Buju, bye bye?

TAMARA SCOTT-WILLIAMS

LET'S remind ourselves of the rules: (1) If you break the law you should be punished; (2) freedom of speech is the greatest human right that we have; and (3) if the law is an ass, speak loudly about it and seek to change it.

"Though this life keep getting me down

Don't give up now

Got to survive somehow

Could go on and on, the full has never been told."

Mark Anthony Myrie, aka Buju Banton, aka Gargamel, was last week remanded in Federal custody in Miami, Florida by Drug Enforcement Administration agents and charged by the US Attorney with conspiracy to possess, with intent to distribute, some five kilos of cocaine. Buju faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.

Naturally, through his lawyer, former Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Herbert E Walker III, he claims innocence, just like he did in 2004 when he was fined US$9,000 for drug possession and cultivation after two ganja plants were found growing at his studio. Buju's defence was that he had just returned from a long tour and had found the plants there.

I am a Buju fan, ever since his 'til Shiloh CD -- that raw, brash, gravel-filled voice blending conscious lyrics with a dancehall vibe, in particular the Untold Stories track, lyrics of which are partially reproduced in today's column.

"Who can afford to run will run

But what about those who can't ... they will have to stay

Opportunity a scarce, scarce commodity

In these times I say. When mama spend her last and send you go class

Never you ever play."

Buju is the youngest of 15 children born of a higgler and a labourer (and, if what is printed is true, is of Maroon descent). He was raised in Salt Lane, which is as much a place as it is a state of mind. Early in his career his lyrics spoke about his reality: poverty, faith, 'screw faces', love, slackness, thievery, homophobia, and very often dealt with violence, which he said Jamaican youth confronted daily. In 1993 two of his friends, and colleague musicians, were murdered in separate incidents. His response was Murderer, a single which condemned gun violence.

His 1992 song Love me Browning spoke of his penchant for light-skinned women: "Me love me car, me love me bike, me love me money and ting, but most of all me love me browning." After the brouhaha surrounding that song, he released Love Black Woman: "Mi nuh stop cry, fi all black woman, respect all the girls dem with dark complexion." That year Buju broke Bob Marley's record for the most number one singles in a year.

He is as controversial as he is conscious: his 1993 song Deportees criticised Jamaicans who went abroad but never sent money home; Tribal War condemned political violence; and Willy, don't be silly promoted safe sex. Buju -- as his recent Grammy nomination (his fourth) for his ninth album, Rasta Got Soul will attest -- is one of the greatest reggae artistes out there.

But Buju, who is also world famous for his anti-gay rhetoric and his 1988 song Boom Bye Bye, which was allegedly written (when he was 15 years old) in painful response to a widely reported man/boy rape case in Jamaica, is destroying his career. The lyrics called for the burning of homosexuals "like an old tyre wheel", and the international gay community responded by protesting against his every performance since -- essentially making it difficult for him to make a living.

"I was a child when I wrote those lyrics," he said. "But let me make it clear that I do not encourage or condone violence towards any human being, and that includes our gay brothers and sisters." Just this past October, Buju tried to reconcile with the San Francisco gay community but rejected their suggestions that he start calling for love towards gay people, or donate to the JFLAG group, or hold a town hall meeting in Kingston about the need to respect gays. Three-quarters of his concert dates were cancelled as a result and a week ago undercover agents nailed him in Florida on narcotics charges.

"I am living while I am living to the Father I will pray

Only he knows how we get through every day

With all the hike in the price

Arm and leg we have to pay

While our leaders play."

While Buju may be the poster boy for political incorrectness pertaining to gays, he is not the only offender. Elephant Man sang, " Two women in bed/ That's two Sodomites who should be dead." Bounty Killer told listeners to burn "Mister Faggoty" and make him "wince in agony", while Beenie Man suggested that we "hang chi chi man with a long piece of rope".

Even the prime minister weighed in, albeit more eloquently, when he as Opposition leader, said in a BBC Hardtalk interview that he would not appoint a known homosexual to his Cabinet, reasoning that he was not prepared to overturn tradition and culture in the interest of individual freedom of a minority of the population. Golding added: "We intend to uphold the laws of the country.

"We don't believe that the state should be pushing down people's bedroom doors to find what they do there, because if you push it down today to enforce laws that relate to sexual activity, you will push it down tomorrow for some other purpose. So we are not going there."

It will be interesting to see if the Government investigates popular opinion and claims of a 'set-up' to determine if any doors were pushed down to frame Buju. We hope that Mr Golding takes as much interest in the case against Buju as he has in the case against Christopher "Dudus" Coke whom the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) calls one of the "world's most dangerous narcotics kingpins" and for whom the Government has delayed the DEA extradition request, citing that it was in contravention of Jamaican law.

If we're going to stand behind one son of the soil, then we should stand behind them all.

scowicomm@gmail.com