Buju Banton made a court appearance this past Thursday in Tampa. The Grammy-nominated reggae mega star plead not guilty to drug conspiracy charges. Buju was arrested in Sarasota last month after allegedly conspiring to purchase five kilos of cocaine from an undercover DEA officer. Buju has hired high-profile defense attorney David Markus. His new attorney maintains Buju's innocence and made it clear that there will be no plea deals. "We will be going to trial. He did not commit the crimes he`s charged with. He was not in any conspiracy."
Due to immigration issues, Buju nee Mark Anthony Myrie is being held without bail. If freed on bail, Buju would undoubtedly face an immigration hold. As a result of no bail, Buju will not be attending this year's Grammy Awards show to be held on January 31. Buju's Rasta Got Soul album is nominated for a Grammy.
We will be going to trial,`
Posted by: Red Carpet Shelley
on Jan 09, 2010
Facing another possible concert cancellation on his "Rasta Got Soul" tour, reggae icon Buju Banton sat down for a meeting this week with leaders from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities. Buju Banton's concert stop in San Francisco had been highly protested and set for cancellation so Buju along with his manager Tracii McGregor made the decision to participate in the face-to-face meeting. The issue at hand is the lyrics to Buju's 1992 song "Boom Bye Bye". The song has been described by gay activists as inciting violence against the LGBT community and fostering homophobia. On the subject, Buju stated "I don't perform the song anymore. The reality is, I've gone past that." Last week after a canceled L.A. concert Buju said "At this point, I can only hope that my body of work speaks for itself and that anyone still offended by the lyrics of my youth will take the time to explore my catalog or come to one of my shows before reducing my character and entire musical repertoire to a single song." I agree with Buju in that one song does not an artist make.
From my perspective, the meeting was necessary however, I'm not sure if anything new really came out of it. Buju has been asked by the LGBT leaders to take a stand in support of gay rights issues even possibly hosting a town hall in Jamaica (I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that one!). Buju didn't make any such commitments. Instead, I think Buju is hoping his life's body of music will be the example and not one song written 17 years ago. "I've been actively doing some of the stuff you mention,"referring to his his anti-AIDS organization called Operation Willy founded in 1994. I am an avid fan of Buju and have been following him for quite some time. I cannot recall ever seeing him perform the song including last month's performance at the New Jersey Reggae Fest (pictured above). "I don't advocate violence, Rastafari is not about that". Nuff said Buju!
Posted by: Red Carpet Shelley
on Oct 15, 2009
