Jamaican dancehall artist Merciless dead at 51
Jamaican Dancehall veteran, Merciless has died.
Although the cause of his death is unknown multiple sources confirmed with Urban Islandz that the musician whose real name is Leonard Bartley passed away on Tuesday, July 19.
The sources disclosed that an associate of the DJ found his lifeless body at the Harlem Resort hotel before summoning police officers.
They indicated that his friends and family became worried when they did not hear from him and went to check on him at the hotel on Walkers Avenue where they uncovered his body.
Merciless was pronounced dead at the scene when cops arrived. Law enforcement sources told Urban Islandz that there appears to be no foul play, but police are fully investigating his death.
Merciless first found success performing with sound systems across Jamaica.
He made his recording debut in 1994 with “Lend Out Mi Mercy“, which was a hit in Jamaica and elsewhere, and a string of further hits followed, including “Mavis”, which was the top reggae single in Jamaica in 1995 and used the same riddim as Shaggy’s “Mr. Boombastic”.
Like several other dancehall stars, he adopted ‘conscious’ lyrical content in the late 1990s.
He is also known by the nickname “Warhead”, and engaged in several high-profile on-stage ‘battles’ in the late 1990s and 2000s with fellow deejays Beenie Man, Ninjaman, and Bounty Killer.
His rivalry with Bounty Killer did not prevent the two from recording together, with “No One Cares” released in 2000.
Source: Ghana News
