in the 90s boujou bantan emerged as one of the most popular reggae dance hall artists some of his
songs though drew substantial criticism for their offensive lyrics over the years fuji remained a
high-profile star and branched out using a variety of elements including r b hip hop and folk then
a conviction on drug trafficking charges in the u.s curtailed his career for the better part of
a decade and had people wondering if he would ever get the chance to dominate the music charts again
mark anthony myrie professionally known by his stage name boujou bantan was born the youngest
of 15 children in jamaica's capital city of kingston though financially impoverished the
mairi family were proud descendants of the maroons african warriors who freed themselves from slavery
and established their own promised land in jamaica his father and aspiring singer provided for the
family through manual labor while his mother sold fresh produce in a nearby market it was
she who gave him the affectionate nickname buju benton a jamaican word that refers to
someone who's a respected storyteller was adopted by buju in tribute to dj burobanten
whom he admired as a child and whose style he tried to match at the age of 12 buju picked up a
microphone and began toasting a style of lyrical chanting which in dancehall music involves a dj
talking over a rhythm he did so originally under the moniker gargamel in 1987 he released his first
single called the ruler he continued to release a number of other singles in the late 80s but didn't
receive any significant attention until 1992 after the release of two albums stamina daddy and mr
mention the latter becoming the best-selling album in jamaican history upon its release
mr mention also includes many of his greatest hits from that year
including bonafide love featuring wayne wonder the singer who gave buju his first
major stage appearance on the annual jamaican stage show staying controversy erupted over
another one of the album's tracks and buju's first major hit love me browning
an ode to light-skinned women that drew the ire of jamaica's sizable darker darker-skinned population
as penance he released a follow-up single called love black woman
that year he also broke the record for the most number one singles in one year in jamaica
previously held by bob marley and the whalers also at this time an unofficial release of a very
controversial song would keep many people talking for decades to come boom bye bye released in 1992
but recorded several years earlier when buju was just 15 years old has been widely criticized for
its lyrical content as supporting taking the lives of gay men the backlash also threatened
to destroy his career the song would become the subject of outrage across the u.s and europe
and buju would subsequently issue a public apology he signed with international major label mercury
records and released his third studio album voice of jamaica in 1993. the album included
a number of conscious tracks including deportees a song criticizing jamaicans who went abroad but
never sent money home tribal war a criticism of political violence and willie don't be silly a
celebratory safe sex anthem that same year buju took control of his business by establishing his
own label gargamel music around this time boujou was also deep in the throes of a transformation he
was embracing the rastafari movement and had begun growing dreadlocks his performances and musical
releases also took on a more spiritual tone by the mid 90s buju's music had become more influenced by
his faith as heard on his very next project 1995's till shiloh touted as a masterpiece the album's
fusion of dancehall with live instrumentation and classic roots reggae consolidated buju's move into
social awareness and signaled his arrival as an artist able to make major creative statements
the album included the singles murderer untold stories wannabe loved and championed the remax
over the next 15 years buju released six more albums including 1997's in a heights
which picked up where till shiloh left off but received less acclaim 2003's friends for life
a crossover record with elements of hip-hop r b and pop and the one that got him his
first grammy for best reggae album 2010s before the dawn in 2009 buchu was arrested
in miami on charges related to drug dealing he was charged with conspiracy to distribute
and possession of more than five kilograms of cocaine he went in and out of custody over a
tumultuous two-year period and endured a mistrial during that trial audio recordings were presented
of buju and a drug dealer turned government informant discussing drugs
drug prices and smuggling he was also seen on a video recording meeting the informant
in a police-controlled warehouse tasting cocaine from a kilogram bag
ultimately in february 2011 buju was convicted of illegal possession of a firearm and conspiracy to
possess cocaine with intent to distribute he was sentenced to 10 years and one month in a federal
prison for the cocaine trafficking conviction two years after that his time at mcrae correctional
facility in georgia was reduced to seven years after a judge discarded the gun charge buju also
suffered a divorce during his incarceration with his ghanian socialite wife nina attala
buchu was released in december 2018 and finally able to reunite with his rather large family
including 17 children some of whom he's apparently had a volatile relationship his daughter abigail
was reported missing by her family in 2021 after making claims that her famous father
choked her and tried to take her life the year before buju's son jihazio announced he was no
longer using the family name myri he also posted several cryptic tweets which social media users
surmised were directed at his father buju's eldest son marcus has also dealt with his father's wrath
buju allegedly got into a physical altercation with him shortly after he came to jamaica after
being deported following his prison term upon his release from prison buchu hit the ground running
starting with his the long walk to freedom tour he made history with his homecoming concert
at jamaica's national stadium in march 2019 not since bob marley's one love peace concert
in 1978 had the venue completely filled its 35 000 seeds 27 years after its release in 2019
buju and his team chose to officially remove boom bye bye from his catalog his team pulled the song
from streaming platforms such as apple music and spotify and buju himself announced his intention
to never perform the song again at the end of the year buju entered a partnership
with jay-z's rock nation and produced the full-length stepa's rhythm in early 2020.
upside down 2020 his first full-length album in a decade arrived that june and included guest spots
from john legend pharrell steflon dawn and steven marley in a july 2020 interview with
the breakfast club vuju spoke candidly about the real reason he believes he got locked up
pointing the finger to a collusion between the jamaican and us governments to neutralize and
silence him them neutralizing me wasn't a part of god's plan all the great men that i have read
about they've all gone to prison all have to go through that form of persecution even christ
they thought they were doing bad but my god is the greatest planner according to buju it all
started with an altercation he had with a guy who he says came out of his mouth the wrong way
and buchu had to put him back in place apparently the man had an affiliation to an lgbtq plus group
and they started using that as an angle to justify him becoming a fixture on the government's radar
he also vehemently denied claims that he has a cocaine habit reaffirming that the
only substance he's known to consume is that green sacrament of his religion buchu's latest
work showcases his return to the dancehall scene with the release of the single madabada in june
2022 a prelude to his forthcoming album the track is reminiscent of the classic dancehall rhythm
with contemporary sounds and hardcore lyricism that first brought him to prominence in the 90s
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