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Hater of gays Buju Banton undetered by protests: “There is no end to the war between me and faggot”
Why does this Jamaican reggae singer hate gays so much? And why do club promoters and fans choose to give him license to hate?
I reported yesterday that Buju Banton had been quietly booked to perform last night at the Cabana Club in Hollywood after an earlier LA engagement had been canceled due to pressure from gay leaders.
The reason for the protest? Banton is extremely anti-gay as he shows in the song Boom Bye Bye! which is about murdering gays. The lyrics include: “faggots get up and run” when he comes, that “they have to die,” and that he will shoot them in the head or “burn them up bad.”
Karen Ocamb was at the quickly-orgranized protest last night and writes on her LGBT POV blog: Club patrons, unimpressed by the protests, lined up one hour before Banton’s show. Some laughed and one said, “This is 10 years old. Why are you doing this for something that’s 10 years old. He’s apologized. He’s apologized over and over. Why don’t you go take care of Prop 8?”
Is that fan aware that he’s not sorry about it his hateful message”
The Jamaican Observer quotes Banton as saying after a recent San Francisco show where an audience member was pepper sprayed: “This is a fight, and as I said in one of my songs ‘there is no end to the war between me and faggot’ and it’s clear. … “I owe dem nothing, they don’t owe I nothing.”
I hope his fans will think about these hateful words when they shell out money to see this guy perform.
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
Daniel Lewis Frommherz says:
Greg, Greg, Greg…Haven’t we figured it out by now. Those who protesteth with such diligence just haven’t the courage to come out of their filth strewn closets. They it seems like many of the good fearing preachers simply just keep on hating because it is easier to hate themselves so totally and to try to protect the image that they seem to want to present to their so called adoring audience. One thing is certainly clear I don’t want to be anywhere near whatever it is that might crawl out of the hair-do and I am not particularly fond of nappy pubs so you folks in California can keep the dude.
SamK says:
Buju Banton grew up in a poor section of Jamaica, one of 15 children. The area where he lived, Kingston’s Salt Lane, is described as being full of conservative Christian churches. You will find that Buju Banton has converted to the Rastafarian religion and they too are homophobic. Like the conservative Christian churches that Buju Banton grew up around, the Rastafarians seem to follow the rules in Leviticus which call for not eating pork or shellfish and which also call for the execution of gay men. Rastafarians do not eat pork or shellfish. Probably most conservative Christians do eat pork or shellfish.
You can read an important article about Buju Banton in this Time Magazine article: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1182991,00.html “The Most Homophobic Place on Earth?” Britain has given asylum to a number of Jamaican gay men because of the extreme homophobia and violence in Jamaica. This article also has an account on the alleged armed assault on six gay men in Kingston, Jamaica, in 2004. Buju Banton was later arrested for this assault, but it never came to trial. Buju claims that he was “cleared” of the assault charges. http://www.gargamelmusic.com/artists_buju_time4.html In actuallity the case never came to trial. No evidence was ever presented to a jury. Buju was neither “cleared” nor “acquitted” of the charges.
Buju Banton is a very homophobic man. He comes from a country which is very homophobic. Buju’s religious background and beliefs, fundamentalist Christian and Rastafarian, are extremely homophobic. I believe that he believes that the Old Testament of the Bible requires that homosexuals be executed. What he says in the YouTube video “Elephant Man Buju Banton Shabba Ranks Boom Bye Bye” is that he thinks homosexuals should be executed, in so many words.
SamK says:
Buju Banton’s infamous song “Boom Bye Bye” says “gays must be killed’ and it calls for gays to be shot in the head, shot with an Uzi, have acid thrown on them and be burned like an old tire. This song has been controversial since it was released in 1992.
In all those years, Buju Banton has never distanced himself from this song. Due to LGBT pressure over the years Buju Banton says he no longer performs “Boom Bye Bye” in the U.S. You can download “Boom Bye Bye” on Amazon, but not iTunes. He’s still making money on it in the U.S.
