Buju Banton, the anti-gay Grammy-winning reggae singer otherwise known as Mark Myrie, was found guilty on cocaine conspiracy charges. It took the jury 11 hours of deliberations over two days, convicting him after Banton’s first jury became deadlocked. Sentencing comes next.
DJ
Yes! Maybe someone’ll rape’em in jail. Or even better, kill him. Or even better, rape him AND kill him. And then he can rot in hell.
stephennyc
hope he gets a long sentence so he can enjoy the company of many very big and brutal men.
maddem
keep your head gargamel .stop hating fag lovers jamaicans dont turn bitches when we go in your jails are like hotel ( WE USE TO DAT keep on playind in shit u fags hell be out in a year
tallskin2
LOL, boom bye bye, buju
This is the one time where the savage sentences handed by the US justice system I welcome.
Oh what joy to be alive and see this steaming pile of donkey shit incarcarated
Nathan
What a bunch of jackasses; I don’t like the guy either but anyone who has any sense knows prison rape is a serious problem, not a joke. When someone you love is put behind bars remember how you laughed about the prevalence of prison rape.
Jeffree
@maddem: Say what? Translation needed. Maybe not. Just STFU. I tell you this: Your buju man gon be slammed by da battyman behind bars. We play fire wit fire.
Justice is served.
hephaestion
Buju Banton won a Grammy???? That’s a disgrace. Truly.
The Grammies have no meaning anymore.
Enron
As a gay person living in Jamaica, I will say this. Buju’s beef with the Gay community has been going on for a long time. His mistakes are what brought him here, from the moment he uttered the words Boom Bye Bye. His continued claim that homosexuals are the cause for all his current financial woes doesn’t make it any better either. Considering that, there are other homophobic artiste in Jamaica who are making a living and getting extremely rich from there careers should make Buju feel ashamed.
Another point I would like to make, I feel torn, although he has made terrible mistakes, its still sad to see a life destroyed. In some ways, the gay community help to reshape Buju as an artiste, focusing on songs that were not discriminating, ‘Destiny’ is a perfect example of this. As for the hope that he is raped in prison, calling him Donkey fecal matter. For a community that is seeking tolerance, it doesn’t make us look any better than the homophobes when we are wishing the worst on others.
tallskin2
Hephaestion, I am inclined to agree with you.
I was wondering if it was a gay bashing decision by the grammys to show support for buju against the bullying “Gay Lobby”!!!
tallskin2
Enron – I simply don’t understand gays who come out in support of this nasty piece of work.
Perhaps you ought to examine just how much self hatred you have absorbed and purge yourself of it, matey
Someone who has a hit with a song extolling the evil of burning, shooting gay people deserves all he/she gets, particularly as he never repented nor said sorry.
As for other jamaican wanker/songwriting bigots singing the same thing, well we have our eyes on them, and we’ve successfully managed to spike their careers as well.
Enron
@tallskin2: No self hatred at all. I just don’t see how wishing he be raped and described as fecal matter make us any better. Justice has been served for the crime committed and he will have a long time to think about his mistakes.
I don’t understand how trying to be the better man can be considered as hatred. Sounds like you are the one who needs to purge yourself of hate.
Soupy
I know that I won’t be contributing my tourist dollar to Jamaica as long as homophobic violence is condoned and unpunished. It’s the equivalent of apartheid South Africa. And I, I , I ain’t going to play Negril.
Enron
@Soupy: I can’t blame you, because the hate is getting worse here, not to mention its being perpetuated by the Government and the Church. The tourism minister will sugar coat things to make Jamaica seem like a tolerant place but in reality it isn’t. Homophobia is rooted in the culture and it will never change.
There is no education around acceptance, change, tolerance, yes, there is a PSA on TV about respecting the rights of homosexuals and their privacy, but nothing to the effect of a person being able to live freely and openly in society. Another thing that is preached heavily is ‘lifestyle’ like homosexuality is chosen, not predetermined. When you have such a state of mind across the entire culture, then its pretty much safe to say, there is no hope for gays here, well maybe in the 50 years maybe.
