This Guy Right Here...

"Who dis bumboclatt Babylon bwoy bloggin bout I'n'I?"

I was actually hoping to spin yarns about some other things first. This is not a dancehall or reggae blog, it's a blog about all the general things I'm interested in. But I need to say my piece about BUJU BANTON now while it's still fresh in my mind.

Reggae music gives the impression that most Jamaicans are Rastas, but this is actually not the case. Most Jamaicans are actually Christian. Highly traditional, Jamaican christianity is often militantly anti-homosexual. The Rastas are no better in this regard (as roots reggae artist SIZZLA makes clear), with Rastafari's strong emphasis on the Old Testament (my personal least-favorite testament). It's an all around bad religio-social climate for the batty boys. TIME called it the worst representative for gays rights in the western hemisphere. Boning a dude can get you 10 years, no joke. The violence against homosexuals there is no joke either.

And the centerpiece of every article or argument about homophobia in dancehall culture/Jamaican society: Buju Banton, and this song he wrote in the 80's at the age of 15 and recorded in 1993.

The basic message of this song is that all gay people should be, ideally, shot in the head, or burned alive with acid. Boom Bye Bye is absolute hate music.

So now why would anybody (especially me, what with my integrity and all) listen to an artist like this? Because as nuts as it makes me, besides the above monstrosity, almost every song I've heard from BUJU has been musically great and had a wonderfully positive message.

I would spend many nights at home.
Woman if it means contention, I'd rather be alone.
Tell the serviceman cut the phone, I'd say block all communication, why?
If there's no light within my day, I'd rather stay in isolation.
For that special someone a lifetime I'll wait, I know that I'll be OK.
Cross my heart, every day, I live, I pray.
I know she'll come my way, night and day
For this woman I pray.

I wanna be loved!
Not for who you think I am, or who you want me to be, could you love me for me?
Real love, with no strings attached, I wanna give you my heart...

You have to know the right albums to pick. The only BUJU BANTON albums I mess with are Til Shiloh and Inna Heights, which are the ones on which he focuses more on his roots influence than his hardcore dancehall anthems. On Inna Heights there's a track he dedicates to all the single parents in the world.

Consider how they make it to the end of the day,
Working so hard, just to get paid.
As a single parent, life ain't easy,
Play the role of mom and dad.

Mama I thank you, thank you.
I never know no father yet you provide my dinner.
And I love you, oh mama,
When you cry I cry too.

Why do you look so dull and foresaken?
I know that he's gone and your heart is broken,
But we are still together,
Mama never leave us alone...

I mean, this is beautiful, inspirational stuff! This could make a person break out in tears! And it's wonderful musically as well. I didn't include any of his more spiritual songs in my examples but they are downright empowering.

All the while in the back of my mind, however, I know this guy is a horribly, horribly prejudiced person. I'd like to think that Boom Bye Bye was the product of an angry misguided youth, but he's kept his outrageously confused ideas about homosexuals up to today. So basically I enjoy BUJU's music in the same manner I enjoy SPIKE LEE movies; with a lot of guilt.

In a somewhat related point: BUJU is in prison right now for cocaine (EXTREMELY un-Rasta of you, by the way Buju). The slammer's a good place for soul searching, maybe he'll see the error of his ways.

Me Right Near The Beach...

When most people think of Jamaican music nowadays they think not much outside of 60s-70s reggae. Now if you're a white college-age American male like me, you know at least a dozen or so people who own at least one BOB MARLEY poster, but that doesn't always mean they are in fact a reggae fan, probably half the time it means they are in fact a ganja fan, and they may not own so much as a single reggae album. The BOB MARLEY poster is of a similar vein to the CHE GUEVARA t-shirt, a passive rebellious symbol that the owner himself usually has no proper understanding of.

Not that I'm knocking the most important and influential reggae artist ever. MARLEY brought reggae out of Jamaican ghettos like Trenchtown and Westmoreland to people all over the world. People who write about music history often call him the first 3rd-world superstar. The man's legacy is undeniable. And hell, I like his music a lot even if he's not my absolute favorite reggae singer.

But his legacy is often so strong that people forget about what's happened to Jamaican music since MARLEY's glory days and aren't paying any attention to what artists are putting out today, which is a shame cause the story is very interesting whether you like the music or not.

In the 80s, a lot of big political and social changes happened in Jamaica. The Socialist People's National Party (PNP) lost elections to the free-market conservative Jamaican Labour Party (JLP), meaning it became more important to catch that gwap than it did to sit around thinking about MARCUS GARVEY or Jah Rastafari. This is when dancehall hit the scene and it continued into the 2000s.

People who don't know the real name for dancehall usually call it Jamaican rap, mainly because that's what it basically is. Hard rhythms, strong emphasis on lyrical skill/rhyming, common themes include having more money than you, dance moves, sexy bitches, ghetto living, glorified violence/guns, drug dealing and general gangsterism, gay bashing, representing your crew/hood, all around a lot of the same elements of American hip hop.



I have such mixed feelings about dancehall (BUJU BANTON as an artist in particular, he might get his own post), musically that is. I don't really like hip hop that much at all, wherever it comes from, with only a few exceptions (I'll probably write about them sometime). Dancehall can be terribly abrasive to the unacustomed ear, and it's extremely intense, especially compared to classic reggae which is where most people are coming from when they discover dancehall.

However, there's also contemporary roots reggae. Guys like CAPLETON, SIZZLA, CHEZIDEK (my personal favorite) and others are modern artists who produce reggae in a more traditional style. You'll hear digital sounds, but ultimately these guys are of the same spirit as the reggae legends of the 60s and 70s.



Whatever does it for you, Jamaica creates great music. As great as BOB MARLEY was, I wish more people would explore more artists to get a greater appreciation of all of this tiny island nation has to offer. Even within the roots reggae era, most people don't know about greats like PETER TOSH, BURNING SPEAR, or even older guys like KEN PARKER.

That's what I say about Jamaican music. BUH-BUH-BUH LORDAMERCY!