Karma's a bitch - Buju Banton facing 20 years in federal prison for drugs

[Martinus]

Jeffrey Donovan, the ShamWow guy, Lawrence Taylor, Jim Morrison...even quiet old Mickey Rourke's been known to indulge in a little South Florida celebrity arrest action.
Somehow Grammy nominee Buju Banton's legal trouble sounds considerably less incidental and a lot more serious than the arrests of other stars: the controversial Jamaican reggae artist has been in custody since Thursday on federal charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
(That's an amount worth either $15,000, $120,000, more, or free, depending on what fellow celeb signifies Banton's market discount.)

The charge stems from a case out of the U.S. Attorney's office in Tampa, where Banton, whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie, will be transferred. Details in the case were not released.
Banton, who splits time between homes in Tamarac and Jamaica, isn't a stranger to notoriety. While heralded by reggae devotees as one of the most important voices for poor Jamaicans, Banton has faced heavy criticism, protests, and boycotts over lyrics that appear to advocate or endorse violence against gays in his most infamous song, 1992's "Boom Bye Bye," and others.

He was charged with helping beat six gay men in Jamaica in 2004, but a judge dismissed the case for lack of evidence.

His latest effort, "Rasta Got Soul," was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Reggae Album category on December 2 -- recognition that stirred up heavy opposition from the groups Gay Men of African Descent, National Black Justice Coalition, and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

A fall tour in support of the album saw many U.S. dates canceled by protests, though a Halloween night concert in Miami at the city-owned James L. Knight Center went ahead without promoter support and reportedly lost tens of thousands of dollars.

Debate has swirled over "Boom Bye Bye," helped, in part, by conflicting statements from Banton himself. The song was originally recorded in 1988, when he was a teenager, but released in 1992 while Banton enjoyed a string of hits in his home country. Supporters say he purposefully stopped performing the song, but a YouTube video from a 2006 Memorial Fest performance in Miami begs to differ. Then there's the matter of his signature on the anti-hate-speech Reggae Compassionate Act in 2007, an endorsement Banton denied, and the question of whether he was speaking of or for a culture, or expressing his own opinions.

For now, Banton has more pressing issues: if convicted, he faces up to twenty years in prison.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Buju-Banton-Singing-Dade-County-Prison-Blues-79170397.html

Here's a bit more background on this lovely person:

Black LGBT Orgs. Protesting Buju
By Michelle Garcia


Two black LGBT organizations have joined the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in condemning the Grammy nomination of homophobic singer Buju Banton.

The National Black Justice Coalition and Gay Men of African Descent are working on a petition drive to protest Banton's Best Reggae Album nomination for his Rasta Got Soul. The singer has a history of being antigay and is from Jamaica, a country where violent attacks on gay people are common.

In his 1988 song "Boom Boom Bye," Banton uses an antigay slur, claims that gay people must die, and says he will "shoot them in the head" or "burn them."

"We must take a stand against any type of negative expression that encourages violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people," said Sharon Lettman, president of the NBJC. "With music being a major cultural influence, such messages that fuel hate and homophobia place our community in harm's way."

"By nominating this album, the Recording Academy is sending the message that the violence against the LGBT community especially in Jamaica, which Buju Banton has so wantonly celebrated and encouraged in his music, is not worthy of condemnation, and that protecting our lives is of little importance," said Gay Men of African Descent executive director Tokes M. Osubu.

Christmas comes two weeks early this year. Hope he likes all them batty men in prison. 

[Syt]

Who?

[Martinus]

He is a thug and a bully. One of the men who he beat up in Jamaica was blinded as a result.

Incidentally, Jamaica is a really nasty place. I have been boycotting their exports for some time now.

[sbr]

Incidentally, Jamaica is a really nasty place. I have been boycotting their exports for some time now.

Weed and fast black men?

[Martinus]

Incidentally, Jamaica is a really nasty place. I have been boycotting their exports for some time now.

Weed and fast black men?

And rum and brown sugar.

[Tamas]

Incidentally, Jamaica is a really nasty place. I have been boycotting their exports for some time now.

The world should follow your brave example, since it is well known that economic downfall really helps enlightment of the common people to happen.

[syk]

Don't buy any bauxite either!

So will you have a lot more christmas than other people when other dancehall artists are arrested over whatever charges? The whole dancehall culture is extremely homophobe.

...listening to Dennis Howard explain why dancehall is so given to homophobia. It is, he says, all about artists getting a response from the audience called "a forward" during live shows.

"If you are a DJ, a performer in dancehall, you cannot just go onstage and they applaud you, it's not that kind of concert. During the performance, you have to get a forward, which is people holding up their hand or lighters and cheering. They know they'll get a response by talking about a set of things, some of them commendable. It is not homosexuality alone. It is abortion, police informers, paedophiles, rapists, bowcat (which is oral sex). So if the performance is not going well, they say: 'Hold up yuh hand if yuh nuh like battyman, hold up yuh hand if yuh nuh suck pussy, yuh nuh bowcat.' I'm not defending them, because although I'm one of dancehall's biggest supporters, I've been one of their biggest critics, but they're not literally saying kill a battyboy or step on the chi chi man, you understand? It's metaphorical. They have been saying 'informer fi dead', 'bowcat fi dead' for a long time, but they don't literally mean it. It's annoying what the DJs are doing because they are just pandering to the crowd and it's uncreative, but you can't take it in the same context as when someone in your culture does it."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2004/dec/10/gayrights.popandrock

[DisturbedPervert]

I have been boycotting their exports for some time now.

If you're boycotting because of homophobia, you should only eat food imported from Sweden.

[Martinus]

I have been boycotting their exports for some time now.

If you're boycotting because of homophobia, you should only eat food imported from Sweden.

I stopped eating peanuts because most of it comes from Iran at least in Poland. I switched to cashew nuts.

[Admiral Yi]

Don't buy any bauxite either!

[Neil]

Gays who are beaten get what they deserve.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Incidentally, Jamaica is a really nasty place. I have been boycotting their exports for some time now.

Weed and fast black men?

And rum and brown sugar.

How will the triangle trade bring prosperity then?

[Jaron]

Import me Marcin. I'll bring: cum and brown sugar