Real Jamaican
Simply put, you people on this blog are sad. Look at yourselves. When Buju banton was like 16 years old, he wrote this gay killing song (Boom Bye bye) song in response to a young boy that was raped and killed by another male. **Clearly**, you and I are “educated” enough to understand that male rape (or rape in general) is not always about sexual desire. Anyhow, fastward several years into the future without incident…and the LGBT movement come knocking looking for a scape goat as a result of outcry in Jamaica. They are using Jamaica as a policy pushing steping stone with no regard for the casualties in the process. Why don’t they find the killers of Michael Sandy, or other sick murderers her ein the US. Homohobia is HEAVY in the US
Let’s look at the facts…
1)More than 15 years after the release of Boom Bye Bye, Banton was tried and acquitted on charges that he participated in the 2004 beating of six gay guys.
2) A couple years later, Buju signed the “Reggae Compassion Act,” that pretty much sayd that he would no longer make homophobic statements, release new homophobic songs or re-release previous recordings that were homophobic…and this was NOT hard to do since he’d already transformed years earlier. His whole genre had shifted. He was the new “bob marley”.
3) Buju has apologized and met with the Gay community (GLAAD) to make ammends.
Four members of San Francisco’s gay community met that afternoon for 40-minutes with Jamaican singer Buju Banton in Larkspur, up in Marin County, to discuss his troubling history with gay people.According to Buju and his advisers, this was his first meeting ever with gay advocates, and they really want to put an end to the controversy that continues to dog him over violent homo-hating song he sang in his late teens, “Boom Bye Bye.”At the meeting were gay leaders Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who arranged the meeting, Rebecca Rolfe, executive director of the SF gay community center, Andrea Shorter of Equality California.
GLAAD had terms they wanted met (financial terms of course, but Buju declined b/c he’s not on P-diddy status) but he is a different person now from when he was a 16 year old uneducated kid in the ghetto angry over the rape and death of a male neighbor. (we are “educated enough to know rape is not exactly always a sexual thing) Of course he would sing boom-bye-bye in responce. It was the THING to do over 15 years ago!!!. But he’s since grown up. Why else would his music win a Grammy.
Even BEFORE GLAAD came knocking Buju was a different man. IT took death and tragedy to get him to change, but he did. He penned the song “Murderer” after good friend and artiste was murdered. Lyrics are here.
http://www.metrolyrics.com/murderer-lyrics-buju-banton.html
You people on this page do not care about the man that he IS. You only want a whipping boy that you can point the finger at and be a victim. Why don’t you guys go out and make sure that what happened to Michael Sandy DOES NOT happen in the good ole’ morally superior, civilized, exceptional USA!!
You should all be ashamed of yourselves for your comments. You should be ashamed. You are fighting for rights…the sad thing is that you all were comign very close to getting some understanding in Jamaica when Vybz Kartel signed the compassion act as well….but we see that you people here have 2 faces.
We have a surprise…though. Stay tuned.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_eMUB2PK693k/StQcrCSQd6I/AAAAAAAAA7Q/0hU-4vAmRCs/s400/IMG_4210.JPG
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_eMUB2PK693k/StQdoDggSVI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/WqXiKPxlbGw/s400/IMG_4212.JPG
Kev C
@Real Jamaican: If you love Buju Banton so much, why don’t you marry him?
Real Jamaican
I love Buju Banton with all my heart…you, with your sarcasm and anger however can only know love of man, we know love of God. Buju has evolved from a teenager, some of you however have been so hurt by other individuals that you harbor such hate and refuse to see your blatant disregard for a man’s journey through life. The LGBT stance on Buju has proven 1 thing to the world: it is not growth and change that you want, but vengeance. Go ahead and have it.
Kev C
Buju is evil and has no business in the US but a jail cell. And all homophobes from abroad are not welcome in my country. Cya.
tallskin2
@Real Jamaican – Yep, and finally we get our vengeance
Suck it up, bitch and get used to it
Sam Kestu
@Real Jamaican:
Mark Myrie, aka “Buju Banton,” wrote “Boom Bye Bye,” in 1988, when he was 15. He continued to sing the song until 2004, when he wss 31. He stopped performing the whole song under pressure from Amnesty International. Amnesty wrote to Buju and Donovan Germain, his manager: “Amnesty International is concerned that, by continuing to perform Boom Bye Bye, Buju Banton continues to advocate the killing of homosexuals, thus appearing to demonstrate that he has not “gone past that issue” as you have claimed.” http://bit.ly/bnLWFQ
In talking about the alleged child molestation that inspired “Boom Bye Bye,” Buju says that it was a boy who was molested by a school teacher. There is no mention of the boy being killed. http://tinyurl.com/33pkxev
Buju did sign a Reggae Compassionate Act agreement in 2007, using his own name. His signed RCA agreement is online at http://bit.ly/ccHNUL He almost immediately
It is important to note that gay men are no more likely to molest children than non-gay men. See http://bit.ly/ebD9il That gays are child molesters is a standard smear.
