Buju Banton Tickets

Buju Banton
Buju Banton is a Jamaican dancehall, ragga, and reggae musician. He has recorded Pop and Dance songs. Many of his songs are composed on political themes.

Banton, like most dancehall artists, is known for being outspoken and is generally influenced by Marcus Garvey. He was born in1973, Kingston, Jamaica.

Early Life and Childhood
Buju Banton was born near Kingston, Jamaica, in a poor neighborhood called Salt Lane. Buju's mother was a street vendor, while his father worked as a labourer at a tile factory.

1988 - First Recording
As a youngster, Buju would often watch his favorite artists perform at outdoor shows and local dancehalls in Denham Town. At the age of 12 he picked up the microphone for himself and began toasting under the moniker of Gargamel, working with the Sweet Love and Rambo Mango sound systems.

In 1986, he was introduced to producer Robert French by fellow deejay Clement Irie, and his first single, The Ruler was released not long afterwards in 1987. This led to recording sessions with producers such as Patrick Roberts, Bunny Pee, Winston Riley, and Digital B. In 1988, aged 15, he first recorded his most controversial song, Boom Bye Bye, the lyrics calling for the killing of homosexuals.

Popular Musician
In 1991, Buju joined Donovan Germain's Penthouse Label and began a fruitful partnership with producer Dave Kelly. Buju is one of the most popular musicians in Jamaican history, having hit onto the charts suddenly in 1992, with Bogle and Love me Browning, which turned to be massive hits in Jamaica.

1992 saw the release of a re-recorded Boom Bye Bye, which almost destroyed his career. The song was the subject of outrage in the United States and Europe, leading to Banton being dropped from the line-up of the WOMAD festival that year. Banton subsequently issued a public apology.

1993- Voice of Jamaica
Now on the major Mercury label, Banton released the hard-hitting Voice of Jamaica in 1993. The album included a number of conscious tracks. Late in 1994, he joined conscious deejay Tony Rebel, Mama San, and General Degree in the Yardcore Collective.

His performances and musical releases took on a more spiritual tone. Banton toured Europe and Japan, playing sold out shows, and performed before 20,000 in Trinidad & Tobago.

1995 - Til Shiloh
'Til Shiloh came in 1995 and was a very influential album, using a studio band instead of synthesized music, and marking a slight shift away from dancehall towards roots reggae for Banton. Til Shiloh successfully blended conscious lyrics with a hard-hitting dancehall vibe.

1997 - Inna Heights
Inna Heights in 1997 substantially increased Banton's international audience as Buju explored his singing ability and recorded a number of roots-tinged tracks.

1998 - Life Wont Wait
In 1998, Buju met the punk band Rancid and recorded three tracks with them: Misty Days, Hooligans and Life Won't Wait. The latter became the title track of Rancid's 1998 album, Life Won't Wait.

2000 - Unchained Spirit
Subsequently, Buju signed with Anti- Records, a subsidiary of Brett Gurewitz's Epitaph records, and released Unchained Spirit in 2000. The album showcases the most diverse aspects of Buju Banton, and features guest appearances by Luciano, Morgan Heritage, Stephen Marley, and Rancid.

2003 - Friends for Life
Several singles followed in the start of the new decade. In March 2003 he released Friends for Life, which featured political songs, including Mr. Nine, an anti-gun song that further verified his status as one of reggae's most socially aware artists.

The album has a strong political message for the African Diaspora and features excerpts from a speech made by Marcus Garvey. Paid Not Played is included and shows his gradual return to the themes more popular in dancehall. The album also features some hip-hop influence with the inclusion of Fat Joe.

2006 - Too Bad
2006 saw the release of the critically acclaimed Too Bad, his first dancehall orientated album in over a decade. Voicing riddims produced by many of Jamaica's top producers Buju showed he still had what it took to be at the top of the dancehall game.

One of the slower tracks from the album, Driver A, was a massive hit and revived Sly & Robbies ever-popular Taxi riddim.

Performance at the Cricket World Cup 2007
He performed at the Cricket World Cup 2007 Opening Ceremony with Third World and Beres Hammond.

In 2008 he did a Soca collaboration Wining Season (remix) with Machel Montano of Trinidad and Tobago on Machel's album Blame on. Indeed Buju is the king of dancehall and ragga.