Deejays Bounty Killer and Beenie Man, whose dancehall feud has lasted through three prime ministers and more than a third of the time Jamaica has been an independent nation, called it quits a few hours after Independence Day 2010 officially ended.
They alternated snatches of hits - including past battle songs - to ignite the 'Fully Loaded' audience at Old Coal Wharf, Port Royal, Kingston, over and over again at a few minutes past 5 a.m. on Saturday. The truce had been called onstage before, as the two had performed briefly in Negril the previous weekend, but that did not have the stamp of a full-blown major, hardcore dancehall event; Guinness Fully Loaded, the annual sound system clash and live performance show centred around Bounty Killer, does. And while the Negril on-stage meeting was, by all accounts, short and spontaneous, Saturday's was extended and appeared planned.
The onstage reunion came at the close of an event which was very short on excitement, very long on expletives and virulent anti-gay sentiment and at many times downright boring, Sky Juice and Jazzy T's party-style presentations being outstanding exceptions (especially the latter, coming in the closing stages when Fully Loaded desperately needed a shot in the arm). Also, Japanese sound Barrier Reef's war-style segment, complete with a sword-wielding frontman, went over well, as did the only head-to-head clash of the night, between Flava Squad and Rolexx, which the latter won overwhelmingly.
Coming on to cheers close to 5 a.m., Bounty, in his guttural tones, declared "gun no stick" and demanded "do you see what you want to see when you look at me?" No Fren Fish went over very well and then he asked "whe Beenie deh?" to a stir of excitement. "Negril get it whe day," he said and it was clear what was about to happen. "Police give we five minutes. We nah violate it," he said and dropped another lyric before Beenie Man came up onstage,
There was a crescendo of howling as a grinning Beenie Man appeared onstage, decked out in black like Bounty. "Is a black affair so I have to dress for the occasion," he said.
The tune for tune was on, the two working their songs on the same rhythm which was mixed by the selector in true older-style dancehall. Beenie's first song was Memories (to which Bounty sang along), Bounty coming back with "war and all type a tings dis guy preaching". Beenie Man deejayed "man a bad man, wicked man", Bounty hit "long time me riding and me riding west".
The crowd hollered for each song, Bounty's Kill or be Killed, Beenie's observation that "me done know de fassy dem no like me", Bounty's Eagle and the Hawk, Beenie's "nah beg no fassy nutten". Then there was an exchange of another sort, Bambino cutting into the exchange to ask that each deejay the other's lyrics. For that one, they went back to the source of their feud 17 years ago, Beenie Man deejaying Bounty Killer's Spy Fi Die and Bounty doing the Beenie Man song which he said was a rip-off of Spy Fi Die, deejaying "mama yu son him ago die".
The crowd loved it
They went into 'girl tunes', Slam, Ol Dawg and Nuff Gal among Beenie Man's songs, Cellular Phone and the boast "a me de gal dem a cry fa" among Bounty's. But it was Bounty's Stuckie that literally turned the venue upside down.
After World Dance, Beenie Man asked for a new rhythm. "A de king an' di five star general. Who can stop this? Bounty a di general fe de army. When yu see Mavado an' Kartel dat a de army. Kartel a me deejay. Gaza me sey. But Bounty a me deejay from morning," Beenie declared.
They came to later stages in their careers, Bounty chanting "nutten no change" and Beenie declaring "a ghetto suppen". There was a ticklish point in the reunion, though, as after Bounty hit Bulletproof Skin with devastating effect, Beenie Man asked "a me an' yu did a war yasso? Me no memba my song. Me neva tek it serious". But he dropped the line "this whole ting start since me meet Angel" and they both laughed. The rhythm stopped and Beenie said "me wan yu play back the rhythm". But the crowd did not want him to do the song 
and Beenie demanded "did peace ting is a one-sided ting?" Still he conceded "me no fe sing da song deh. Da song deh no worth it". The 'Fully Loaded' audience clapped in appreciation.
There were more songs, but not before Bounty Killer put the defining dancehall moment in context. "Dis ting no stop a Bounty and Beenie. Is a divine moment. Differences can put aside. The most important thing is life and good health. We a big man. We soon 40. Beenie a grandfather. And me a godfather. We cyaa act like we a 21. Me a 38, him a 37 and three-quarter. What we do not forgettable, but it forgivable. And we have to be liveable," Bounty said.
After doing some more recent songs, the two shook hands. "Tell Portia an' Bruce a did we sey we waan see the unity an' work together. state of emergency out, we want a state of entertainment," Bounty Killer said.
The last song of the night was Beenie's celebration of "rum and Red Bull", Guinness Full Loaded 2010 ending at 5:17 a.m.
Bounty Killer and Beenie Man have declared peace before, hugging in a televised meeting in 1994 and exchanging songs onstage at Sting in 1995.