RASTA GOT GUILTY VERDICT...

BUJU... whether guilty or innocent; whether you believe him or not...he's been a victim of character assassination.


 Those close to him are explaining that BUJU likes to talk a lot of shit. Whirlwinds of bravado. RASTA GOT COKE?  Government agents have proof of BUJU sampling the merchandise. All my friends that claimed that he jumped to the RASTA way of life as merely a business decision said, "see...I told ya so!" 


In essence that claim is bull. Why? Several big names making even bigger entertainment dollars like Elephant Man or Sean Paul make no association with RASTA ideologies. So RASTA doesn't equal FAME and MONEY. Now that's a foolish accusation!

Those same friends also claim that SIZZLA is faking it! Huh? We know he was raised into the faith by Rastafarian parents! 

Before the world got all PC on us, there was a young thug from Salt Lane Kingston working the mic. Back when Mark Anthony Myrie, Buju's real name, was hungry for woman, hungry for dollars and hungry for everything that success brought with it. Working the mic became a means to survival. Working that mic was a means to escape from further ghetto suffrage. 

To be enjoyed at face value. BUJU doesn't hide behind any false pretenses here. In 1992 the teen aged BUJU is openly homophobic, he is braggingly misogynistic and BUJU is performing his real self here. That self? A hormone driven youth possibly facing a future he was told that as a poor BLACK MAN he would never have. Arguably, environment plays a large part in shaping his lyrical content...so spin this disc as an Anthropological experience. It provides a valuable peek into places to dark for the sun to shine. Do I agree with him? No, but personally I do believe the RASTA GOT SOUL. Hell, there is a lot of shit about my own youth I'm not proud of! 

Life, image and doing business in BABYLON caught up to him. Remember folks we are all human first and pious secondly. 

Will this guilty verdict destroy BUJU'S career? Sure gigs and sales may be immediately affected, but the big picture could tell a different story. Check the legends of folk heros like HUDDIE WILLIAM  "LEAD BELLY", JOHNNY CASH and MERLE HAGGARD. A few years from now, you'll be able to add LIL WAYNE'S name to that list. 

Coke and Bobo don't mix but BUJU and PENTHOUSE RECORDS were meant for each other. I can't get enough of it!

MUSIC THEORY

I may have exercised my right to artistic license with that last post.  But remember the "THE MAN" went looking for BUJU too set him up in an undercover sting. Ever ask yourself why him? What is it about BUJU that made himself their target and not...say the MARLEY BROTHERS. When I think of a huge thorn stuck in BABYLON'S side, I think of this man; SIZZLA KALONJI. 

Oh by the way, the dictionary definition of GELDING is...castrated animal, esp. a male horse. 

The door to Jamaica's top political office reads Prime Minister GOLDING. The coincidence in similarities is purely accidental.

The grand entrance to this collection of hard and heavy vibes comes from the mind and record label of GARGAMEL. It is a hummable little ditty called COWBOYS. Perhaps you've heard of it? It always amazes me how only down in Jamaica can the studio wizards turn an insipid nursery rhyme like THREE BLIND MICE into a subversive weapon....or at least a smash hit. 

The rest of the disc...

1.) COWBOY by BUJU BANTON. Only down in Jamaica can they take an insipid little ditty like “Three Blind Mice” and ruff it up into something serious. This tuff tune is no children’s nursery rhyme. It is however one of BUJU’S strongest singles in a long time. Well maybe not that long but at least since DRIVER A broke. Remember TOO BAD from way back in 2007?

2.) “POLICE AND THEIVES” by GEORGE NOOKS reaches deep into LUCIANO’S take on this classic from the soundtrack. Usually GEORGE reaches deep into the verses of the bible for lyrical inspiration. I'm gonna bore ya with some history. First off, this tune had mass appeal with those individuals on the wrong side of the law. Alright a few genuine outlaws and mostly hipsters posing as dangerous types. Everybody from spiky punker thugs to the down to earth Ganja farmers. Junior Murvin cut the original tune with a falsetto high enough to bounce off the stratosphere. If you think there is something unnerving and subtly disturbing about the mix that's because the production was the result of LEE PERRY'S mind disintegrating into illness. Those noisy four chord wonders, the CLASH unleashed their own hit version, something like a week after JUNIOR’S bust out on London's pirate radio. Worlds collide! So this classic tune carries massive influence in two separate genres. GEORGE NOOK’S huge tone completely reinvents this tune but is never far from the original design. JUNIOR’S falsetto was only a few decibels lower than the frequency that only dogs can hear.