We must keep the pressure on Buju and other dancehall reggae artistes or they will start performing their anti LGBT material again in the U.S.
For videos that show Buju Banton reiterating the anti gay statements in “Boom Bye Bye,” see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46PASiOjdP4 “BUJU BANTON FIRE BURN BATTY” and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ8Z0biU_Zw “Elephant Man Buju Banton Shabba Ranks” In the latter video he refers to the churches and asks “What have I done wrong when I say that homosexuality is wrong?” With these words, Buju Banton is actually saying that he stands by the “kill gays” message of “Boom Bye Bye.”
In Jamaica, there is tremendous violence and hatred directed at LGBT people. Buju Banton and some of his dancehall artiste friends must bear some responsibility for this. There are online reports by groups like Amnesty International and many other reports of this extreme violence in Jamaica. One very good account is in this Time Magazine article: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1182991,00.html “The Most Homophobic Place on Earth?” Britain and Canada have given asylum to a number of Jamaican gay men because of the extreme homophobia and violence in Jamaica.
The Time Magazine article also has an account on the alleged armed assault on six gay men in Kingston, Jamaica, in 2004. Buju Banton was later arrested for this assault. Buju claims that he was “cleared” of the assault charges. http://www.gargamelmusic.com/artists_buju_time4.html In actuallity the case never came to trial. No evidence was ever presented to a jury. Buju was neither “cleared” nor “acquitted” of the charges.
For more information see http://cancelbujubanton.wetpaint.com/
and http://www.petertatchell.net/popmusic/buju-bantons-violations-of-the-reggae-compassionate-act.html
Lexxvs says:
I’m not sorry for this Buju scarecrow man when I think that his miserable life will end seeing how “faggots” got all the equal rights they deserve. Moreover, I think he is gonna die flooded by the same hatred he preach around (plus filth).
I don’t understand how this individual can get a visa to enter the States. Isn’t PROMOTOING to kill gays a kind of terrorism or hate crime or something?
kathy says:
what is wrong with you people. I guess we should go catch all the other people who talk about hate among homosexuals. How about catching all the idiots who are racist and talk about nigga and blacks. Aren’t they all one of the same. White people talk bad about blacks for years in America, even in the church, I don’t see any anti group canceling their church events or social gatherings. What do we think America is. There are hate crimes all over the world. What makes gays so special. What ever happen to free speech in America, or is this for certain artist. Let Buju Banton express himself.
Russ says:
The double standard is amazing. Buju Banton recorded the controversial song in 1992 as a 17 or 18 year old, since converting to Rastafari he has spent 90% of his time preaching love and upliftment for ALL. He has done more for human rights than anybody on this website, but no one focuses on this – we rather dig up and highlight the negatives of almost 20years ago. Did not one of you do something stupid at 17 or 18?
As an artist whose albums collectively have probably never sold over 2million units in 20 years, why do people continue to focus on him? Far less people knew about Buju Banton and Boom Bye Bye before the LGBT community took up this “noble” cause, what about artists who have way more influence (eminem comes immediately to mind).? From some of the posts on this board the problem seems to stem more from colour and race than content – “…I don’t want to be anywhere near whatever it is that might crawl out of the hair-do and I am not particularly fond of nappy pubs…” what exactly is a “Nappy Pub”? That statement is as racist as they come and it clearly shows the true motive behind these protests.
Growing up in the ghetto in Jamaica you see many things; including rich gay men sexually assaulting young boys just by using the power of money. Growing up and witnessing that everyday, gay becomes synonymous with the economic slavery that much of Jamaica is under. The same slavery that Bob, Buju, Beenie and countless other artist from the ghetto work hard to eliminate on a daily basis. I am not making an excuse, but until comments like “Nappy Pub” are removed from our vocabulary, how can we even begin to ask a man to change his beliefs. The KKK is not yet an illegal organization, and they have way more power and money than Buju. You don’t like it, don’t support it. But don’t tell me what I cant listen to or sing