Anti-gay "murder music" singer Buju Banton, who has been jailed in Miami on federal drug conspiracy charges, has been moved to Tampa in advance of his arraignment in federal court today, reports the Miami Herald.
Four-time Grammy-nominated and controversial reggae star Buju Banton is scheduled to make his first appearance Thursday in a Tampa courtroom, where he faces federal drug charges. Banton, 36, whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie, is accused along with two others of trying to buy more than five kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute in early December from an undercover law-enforcement officer in Sarasota. Banton was arrested at his home in Tamarac on Dec. 10, and had been in federal lockup in Miami until early Tuesday morning when he was transferred to Tampa.
The federal drug conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Banton's label, Gargamel Music Inc., has retained well-regarded Miami criminal defense attorney David Oscar Markus, who tells ABC News the singer is innocent and was set up by "some evil people trying to take advantage of his trusting and honest character."
LGBT activists have called attention to Banton's "trusting and honest" lyrics, which incite violence and call for attacking, torturing and killing gays. His song "Boom Bye Bye", a dancehall anthem released in the 1990s, calls for shooting gays in the head and setting them on fire. In recent years, the singer's North American and European tour dates have routinely met with protests, demonstrations and cancellations. In October, San Francisco-based LGBT activists met with Banton and afterwards the reggae singer's anti-gay rhetoric appeared even more hardened: "This is a fight, and as I said in one of my songs, 'There is no end to the war between me and faggot'."
Jamaican news coverage of Buju Banton's arrest has, predictably, attempted to link his legal problems to his anti-gay views.
I pray the judge is gay.
Posted by: Taylor Siluwé | 07 January 2010 at 12:33
If he's guilty, then I hope he gets the sentence he deserves.
I find his music to be REPULSIVE! And he's ugly too, so that don't help either, LOL!
Posted by: Isis | 07 January 2010 at 12:46
LOL @ I pray the judge is gay.
Yes, Taylor, a sorta' Rodney Chester type gay. I can hear Buju whispering now, "awwww sheeet".
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | 07 January 2010 at 13:53
Never forget it was 5 Kilos!!!Trusting nature ! Right!
Posted by: DW Jazzlover | 07 January 2010 at 16:29
@ Derrick -- LMBAO!!!!!
Posted by: Taylor Siluwé | 07 January 2010 at 19:48
I wonder what type of batty bois he'll deal with in prison. Karma's a mu --, well, you know what it is.
Posted by: Taylor Siluwé | 07 January 2010 at 19:50
I want to hear his lawyer explain in court how the gays made him call a 'drug dealer', leave his home and I'm assuming, obtain the cash (drug dealers don't take charge) to buy 5 Kilos of coke from an undercover officer. A grand gay conspiracy indeed, from the police to the bank teller. Yes, people in Jamaica will believe this nonsense. Homophobia scrambles the brain like that.
Posted by: mjolnir202 | 07 January 2010 at 20:04
Buju Banton, 2009: “There is no end to the war between me and faggot.”
Boris Badenov, 1963: “There is no end to the war between me and squirrel.”
Posted by: Jim | 07 January 2010 at 23:29
LOL@JIM,
do you know as old as my azz is that I had to "google" Boris Badenov? LOL...I knew the name sounded familiar, but I thought he might have been some Russian astronaut.
Ah, the innocence of the sixties--back when black folks still liked each other....most the time.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | 08 January 2010 at 10:27