Beenie Man was involved in the music industry from a young age when he won the Tastee Talent contest in 1980. Only one year later (1981), when he was eight years old, he recorded a single, "Too Fancy", with record producer "Junjo" Lawes. By 1983, Beenie Man was recording with heavyweight DJs, such as Dillinger and Fathead and released his debut album, The Invincible Beenie Man: The Ten Year Old DJ Wonder and the single "Over the Sea". After such a prodigious start the artist`s career lost momentum in the middle of the eighties decade. Beenie Man continued performing and honed his craft beside the then dominant dancehall figures including Ninjaman, Admiral Bailey and Shabba Ranks. He found his artistic home at the Shocking Vibes studio where he ontinued to record singles with only moderate success towards the end of the decade. The "War" with Bounty Killer
In 1991 he was booed off stage at a show celebrating the visit of Nelson Mandela. After this crushing event Beenie Man renewed his desire for success, and at the age of nineteen the album Cool Cool Rider was released largely unnoticed. He still continued to pursue dancehall stardom by releasing a slew of tunes to start the decade. It was at the same time that a notable artist from Seaview community in Jamaica emerged bearing the name Bounty Killer. Both deejays found success with violent lyrics and hostile delivery and soon accused each other of plagiarism. In 1993 at the very popular show Sting Beenie Man and Bounty Killer met in a lyrical battle that has become legendary in dancehall history. Their feud continued on the air with each artist counteracting the other's songs. In 1995, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer appeared to settle their differences on the air by actually signing a peace treaty.