Beenie Man and Bounty Killer are blasting Billboard Magazine after being snubbed on their Verzuz cover.
The Dancehall duo made history earlier this year with their groundbreaking Verzuz performance. The Beenie Man-Bounty Killer Verzuz battle turned in impressive figures with nearly half-million viewers and more than one billion impressions on Instagram.
Unfortunately Billboard failed to future the veterans on their cover which shows the artistes who battled on the platform.
Verzuz producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz quickly took to social media to defend Beenie Man and Bounty Killer’s contribution. The two also edited the artwork of the Billboard cover, removing their images, replacing them with photos of Beenie and Bounty.
“While we are honoured that Verzuz made the cover of Billboard, this would not have been possible without Beenie Man and Bounty Killer who set a big tone for our audience and represented for Jamaica. Thank you Billboard for the acknowledgement, but we feel this version of the cover best represents The Verzuz Effect,” they said in a statement.
However the damage was already done as Dancehall fans continued to grow furious online. Beenie Man also took to his Instagram account and wrote, “Billboard really is that guy.”
While the doc later thanked Timbaland and Swizz Beatz via Twitter, the “King of Dancehall” deejay noted that the Billboard snub reflects the struggle faced by the genre.
“Everybody forward and tek piece and build up dem ting and then do everything to undermine the genre dancehall where they got it from,” he wrote. “When will dancehall get its recognition? No matter how the impact, no matter the hard work, no matter how powerful the music is, them still try it everytime them get a chance,” Beenie continued.
Bounty Killer was also vocal online, “Tell dutty Billboard mi gun dem still load cyaa go round over nor over,” he wrote.
Killer later shared the #TimeNow movement which depends respect and global recognition for Dancehall music.
