Veteran dancehall entertainer Bounty Killer has had his visa to the United Kingdom reinstated.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Bounty Killer shared a photo of the visa page in his passport, with the caption: “New albomb [album], new visa it’s a new arising like the Phoenix. So who fi start lose weight, do it now. Unuh said mi couldn’t get back nuh visa but a God in control. Never will I ever bow, stoop, bend nor sell out.”
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Several dancehall entertainers including Cham, Serani, Kemar Highcon, Pamputtae, Delly Ranks, and Quick Cook congratulated the 51-year-old deejay on getting the green light to travel to the United Kingdom.
US visa woes
While the deejay is celebrating now being able to travel to the U.K., he is still unable to travel to the United States — a situation the entertainer described as “devastating” to his music career and family.
In a YouTube interview published last week, the warlord opened up about the challenges he has faced in having his U.S. visa canceled for over a decade.
“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,” the entertainer said.
“I don’t even know how I survive,” he explained. “Most of my fans are in the U.S., 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 U.S., so this affected me devastatingly.”
The entertainer stated that for 13 years, he had been traveling to the United States on waivers, up until 2010 when he along with Beenie Man, Sizzla, Mavado, and Aidonia, were “barred from boarding any US-bound craft.” Mavado and Aidonia have since had their visas reinstated.
While the visa revocation had negatively impacted his career, Bounty Killer said that he is grateful for the role that social media has played, in helping to bridge the gap to his U.S. fans. His Verzuz battle against Beenie Man, for example, allowed him to engage with his North American audience.
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“Well, the greatest thing is we inna the era of social media. That’s the most presence I have with my fans in America,” Bounty Killer said. “As you can see, the Verzuz was the closest connection I got with the fans. So, these little panels, and social media and we online concerts — that’s the closest I can get to my fans in America.”
Bounty Killer is currently promoting ‘Time Bomb’, a joint EP with Cham with whom he recently collaborated on several singles. The seven-track project is in celebration of Dave Kelly’s Madhouse Records’ 30th anniversary.
