the hum / By Bob Doran

Bye Bye Buju

Reggae show axed, plus alt. Balkan, AkaBella, and Hoptoberfest

(Oct. 8, 2009)  When concert promoter Carol Bruno and nightclub owner Gil Miracle announced on Monday that a planned concert by dancehall reggae artist Buju Banton was canceled, it wasn’t the first time a reggae show got the axe because of an artist’s gay-bashing lyrics — and if you look at reggae history, you know it won’t be the last.

Back in 1992, Shabba Ranks, a rising star in Jamaican dancehall, was on the verge of crossover success in America and England when he found himself embroiled in controversy. Appearing as a guest on a BBC-TV music show, Shabba was asked about the incendiary dancehall hit du jour, “Boom Bye Bye,” by a young Jamaican artist called Buju Banton whose patois lyrics basically advocated killing homosexuals. Defending Buju, Shabba suggested that crucifixion would be a fitting punishment for gays. The incident was widely publicized and effectively sidetracked Shabba’s career.

GALLERY >

In the years that followed, British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell would coin the term “Murder Music” to describe violently homophobic work by a group of notorious Jamaican artists including Beenie Man, Sizzla, Capleton and Buju Banton. Working with the group OutRage!, Tatchell mounted a successful blacklist campaign that torpedoed tours and even blocked musicians from entering England and Canada.

The anti-Murder Music campaign hit Humboldt in 2004 when a show by Capleton at Humboldt State was canceled in response to student complaints. There was organized opposition to a Buju appearance at the Mateel in 2006, but that time the show ultimately went on (and sold out).

OutRage! declared a victory of sorts in June 2007, when, bowing to unrelenting pressure, Beenie Man, Capleton, Sizzla and Buju Banton all signed something called “the Reggae Compassionate Act,” a pledge that said in part, “We agree to not make statements or perform songs that incite hatred or violence against anyone from any community.”

Signing was a calculated risk. The financial loss from being blacklisted was considerable, but many Jamaican fans, who live in a country described in a Time magazine story as “the most homophobic place on Earth,” saw signing as a capitulation. Buju and Beenie both allegedly disavowed signing the statement and campaigns against their shows continue.

Buju’s fall 2009 tour saw concert giants AEG Live and Live Nation pull all of his shows from their venues. The viral battle in Humboldt, waged on Facebook and on blogs, was echoed across the country. Nevertheless, Buju’s management declared the tour “a success” in a press release issued Monday, claiming, “Despite the ongoing smear campaign against Banton, promoters are already calling it the biggest selling reggae tour of the year.”

The release includes a message from Buju that tries to put “Boom Bye Bye” behind him: “I do not condone violence against anyone, including gays, and I have spent my career rallying against violence and injustice through music,” he writes. “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.”

1 2 3 NEXT PAGE >SHARE