By Shereita Grizzle/Staff Reporter—

Bounty Killa and Beenie Man—

Last Friday when Grammy-winning US producer Swizz Beatz mentioned having Jamaican acts on the widely popular Instagram Verzuz battle, it was a mere thought. Today, it is a reality. In what will be the inaugural Jamaican battle, dancehall legends Bounty Killer and Beenie Man are set to go head-to-head this Saturday in a face-off that has already been dubbed a clash of the icons.

Since the announcement was made yesterday evening, anticipation has been mounting across the social media platform. Busta Rhymes, Lil Jon, Safaree, Walshy Fire, US singer and established Canadian producer Boi-1da were among the international celebrities who reacted to the news. On the local scene Tifa, Rvssian, Ding Dong and Desha Ravers (Beenie Man’s daughter) also chimed in.

Prompted by Swizz Beatz’s caption, social media users expressed their readiness for the clash with fans of both deejays indicating they already have their outfits ready – mesh merino and fake dreads complete with the Jamaican flag. “Anybody who ain’t wearing the mesh marina gotta get blocked,” zlistcelebrity wrote under Beatz’s post. “Whew. Let me go get my fake dread hat and fish net beater ready,” Kimmykimberkim wrote. “I’m gonna look like Rihanna in the work video,” keansweeets also posted.

Both Beenie Man and Bounty Killer have amassed enviable catalogs since rising to popularity in the early ’90’s. A well-publicized feud between both artistes has also resulted in several clashes throughout their illustrious careers. Well aware of the history between the two and the ability each has to serve up a well-put-together clash, fans have also already begun to take sides. Using slangs and lines from popular songs of both deejays to show their allegiance, the battle lines have been drawn and fans are raring to go. “If a war dem wah mek it start,” one user wrote. “Zaggazaggazow, welcome the king of the dancehall,” another commented.

RECORD TURNOUT EXPECTED

With excitement levels rising every day, it is expected that the clash will pull unprecedented numbers. The Verzuz Instagram page has more than half a million followers, that number is said to be rising as word spreads of the impending Bounty/Beenie showdown. The biggest battle to be streamed from the Instagram platform thus far has been the Babyface vs Teddy Riley showdown which saw a whopping four million viewers tuned in. With the reach of the Verzuz show stretching far and wide, social media users have already begun to question the readiness of Jamaica’s Internet providers to handle the amount of traffic expected to flow into the stream. Tagging both Digicel and FLOW, users are begging the telecommunications giants to sort out WiFi pointing out that the clash will be too epic to be marred by technical issues. “Mek sure di bandwidth set good like ah Ice inna freeza cause Caribbean Ppl ah guh shell it dung,” user styleandvibes wrote. “Mek sure di wifi nuh have covid … it cant suck fi dis one,” user nigelsparkes also commented.

Unreliable Internet connection has plagued some battles. The Teddy Riley/Babyface battle had to be rescheduled after the first attempt was interrupted by a faulty connection from Riley’s end. Last week, Nelly also had Internet troubles which also marred the face-off between himself and Ludacris.

Up to press time, both Beenie Man and Bounty Killer could not be reached for comment. However, Beenie Man made a post about the upcoming battle on his Instagram page, and Bounty posted in his IG Stories.