Buju Banton - Upside Down 2020

The Guardian 80

(Roc Nation/Gargamel)
The controversial reggae star returns with a majestic howl of rage and an inspired mix of dancehall, roots and rock

Buju Banton is the 90s Bob Marley in Jamaica. In the UK, it feels necessary to recall his miserably homophobic single Boom Bye Bye, which cast a poisonous pall over his nascent international career in 1992. Banton wrote it aged 15, half the age Eric Clapton was when he ranted about “keeping Britain white”. But we don’t read about Clapton’s racist drivel in every review and interview. Adult Clapton was given a pass that teenage Banton never got. White privilege? Perhaps.

Yet although Banton renounced homophobia, and has now deleted the song from his catalogue, he was still performing it in 2007. And while there are dozens of Buju lyrics on Genius, only one has over 100,000 views. Its squalid allure endures. It shadows his later, conscious work.