“Boojew has nothing to hide…” (a dig at American mispronunciation of the singer’s name)
I’ve never seen anything like this. As Buju Banton’s fate hangs in the balance the entire nation seems to be on tenterhooks. Will he be found guilty or innocent of conspiracy with intent to distribute five kilogrammes of cocaine? Radio stations are playing his songs and he is the trending topic everywhere you go. Last night i was at a surprise party for DJ Sanjay at the Mayfair Hotel and the subject inevitably came up. Everyone wanted him to be found innocent –whether he is or not–
On Twitter the person tweeting as Bruce Golding proclaimed:
@bruceJLP: #FreeBuju #TakeMe
Things have generally been downhill ever since Buju was forced to meet with gay rights groups in San Francisco last October. Last December I published a piece by Sarah Manley called ‘…the full has never been told’. It’s full of insights into why Jamaicans feel so passionately about this mercurial, contentious singer:
when i finally met buju in 2002 on a documentary about the history of reggae i was blown away by the sheer poetry of the man. his exquisite handsomeness, his combination of electric charm and cold indifference…. in many ways he summed up jamaica for me in one man: beautiful and scary… and that is no small feat…. to sum up my country, my painful, excellent, magical, dramatical, amazing heartbreaking country is something indeed…. i went out one day and bought every cd he had ever released and to this day can sing til shiloh and inna heights from beginning to end and often play his 23rd psalm as part of my morning worship.
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