Buju is on song again

Buju Banton was released from a US jail after a seven-year sentence for drug trafficking in 2018. Normally that would mean a permanent ban from performing in America, yet the legendary reggae singer’s rehabilitation reached another level last month with two sold out shows in New York City. 

On the back of that success, Banton announced his ‘Overcomer’ tour in multiple cities in America from August 23, starting in Fort Lauderdale at the Amerant Bank Arena.

Tickets are selling rapidly in anticipation of seeing the Grammy-winning star returning to tour in the United States after a 15-year hiatus. His other stops in the next months across the US include Tampa, Washington DC, Boston, Atlanta, Houston, Texas and Inglewood before heading to Brooklyn to the Barclay Centre.

Buju, 51, first burst on the scene as a precocious teenager in the late Eighties, gravelly voice belying his youth. He soon had chart toppers with raunchy dancehall favourites like ‘Batty Rider’ and ‘Love Mi Browning’. But he generated worldwide controversy with the homophobic hit ‘Boom Bye’. It led to limited opportunities to tour outside Jamaica yet his popularity increased, mainly because he moved into more mature themes as a Rasta.

He was born Mark Myrie, the youngest of 15 children living in the poorest house on Salt Lane, a desolate stretch of road in the slums of Western Kingston. Though poor, the Myrie family were proud descendants of the Maroons, African warriors who escaped slavery and fought for their freedom, establishing their own promised land in the mountainous areas of Jamaica. His father, an aspiring singer, provided for his family through manual labour while his mother sold fresh produce in nearby Coronation Market. It was she who gave him the affectionate nickname “Buju” which means breadfruit.

Even after Buju became an internationally renowned recording artist, he never forgot his childhood poverty. His music has served the disadvantaged well, and he recently established the Lend a Hand Foundation to help at-risk children, both in Jamaica and globally.

As he entered his teen years, Buju would occasionally hold the mic around local sound systems. A succession of hits followed. By 19 he had broken a Jamaican record for the most No.1 singles in one year—a mark set by none other than Bob Marley.

Buju’s breakthrough 1992 album ‘Mr. Mention’ was primarily dancehall style of hard-edged digital rhythms. In 1994 Buju expressed the sadness and discontent of widespread violence and the loss of star performers like Garnett Silk with ‘Murderer’ which heavily influenced dancehall genre then. The song offered a critique of the gun lyrics that had once held sway, appealing to a sense of decency and respect for human life.

These lyrics at that time became an anthem:

‘It is strange this feeling I’m feeling

But Jah love we will always believe in

Though you may think my faith is in vain

Til Shiloh we chant Rastafari name’

They are the opening lines from Buju’s 1995 album ‘Til Shiloh’ which marked the dawning of a new era in music. Anthems like ‘Untold Stories’, ‘Not An Easy Road’ and ‘Till I’m Laid To Rest’ revealed a whole new dimension to his talent.

He toured the world, spreading consciousness-raising music worldwide. He also built up his own studio in Jamaica, on Red Hills Road in Kingston, establishing his own Gargamel Music imprint to release his own work and give aspiring youths opportunities. He continued releasing timeless albums like ‘Inna Heights’, ‘Unchained Spirit’, and ‘Friends for Life’.

And then in December 2009 Buju was arrested at his home in Florida after getting entangled in a complex drug conspiracy which had been orchestrated by a paid government informant.

On his release six years ago, Banton has been welcomed by his adoring Jamaican public and fellow star performers, like Beres Hammond, willingly performed with him. Buju has released the albums ‘Upside Down’ and ‘Born for Greatness’ since his release. They have been well received but appearances abroad have been limited. Until now.