By August Brown

When Jamaican reggae artist Buju Banton booked a show at the Highlands club in Hollywood in 2006, protests from the L.A. gay and lesbian community were louder than the music.

The popular dance-hall singer has drawn the ire of gay activist groups for years, in large part because of the violently homophobic lyrics of his 1992 single "Boom Bye Bye," which proposes pouring acid on homosexuals and shooting them in the head.




In 2006, local Black and gay advocacy groups successfully protested Banton's show, leading to its cancellation at Highlands, though it was eventually re-booked at the Century Club.

This October, Banton is scheduled to play a high-profile concert, at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles, and once again, some of the same activist groups are working to get the show canceled.
"We're disappointed that even after we've so clearly expressed how we feel about this, it would all be ignored now," said Thomas Soule, communications manager for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center (LAGLC). "To schedule him again really feels like disregard for the community."

In recent years Banton has attempted to distance himself from the lyrics of "Boom Bye Bye" who now presents himself as a more spiritual and Rasta-centric songwriter. To some reggae fans, pressure to prevent Banton from playing amount to censorship, while gay activist groups see Banton's songs as hate speech, and as an example of the ugly undercurrent of homophobia in some reggae music.
"We are aware of the concerns that were brought to our attention this week with regards to Buju Banton's October appearance.
We are reaching out to the artist, artist management and the LAGLC to satisfactorily resolve the issues that have been presented," said Michael Roth, vice president of communications for AEG, the venue's owner.

In recent shows, Banton performed parts of "Boom Bye Bye," but claimed to use it as a starting point for a conversation about the controversy surrounding the song and its lyrics. In a complicated twist, Banton was tried and acquitted on charges that he was part of a gang who beat six gay men in Jamaica in 2004.

It's yet unclear what steps AEG will take to address the concerns surrounding the show, but for Soule, Banton himself is one voice conspicuously missing from the conversation.
"I would imagine that a public statement moving away from that would go a long way," Soule said. "If he says he's all for peace today, well, peace for whom?"

(Edited blog posted on LA Times, Aug 28, 2009)