Buju was not acquitted on alleged assault charge involving six gay men who were assaulted on 06/24/04 in Kingston. The charges were dropped, because the victims were afraid to testify against the popular Buju. They were afraid for their lives. In dropping the charges against Buju, the Judge told Buju: “Mr. Myrie it is clear that something took place that was unlawful to extricate the men and that is wrong. They’re all sorts of legal recourse to take if you have a problem with someone in your community. I would hate to think you are discrediting your songs by your conduct.” http://bit.ly/fKDEk3
Using his real name of Mark Myrie, Buju Banton singed a Reggae Compassionate Act agreement in 2007. You can see his signed RCA agreement online at http://bit.ly/ccHNUL Buju almost immediately denied that he signed the agreement and soon violated the agreement. See http://bit.ly/f9iYdS
Buju Banton has never distanced himself from the “kill LGBT” message of “Boom Bye Bye.” Evidence, videos, actions and statements over the past 5 years show that he is as homophobic now as he was in 1988. He has not “moved on,” as he claims he has.
Sam Kestu
It is difficult for Americans to realize or understand the levels of the intense homophobia that exists in Jamaica and in all the English-speaking former British colonies in the Caribbean except for the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. This very intense homophobia certainly has influenced Buju Banton and the other murder music Jamaican artistes such as Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Capleton and Sizzla.
The online Guernica Magazine, in their December 2010 article “Murder Music,” available at http://bit.ly/gjX4Iu is very fascinating and revealing. I strongly recommend it.
When Buju Banton’s song “Boom Bye Bye” was released in the U.S. in 1992, it was extremely controversial right away. You can get an idea of how controversial from the YouTube video http://bit.ly/bzVPKJ
After getting dropped from the WOMAD tour in 1992 (World of Music, Art and Dance), Buju did apologize. Then he made a trip to Jamaica where the apology did not go over well. He retracted the apology, claiming that it had been made by his record company. One writer claims Buju “almost lost his life” because of the apology http://bit.ly/hQy4Qp
While the meeting that Mark Myrie, aka “Buju Banton,” had with LGBT leaders in San Francisco on 10/12/09 was promising, nothing was accomplished at that meeting. Buju made no real apology and made no commitment to re-sign or even honor his repudiated Reggae Compassionate Act agreement not to promote hatred and violence.
On October 14th, 2009, after the meeting, Buju went on the radio in Jamaica with Mutabaruka. Buju repeated his famous “there is no end to the war between me and faggots” line by phone to Mutabaruka and the audience listening in Jamaica.
The “there is no end to the war between me and faggots” line is from an anti LGBT routine that Buju has been performing since at least 2006, after ending full performances of “Boom Bye Bye.” You can see this routine, from 10/27/08 at http://tinyurl.com/y8967pa Listen closely and you can hear an anti gay marriage rant and a claim that SpongeBob SquarePants and Beavis and Butthead are gay.
Real Jamaican
@ “Sam Ketsu”…thank you!
scott ny'er
@Sam Kestu: Thanks. I knew Buju was the not the reformed person that @Real Jamaican: seems to make him out to be. I had read differently in the past and knew that there were vital facts missing from what @Real Jamaican: had posted.
I’m not rejoicing yet until I hear what the sentence will be. If he gets 6 months and parole it’s not really jail time.
Real Jamaican
if you only knew 🙂
Sam Kestu
It is difficult for Americans to realize or understand the levels of the intense homophobia that exists in Jamaica and in all the English-speaking former British colonies in the Caribbean except for the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. This very intense homophobia certainly has influenced Buju Banton and the other murder music Jamaican artistes such as Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Capleton and Sizzla.
The online Guernica Magazine, in their December 2010 article “Murder Music,” available at http://bit.ly/gjX4Iu is very fascinating and revealing. I strongly recommend it.
mentcee
I didnt know the faggot business has gone this far. pity you misfits who malign this Godsent ras. Boom!