3.) PINCHERS-When the musical fashion shifted to all that bad man gun bussin’ talk, PINCHER'S faded. PINCHER’S liked to woo the girls in the audience but not like those velvety Vegas lounge crooners. Girls couldn’t get enough of his sly smile while he ached heartbreakers like the massive tune AGONY. PINCHER'S would never reach those heights again that he had with KING JAMMY’S productions. PINCHERS never completely pulled a disappearing act though. He’s been putting out good stuff all along. PINCHER’S never clicked with the younger fans on an international level. Shame, hopefully his tune here, “PUNK ME OUT”, corrects that mistake. He works his smooth stuff over the STALAG RIDDIM. 

4.) MICHAEL ROSE, no I mean JUNIOR REID. Wait that ain’t right, I mean YAMI BOLO. Hey he ain’t 12 years old anymore! YAMI summed it up as being a Waterhouse thing. JUNIOR REID summed it up as the youthful YAMI copying every move he, (JUNIOR), made behind the mic. Hey if ya gonna steal a style, pick the best. Some of JUNIOR’S hits were being spun in the chic discothèques of the rich and famous. Funny thing is I remember every body saying the same thing about JUNIOR stealing MICHAEL ROSE’S tongue tricky “Arabic” vocal technique. Actually the more mature YAMI has found a delicate balance between his own voice and the Waterhouse sound with his rootsy tune, “END OF THE DAY.”

5.) GHOST appears with “LONELY NIGHT.”– He is not really an apparition because he shows up to haunt many a REGGAE compilation. Hey does GHOST have his very own CD released? The Ghost has one of those smooth and sweetly fey voices. My wife thought he was a girl. I know better. Depending on the tune, I either love ‘em or hate ‘em. Here on JAMROCK CLASSICS I find no ill will against the singer.

6.) JAH CURE- Now JAH CURE knows a thing or two about being a criminal statistic. Whether or not he was truly guilty, only him and the girl would know, and of course JAH. Plus getting caught with a handgun didn’t help his defense. Now that Mr. Cure has diligently paid his debt to society, he is back on the path fate had chosen for him. That path is performing passionate roots. 

7.) TONY CURTIS belts out “GOODBYE TO LOVE.” I really don’t know much about him other than he has been around for a few decades. Some fans might call this a throw away tune but it’s a notch above being mere filler. I guess you could accuse the GHOST track of the same offense, but “LONEL NIGHT” is definitely the stronger of the two.

8.) LUTAN FYAH drops “MEANS TO SURVIVE.” I have said before that LUTAN reminds me every ROOTS CHANTER that I love but at the same time he is nothing like any of them. Somehow I’m comfortably familiar with his work even if I’m a stranger to the tune.  Spinning a new CD of LUTAN’S work is like listening to an old favorite. I put him in the same category as NATURAL BLACK. Both constantly surpass high standards but for some reason they slip unnoticed by the casual REGGAE public. Thankfully there are enough diehard ears listning.

9.) BUJU BANTON featuring THE NEW KIDZ causes trouble all over again with “CURFEW.”  Another act of defiance cut on the THREE BLIND MICE. I'm not sure what they be call the riddim. Probably my favorite tune from this disc. It is one of those tunes that could make you either fall deep into thought or make ya wanna dance.

10.)  TERROR FABULOUS steps outta the time machine and delivers “READY ROCK.” A rowdy old school workout over the STALAG RIDDIM. This tune brings back memories of fades and parachute pants! It is a cool way to wrap up a good mix of new and old. BUJU as the star power producer and aspiring record mogul.

Basic packaging, but that's okay, because all the time and money went into the tunes. The full title is BUJU BANTON presents JAMROCK CLASSICS vol.1
I hope we don't haffi wait the length of a maximum sentence for vol. 2

BUJU- A FREE MAN!

Alright, it is no great mystery that this old fool loves sweet Reggae music. And I love writing, so it would seem natural that the two would twist around each other nicely. They don't. Every time I itch to get some posting done it's like I have to low crawl thru barbed wire spirals while shots ring out over my head. I get distracted so easily. I end up reading the latest news/gossip of what is happening in this damn crazy world. I've become desensitised to the bombs blowing up the Middle East; apathetic to the news that even more evidence of genocide was unearthed in the sacred soils of Mother Africa and hell, I am downright bored with the endless articles about how one human being can be so rotten to another.

