Dancehall veteran Bounty Killer says while performing to tracks on a live stage has its advantages, more artistes should train themselves in the art of performing with a band.

Dubbing live bands as real-time musical surgeons, the experienced deejay said that collaborating with musicians onstage can catapult an ordinary entertainer into a dancehall mainstay.

“I guess that’s the way they can perform, so they perform how they can, but I did not learn it that way. When I was watching Ninja Man, it was a live performance, live vocals on the spot in real time. Tiger, Shabba Ranks, the great Lieutenant Stitchie, Papa San, all those great men, they used to sing live. I came from the old school where people sang the songs live, and I can’t do what they’re doing now. That don’t bring no vibes,” said the artiste.

“When I performing my songs I don’t perform them with the mix it was released with; the bands create a live mix that’s different from what you know, so when you hear the song there is some difference,” he added.

The seasoned artiste was speaking with DJ Akademiks on his programme, Off the Record.

Bounty Killer, who recently performed to a sold-out crowd at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, said a live band enriches an artiste’s performance and elevates the experience.

“If I drop the beat and go one short, the bands brace and catch me back. On the track, if I break, you can’t do anything with it; you have to pull up and stop the vibe. The band is like a surgeon around; anything happen to you, they can fix it instant,” he continued. “Live music enriches the sound of the songs; the live band can create other mixes from the set mix that the song was released with.”

Recalling his formative days, Bounty Killer said he considers himself blessed to have lived in an era that prioritised correctly moulding raw talent. He said spending hours — or even days — recording a track allowed him to perfect his craft and has afforded him the kind of longevity most of today’s talent may never experience.

“The first time I went and did auditions at King Jammys I had to sing four minutes straight. I don’t know about singing no tracks. I can’t do lip sync, and I can’t sing when a track playing. It confuses me. I have to punch real, raw. You had to practice to sing out the song. These days, the artistes, they don’t know how to sing out the songs because on Pro Tools you can stop and cut and place and auto-tune and melody in,” he expressed. “You sing off-key, and people put it on-key. Then you go onstage and you don’t know the key because it wasn’t you who sang on-key, is the machine put you on-key. You have to learn the key. Dem artistes yah not learning the key, dat’s why dem go on stage dem play the track and just sing over it. They are not trying to sing live. That’s why they can’t perform with no bands.”

Bounty Killer, in dishing out some more advice, said it would also serve up-and-coming artistes well to think out of the box as it relates to content, as the music has lost its spark. The entertainer said there is no creativity in today’s music as artistes are choosing to mimic each other instead of pushing the envelope.

“It’s a ‘monkey see, monkey do’ thing, because dem a follow each other. That’s why the music not working; too much repetition. Everybody sound alike. We nah hear no real ‘next’ sound,” he said.