smmothered me and covered me
Choppers above of me, what a startling discovery
Our own brother be the one with the killer instinct
Just because I'm a so-called star
[Chorus]
Well, I just wanna be myself, I don't need nobody else
Working for long life, and good health
No what's about the wealth, see that's the way I felt
I'm okay, confide in God, will help
Tried to put me on the shelf 'cause I'm so excellent
Damn you nowhere with no persistence
You don't want no selfish thing, don't have no confidence
Well, you don't have to be a star to be yourself
[Chorus: x2]
In "No Supastar," Bounty Killer rejects the notion that one needs to be a superstar to make a difference in life. Instead, he argues that everyone has a sense of purpose, and that Babylon (a metaphor for corrupt systems of power) shouldn't try to control or redefine that purpose. He also touches on themes of African identity, poverty, false religious teachings, and violence in communities. Through these lyrics, Bounty Killer encourages listeners to embrace their individuality and self-worth, and to resist the pressures of societal expectations.
In the third verse, he references Judas Maccabee, a Jewish warrior who fought to defend his people against oppression. The song also includes Jamaican patois, which is a dialect spoken in Jamaica that combines African languages with English.
Line by Line Meaning
No Supastar, just gotta just who you are
You don't need to be a famous superstar, just be true to yourself.
25 to life, uh, pass the lighter rude boy
Pass me the lighter so we can smoke and enjoy life, even if it's a struggle.
The music a hot like a million fire side
The music is so good and fiery, it's like a million bonfires burning brightly.
Don't have to be No Supastar (Supastar, Supastar)
Just gotta be just who you are, oh-whoa
In everyone there's a sense of purpose
That's right so Babylon don't you try to control us
You don't have to be a superstar, just be true to your purpose and don't let anyone else control you.
Africans who we are, every nigga is a star
Well, the top is where I'm headin far
Pretty chicks and fancy cars, and a nigga into Mars
Drink champagne, dem yam too much caviar
As Africans, we are all stars and deserve the best in life. We strive to reach the top and enjoy the luxuries of life, but sometimes we indulge too much.
True players in a bar, some of dem smoke a dem cigars
Drown them fools and now we make dem bizarres
Stole the cookie from the jar but you never took him far
Well, him and Killah Priest gon' never spar
We are true players and some of us smoke cigars. We may overcome our enemies, but we won't go too far in our victory. There is no need for conflict between fellow musicians.
We live in poverty due to prophecy from our ancestors
We all transgressors, uh Moses let us
Now cops arrest us, until the jake, job bless us
Left false scriptures to protect us
Our ancestors prophesied our poverty, and we all make mistakes like transgressors. Moses let us be free, but now the police oppress us. False scriptures were left to help protect us.
Rightful ears, the Solomon's sceptors
True Isrealians, Rastafarians
We handle beef like vegetarians, we very sinned
My players sip Dacari's, we live the life of Judas Maccabee
We are the true Israelites and Rastafarians, with the rightful wisdom of King Solomon. We handle conflicts peacefully, like vegetarians. We live like warriors and sip Dacari's, like Judas Maccabee.
Black fatigues with our hair raggety!
We all Supastars even without +CREAM+ and cars
We wear black fatigues and have raggedy hair, but we are still all superstars, without needing wealth and material possessions.
Know why? Street tycoon up before high noon
Followed by the spot, zoom lens, ghetto peepers singin my tune
They say I'ma die soon, livin without time, sketchin my outline
(It's a hitman!) Too late to make a speedy recovery
Lovely, with shots that done smmothered me and covered me
Choppers above of me, what a startling discovery
Our own brother be the one with the killer instinct
Just because I'm a so-called star
I'm a street tycoon up early in the day, with fans following me and singing my songs. People think I'll die young and I'm living life to the fullest. It's too late for me to recover from the damage already done to me. It's shocking to think our own brother could harm us, just because we're famous.
Well, I just wanna be myself, I don't need nobody else
Working for long life, and good health
No what's about the wealth, see that's the way I felt
I'm okay, confide in God, will help
Tried to put me on the shelf 'cause I'm so excellent
Damn you nowhere with no persistence
You don't want no selfish thing, don't have no confidence
Well, you don't have to be a star to be yourself
I just want to be true to myself and focus on living a long and healthy life. Wealth is not a priority for me. I'm happy with who I am and trust in God for help. People have tried to silence me because I'm excellent, but they are unsuccessful due to their lack of persistence and confidence. You don't have to be famous to be true to yourself.
Don't have to be No Supastar (Supastar, Supastar)
Just gotta be just who you are, oh-whoa
In everyone there's a sense of purpose
That's right so Babylon don't you try to control us
You don't have to be a superstar, just be true to your purpose and don't let anyone else control you.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: RODNEY PRICE, J. WONDER, C. BREWER, W. CLARK, W. REED
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind