Bad Gyal Jade gets boost from Bounty endorsement

In an interview with THE STAR last August, up-and-coming artiste Bad Gyal Jade dubbed herself the 'female Kartel'. Drawing comparisons between her style and flow and that of the incarcerated deejay, Jade said the label was a fitting one.

Though made with good intentions, the declaration only earned Jade a great amount of ridicule, as naysayers believed the newcomer was getting ahead of herself. However, seven months later, instead of being belittled for making that bold comparison, Jade is being touted as the next big female talent in dancehall music. This comes after a huge endorsement from dancehall legend, Bounty Killer.

In a repost of Jade's latest freestyle project, Bounty Killer said having caught wind of the track, he had to share with his almost 500,000 followers.

"I've been tagged in this over 30 times mi affi repost. Plus she bad nuh b**bo, voice wicked way up! Also she rate elders, mi like her. The femalekartel @badgyaljadeofficial fling dung one bad #freestyle out now on YouTube. This litttt tho," Killer's caption to the post read.

Jade told THE WEEKEND STAR that Killer's endorsement has opened music's floodgates.

"Bounty Killer is a man weh spot talented people from afar so fi him take up the video off him own and post it, it really did make me feel proud. I been consistent non-stop, even wid corona a go round and thing, me practically live a studio so fi see Bounty repost, it really make me see say the hard work me a put in a pay off," she said. "Freestylepro really lick me wicked because people a repost it from all angles. Me DMs full up, all now me nuh respond to all the messages cuz it loaded. So many people a link me, it's crazy. A straight love me a get, me can't see nuh hate."

Though there is a difference in people's response to her now, Jade says she is not surprised as she understands consumers sometimes have to hear it from reputable sources before supporting a new artiste.

"People run wid things weh a run. Maybe if Bounty never post it or Dovey or Facebook Hero never post it, most likely people wouldn't a run wid it even though it bad," she said, adding that more seasoned entertainers need to support up-and-coming talent.

"Most artiste think it hard fi just repost a song. It nuh hurt to share somebody content. If it nuh sound good me nuh expect yuh fi post it, but if it put together and see where yuh can gi somebody a helping hand with one post, dweet."

Now that Jade has the attention of the people, the entertainer plans to show off her versatility by releasing some different kind of music. "What I'm doing right now is pushing out my culture songs, so Holding On and Celebrate Life are out now, so people can actually listen and see me talent and see say me bad fi true, me diverse."