Ahhh...but today hidden in the BBC's entertainment section was news of Buju's trial. A jury of his peers could not reach the same verdict so the judge declared a mistrial. Everybody go home! By the way was it really a jury of his peers? I mean how many Jamaican Nationals sat in the box? I didn't see the Marley Brothers or Sizzla sitting in the jury box. All good in the end though.

Oh yeah, I lied about Satan's influence on humanity. The daily news reports filled with unspeakable horrors will always continue to infuriate me. Peace. A one syllable word that is so hard for most of the world to pronounce.

A TALE OF TWO MEN-Part II

The DeLorean DMC-12 was sort of a cool car in that early 80’s way, but one that proved to be a bad business venture. The car is best known as the time machine in the movie, “Back to the Future.” The all stainless steel body and gull wing doors were stock items. I guess a killer stereo and time machine capabilities were options. John DeLorean was the inventor and head honcho of the DMC-12. John DeLorean learned all this auto industry know how coming up the ranks of first Chrysler then General Motors. They claim he was the brain behind the Pontiac GTO, which spurred on the muscle car stop light war. His many successes led to John being nick named the Prince of Detroit. Eventually Johnny D got bored working for the General, so he became self-employed by firing himself from GMC. He figured his car would be a challenge to the big three automakers. He indulged in a rock star lifestyle complete with snagging a young model wife. (She would leave him once the money evaporated into thin air.)
Although all was not well within DeLorean Enterprises, poor Johnny D. owed a lot of people huge sums of money. Seems the money somehow ended up paying for houses in the country and penthouses in the big city. The British government even loaned him 156 million. That is one helluva bag of cash! Turn of events did not turn Johnny D’s way so our Prince of Detroit found a solution.
Johnny D was caught with a briefcase full of cash. 1.8 million says the FBI agent who led the sting operation. This was to be exchanged for 100 kilos of cocaine at wholesale. (Cheaper to buy product in volume). His 1.8 million dollar investment flipped would be worth 24 million on the street. Actually the US Department of Drug Sniffers was looking for a smuggler named William Hetrick. William unknowingly led the authorities straight to Johnny Boy. John suggested that Ford or one of the other big three auto empires had framed him. He even claimed he might have been set up by the British intelligence.
A jury of his peers found John DeLorean innocent. He apparently had no idea that meeting someone in a secluded spot like a back alley at midnight might possibly be mistaken as engaging in illegal activities. I guess he figured he was buying Girl Scout cookies at wholesale cost. Think of the mark up when Johnny Boy would push them on his friend’s kids. Who could say no to Chocolate Mint?
I am sure the man was an asshole in real life, but I must admit I almost like the guy. I mean he stared the US Government down and then a few years later, Johnny Boy even beat a tax evasion charge.



First off- even if Buju is guilty, why is he being PERSECUTED by the U.S. Judicial System, instead of being PROSECUTED by them? What happened to due process? Even if he was trying to save Gargamel Records by some shady business practices, what happened to innocent until proven guilty? Ever think that he might be completely innocent? In fact I would find it all to easy to believe that the American Government does personally have it out for him. Conspiracies are not just for paranoid crazies. Someone sitting comfy in a seat of power feels threatened by Buju. Hmm, lets see- Mr. Buju Banton is a proud outspoken Black man. Mr. Buju Banton, a Bobo Shanti Dread, is a successful music artist with the youth listening in. That makes him dangerous to White bred America.
Buju Banton aka Gargamel was born Mark Myrie. No one can deny that Buju is credited with bringing roots and culture values back into Dancehall. Huge international sellers like Til’ Shiloh and Inna Heights proved to the unsuspecting world that real reggae did not die with Marley. Hippies and critics might have believed so, but it was safe in Buju’s hands. Safe in Buju’s lyrics.
I remember a time not too long ago when those living in the Reggae world were suspicious of Buju’s conversion to Rastafari. Some figured it was a marketing move by a record company. Many figured he was a thug cashin’ in on Roots revival. My argument then and my argument now is- if he was a youth making fistfuls of cash rockin’ the mic as a slack DeeJay, why even bother pretending to find Jah? He got wiser as he got older. He got wise to the fact that there is more to life than slack ways. And with that newfound wisdom, he found Jah in his heart.
Hopefully Mark Myrie gets a fair trial by his peers. I know that Buju Banton the Rasta will not.

