News: Buju waves goodbye to 'Boom Bye Bye'?

Due to the recent uproar about three of our top dancehall voices being censored by gay rights movements after allegedly signing a statement that denounce performing what they refer to as hate songs, Buju Banton’s Gargamel Music sent a letter to One876Entertainment.com to address the image of the artiste that is being portrayed by the gay community.

The release signed by the President of Gargamel Music, Inc. Traci McGregor states:

After hearing about the concerns being voiced by members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender community about international reggae icon Buju Banton, I felt it was important to reach out, as the public portrait that has been painted of Buju as an artist who has espoused violence, hatred and negativity his entire career is one of absolute fraud.

Indeed a young Buju Banton wrote the incendiary anti-gay tune “Boom Bye Bye” back when he was a mere 15 years old. Penned in response to a widely publicized man/boy rape case in Jamaica, it caused a furor in the states when it was re-released four years later in 1992. For the record, he had not performed the song since the early nineties and regularly speaks out against violence - against all people. “I was a child when I wrote those lyrics,” Buju admits. “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.” Last year, when Buju once again found himself the target of a new generation of gay activists, he utilized two lines from “Boom Bye Bye” only as a springboard to discuss the enduring persecution he has faced because of the song and to assure his fans just how much he has evolved since. Yet certain factions of the gay community have continued to use it against him in an attempt to discredit him in the media.

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