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| Creative Commons photo via Flickr. |
Reggae artist Buju Banton, widely known for lyrics promoting violence against gays, is performing Saturday at the Shattuck Down Low in Berkeley.
Much of the controversy stems from Banton’s 1988 single, "Boom Bye Bye," which consisted of violently anti-gay lyrics that described shooting homosexuals in the head and burning them "like an old tire."
Banton’s anti-gay sentiments have entangled him in legal trouble. A 2004 assault case in Jamaica charged Banton with being among a group that barged into a Kingston home and beat up six men they accused of being homosexuals. Banton was not convicted of the crime.
After losing concert bookings, Banton signed the Reggae Compassionate Act in 2007, repudiating homophobia and sexism. Yet by many accounts, he denied having signed the document just a week later.
Banton claimed in an interview that he is no "gay-basher" and if he was, it was "16 years ago." His publicist said that he does not perform "Boom Bye Bye" any longer or profit from it. Despite this, a Florida gay paper asserted that a YouTube video documents Banton performing the song as recently as 2006, and that the track is the artist’s top-selling single on Amazon.
Banton’s previously scheduled U.S. tour was cancelled by large concert promoters this summer in response to strong public criticism from the gay and lesbian community. Other recently scheduled concerts in Detroit and Los Angeles have also been cancelled.
