By Yasmine Peru – STAR Writer—
Bushman—
A clip full of misunderstanding and strife, partially over the hit song, No Guns to Town, led to St Thomas artistes Bushman and Natty King observing strict social distancing protocols for close to 20 years. It was finally emptied last week when the two artistes sat down for an intense, and at times hilarious, therapy session.
Organized by YouTuber Teach Dem, the nearly two-hour discussion ended with the reggae singers happily pledging to do a collaboration. Both Natty King and Bushman told THE STAR that they are glad that the air has been cleared and everything is now “water under the bridge”.
” No Guns to Town came out around the same time that Bushman got held with a gun, and people seh the song was about him. However, that song was written from my own personal experience in Swallowfield, and had nothing to do with Bushy. But a guy involved in the song told Bushy that the song was about him,” Natty King told THE STAR.
He said that he had explained this to Bushman in 2005, while they were both at a mechanic shop in Morant Bay, but subsequently, other situations occurred which continued to put a damper on their artiste-to-artiste relationship.
Natty King pointed, for example, to an incident in Kenya that involved a promoter who was friends with Bushman.
“We were doing an interview, and they wanted me to stand in front a picture of Bushman, and I said, ‘No’. After that, I heard that I was upset that the promoter had a Bushman song as his ringtone,” Natty King explained.
But that part, he said, was a lie. Natty King said that he and the Kenyan promoter are now good friends, and when he saw a recent Bushman interview with Teach Dem, in which his name was called, and the Kenya incident referenced, he decided to ring Bushman.
“I told him that I didn’t like the things that he said, and we spoke, and we decided that Teach Dem’s platform would be the best way to clear the air and move forward,” Natty King explained.
Delving into the past to give a true perspective of what transpired, Bushman told THE STAR that there was an incident in Canada that involved promoters who are originally from Bath. He said that he felt his life was being threatened.
“I wasn’t paid for the show, and I was getting calls from people threatening to kill me because I didn’t perform. Panhead, Dirtsman and Peter Tosh dead by gun, so mi figure seh dem man nuh fraid fi kill artiste. Looking back, I realize that I should have reported it to the police and deal with it on that level,” he said.
Bushman said that although he heard that No Guns to Town was about him “I never had the thoughts of being mindful of Natty King”.
“For me, it was always water under the bridge, but now it is official. I don’t like disposable music, so the collab will be on an uplifting topic that people can relate to and listen to every day. Teach Dem is doing a great job, so even though he is not a producer, we thought of giving him the song,” Bushman shared.
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