A Tale Of Two Men

I have a story coming up about these two gentlemen. Funny, they were both charged with committing the same crime, but the well known White business man never sat behind bars. The Black Rasta man has been rotting away in a cage while waiting for his "fair trial."



John Delorean is a well respected auto industry giant therefore he must be innocent. Besides he's a white collar white man.



The Maroon descended Mark Myrie aka Buju Banton is a crazed fag bashing dope smoking dread. He is a Black man therefore assumed guilty. What color is the collar of a Reggae legend? Red, gold and green?

BUJU BANTON

Speaking of training with Dancehall in my ears, I always have Buju Banton cued on my MP3 player. In fact, I have come to associate BuJu music with only running. Especially when I cover long distances. The riddims beat away in my ears as my feet pound the pavement. When I am about to drop dead from exhaustion, Buju's Too Bad, his rowdy return as the Dancehall king, is like a power switch in me being flipped back to on. I have worn out the soles of many running shoes listening to the righteous soul of Buju's Inna Heights or Til Shiloh. Both record selections are perfect in every way. They are the perfect balance of music and words. Perfect balance of art and life.



Necessary



Like breathing

BUJU BANTON-WHA GWAAN?

I read this some time back in a Westindian Times newspaper- Buju crossed paths with the legendary Jr. Reid in a press tent at some festival. Buju outstretched his hand to shake Jr. Reids, who was entering as Buju was leaving. Jr. Reid snubbed Buju and then called him a batty boy. A stunned Buju asked WHA? Then punches were thrown around before the press jumped in. They shuffled Buju out to break up the fight. What the f--k? Did anybody else read this "credible" news or is it some strange gossip nonsense to meant to slander Buju? I bookmarked the article but it has since disappeared as an invalid search. Smell that? Low tide fishy.
Speaking of Buju, is he getting any love now that America's finest-the Federal blue meanies want to pin this big drug rap on his chest. Babylon trying to take our heros down. Say it aint true....



Junior "One Blood" Reid

New tricks

11 out of 10 stars. It is mathematically possible!

During the rise of the Compact Disc, I rejected the technology, preferring to spin out the early nineties on my turntable. My argument was that it was an industry rip off. The big record companies promised music at such affordable prices that I could splurge on two dime-bags a week with the money I would save! They preached that since manufacturing costs had dropped, the savings would be passed onto the fans. Wrong! The suckers in suits jacked up everything. “Screw the fans, they’ll pay if they wanna be the first on their block”. Hot off the drawing board tech is always inflated beyond the rules of supply and demand. The Heathens were stealing even more cash from the till! Hell, even some of their artists that topped the company roster were still not getting paid. Some things never change!
Eventually, I could not ignore progress anymore…a lot of hard to find stuff started popping up in those jewel cases. Stuff that had been out of print for twenty years was now Remastered and Deluxe Editioned. By the mid-nineties CDs became the standard medium and record execs’ started acting more responsible with my paycheck.



Forget numbers...a heavens worth of stars.

While I was slowly filling in the holes of my collection I kept an eye on the new names popping up. The Buju Banton’s and the Bounty Killers. Curiosity finally killed me and I bought myself, Buju’s “Til Shiloh”. I was stunned, shocked and more alive than ever! I followed that with Capleton’s “More Fire”. Furious stuff! I would spend the new millennium years now playing catch up to the nineties. I am always chasing my tail!



9 out of 10 ounces.

I am amazed at how many middle-aged folks think all modern Reggae and Dancehall is the work of Hip-Hop thugs. The crotch grabbing bling bragging Rap star wanna-be’s. For those old salty dogs that swear to Jah that Reggae went belly up sometime in the 80’s, Chezidek makes them all filthy liars! This gentleman has the golden tonsils of a crooner! Sorta Beres Hammond doing a Sizzla thing sung by Cedric Myton. Makes sense, right? Everybody forgets about Luciano being a 90’s discovery, because they figure he’s been around since the late 60’s. He sounds it right?
Now, Chezidek sets all those doubters straight. This music is Roots growing deep into the traditions best but somehow remaining a fresh modern listen.



9 out of 10 ounces.