Playing his part in one of the most intriguing rivals in dancehall’s history Beenie Man has set trends, found cross over tracks, International collabs and even introduced top hip hop acts like T.I. to the mainstream. With his International success he has stayed close to his home base of dancehall since the beginning of his commercial career. His on and off nemesis Bounty Killer has been the subject of diss tracks, make ups, and break ups since their first appearance on Sting 1993.
Well into their 50s, they have now squashed the beef but individually they have made themselves columns in dancehall music with street anthems and billboard chart toppers. Their 2021 Versuz performance showed the world what Jamaicans knew all along; that they are among the best stage performers in the world of music. We examined Bounty’s career and now we take a look at how Beenie Man’s careers match up in terms of album sales in the U.S. with data from our Billboard sales tracker correspondent Luminate (Formerly MRC Data).
Art and Life- 477,000
Beenie Man’s Grammy winning Art and Life released by Virgin Records in 2000 has surpassed sales units of 477,000 in the U.S. including 400,000 pure copies and 96.2 million on-demand streams. Making him the more successful of the two former rivals. When Beenie Man’s 12th studio album gets an additional 23,000 units he would have received first Gold album certification in the U.S.
Art and Life was driven by a slew of reggae fusion tracks including the Rock Wilder produced Love Me Now featuring Wyclef and Girls Dem Sugar fearing Mya peaked at No. 68 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart upon release and No. 18 on the R&B Hip Hop albums chart.
Tropical Storm- 300,000 units
Beenie Man’s 15th studio album Tropical Storm {Virgin} is his second most commercially successful project in the US surpassing 300,000 units so far. The album accumulated 248,000 pure copies and 23.4 million streams as of March 10, 2023.
The album spawned Boss Man with Lady Saw and Sean Paul as well as Feel It Boy with Janet Jackson. Beenie “Street Life” was also released as a single making Beenie Man one of the first dancehall acts to have a Stargate produced song. Tropical Storm peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, No. 1 on the Reggae Albums chart and No. 100 on the U.K. albums chart (Official Chart).
Many Moods of Moses- 279,000 units
Beenie Man’s eighth studio album Many Moods Of Moses was the set that gave him global attention. Released in 1997, the album was nominated for Best Reggae Album and it has so far sold 279,000 units including streams and sales. 235,000 of that sum are pure sales and the album earned 64.4 million on-demand streams in the US so far. The album spawned the singles Who Am I and saw Beenie taking on a conscious dancehall with the track Steve Biko which was about the South African freedom fighter.
Back to Basics- 231,000
Back To Basics climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae albums chart and No. 51 on the Billboard 200 when it was released in July 2004. The 15 track set which includes productions from the Kelly brothers (Dave and Tony), Stephen Lenky Marsden, Timbaland, and Beenie’s then manager Patrick Roberts has so far sold 231,000 units in the U.S. including 168,000 pure sales and 60.2 million streams.
Undisputed- 79,000
Like Bounty Killer, Beenie Man’s last album was released in 2006. The album “Undisputed” has sold 79,000 units so far with 69,000 in pure album sales. Beenie Man’s 18th studio album and his fifth most commercially successful has 6.2 million all time streams.
