Created over the course of 7 years, The Upsetter tells the tale of Lee Perry’s life, through 70 years of ups and downs, in Scratch’s own voice. The movie is the compilation of exclusive interviews that the reggae artist provided to American filmmakers Adam Bhala Lough and Ethan Higbee in 2006 (when Perry was living in Switzerland). The documentart film mingles the story of Perry’s creative life with 30 years of Jamaican music, including dub, reggae, and Rastafarian culture. It includes music tracks and archival footage selected from every stage of Lee Perry’s life.

The movie includes an hour and a half of exclusive interviews, rare studio recordings, and live shows. Now 74 and still recording music and touring, Perry will be known for his Black Ark studio, for pioneering so many aspects of dub music, and for his eclectic creativity.

You can learn more about the movie at TheUpsetterMovie.com. You can also register to be notified of the DVD release from the same site.

The Upsetter was an official selection at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, The SXSW Film Festival, The Athens International Festival, The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and the Melbourne International Festival.

Here’s The Upsetter screening dates and times:
March 25 – April 1 :: Los Angeles, CA @ Downtown Independent
April 1 – 8 :: Portland, OR @ Clinton St. Theatre
April 2 :: Long Beach, CA @ Art Theatre
April 3 :: New York, NY @ Maysles Cinema
April 5 – 6 :: Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theatre
April 8 – 10 :: Columbia, MO @ Rag Tag Cinema
April 10 :: Taos, NM @ Taos Center for The Arts
April 13 :: Houston TX @ Alamo Draft House
April 13 – 14 :: Boston, MA @ Regent Theatre
April 15 – 17 :: Detroit, MI @ Burton Theatre
April 15 – 17 :: Eugene, OR @ Bijou Art Cinema
April 15 ::Sante Fe, NM @ Center for Contemporary Arts
April 16 :: Providence, RI @ Cable Car Cinema
April 20 :: Portland, ME @ Space Gallery
April 22 – 23 ::West Hollywood, CA @ Dem Passwords Gallery
May 13 – 14 :: San Francisco, CA @ Red Vic Movie House

Thanks to ForwardEver for telling us about The Upsetter movie.

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The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival is pleased to announce that Vusi Mahlasela, Brigadier Jerry, The Cables, Duane Stephenson, Saritah and Jah Love Sound System have been added to the ever-growing list of artists performing at the festival’s 18th annual gathering taking place June 17-19 at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds located in Boonville, California. These artists join Midnite, Anthony B, the other dozen artists that were confirmed to perform earlier this month.

Vusi Mahlasela was born in Lady Selbourne, Pretoria in 1965 and grew up in Mamelodi, a township famed as a cradle of culture which has produced many of Black South Africa’’s greatest musicians and writers. By the age of seventeen, Vusi was a seasoned performer. He had soon tired of singing cover versions of popular songs and discovered that he had a flair for composition and begun to write his own music and lyrics. He found himself drawn to themes with social and political significance and he became much in demand at political rallies and cultural events. Over a musically and socially consequential career, South African singer-songwriter and poet-activist Vusi Mahlasela has successfully followed his muse and continued to give back to his country. – More

While his introduction to an American audience probably came from his 1985 release of “Jamaica Jamaica” on the RAS label, the Brigadier Jerry had been building a major following in Jamaica by appearing live on the mike, first on the original King Stur Gav Hi-Fi system and later over the Twelve Tribes’ Jah Love Muzik Sound System and releasing occasional singles for the local market. One thing about Brigadier Jerry, he chats pure consciousness on the mike, even when the prevalent vibe in the dance was slackness. A longtime member of the Rastafarian Christian sect “Twelve Tribes of Israel”, Briggy takes every opportunity to teach the youth about righteous runnings and has recorded many tracks pointing out the error of certain ways. -

With the classic recordings “Baby Why” and “What Kind of World” the legendary Jamaican harmony vocal group The Cables secured their place in music history. The Cables burst on the scene in 1965, when Ska music was the rage. Founded by lead vocalist Keble Drummond, along with harmony singers, Vince Stoddart and Elbert Stewart, The Cables released “Ska Days” in 1966. But it was in 1968 when the group rocketed to stardom when Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd took them into Studio One recording studios. The Cables brought with them the lyrics and the upbeat, lilting melody of “Baby Why”. Over the years persistent demand for the group has resulted in The Cables reuniting for numerous international festivals. Today, the group is a quartet, consisting of original members as well as Owen “Bobby” Dockery, tenor, who joined the group in 1971.

Singer/songwriter Duane Stephenson greatly impacted upon Jamaica’s musical landscape with the release of his stunning introductory album “From August Town” on Cannon/VP Records in early 2008, demonstrating that the heartfelt lyrics, sincere vocals, insightful commentaries and deeply rooted spirituality that made roots reggae a global force lives on in the 21st century. Following the release of “From August Town” Duane performed on several major stage shows across Jamaica, including Reggae Sumfest and the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival and toured throughout North America, Europe and the Caribbean with Dean Fraser, the celebrated saxophonist and leader of the Blak Soil Band that supports Tarrus Riley, as well as the producer of “From August Town”.

South Korean born and raised in Western Australia, Saritah is a hard-working independent artist who has built a solid fan base across the country. Her releases to date include the debut album ‘Gratitude’, ‘These Days/You’re The One’ EP and most recently the extremely successful, inspiring and relevant album Ancient Forward. On Ancient Forward, positivity and affirmations sit organically beside the serious. Driving rhythm sections and programmed beats give way to space and melody; earthy textures create a worldly yet intimate album that for the listener, is a joy to hear. It is an album that flows and ebbs in a dynamic, colourful style that Saritah has cemented, as her own. An accomplished recording, it confirms Saritah as one of Australia’s most talented and exciting artists, with something to say.

Jah Love Sound began in 1974, but it wasn’t until the early ’80s, when selector Ilawi teamed up regularly with Brigadier Jerry, that the sound started to take off with the masses. It is the product of two musical inspirations coming together, taking parts of “Jah Mik” and “Jah Love Sound” to create “Jah Love Sound.” They were the best combination as selector and dj around at that time. Jah Love Sound (aka Jah Love Muzik system) was run by the Christian Rastafarian sect, the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Now based in New York City, Jah Love Sound continues to bring its unique brand of conscious Rastafarian roots music to the people both in local clubs throughout the area as well as at festivals world-wide. Look for them in the dancehall on Friday night.

Additional artists confirmed for Sierra Nevada World Music Festival 2011 include:

1. Toots & The Maytals
2. Steel Pulse
3. Rebelution
4. Midnite
5. Anthony B
6. Horace Andy
7. Vusi Mahlasela
8. Collie Buddz (who recently released his Playback EP as a free music download.)
9. Pablo Moses
10. I-Octane
11. Romain Virgo
12. Brigadier Jerry
13. The Cables
14. Duane Stephenson
15. Kora
16. Rupa & The April Fishes
17. Saritah
18. Taj Weekes & Adowa
19. Indubious
20. Jah Love Sound System

SNWMF is a 3-day Summer Solstice and World Peace celebration that promotes conscious music – music with a message of peace, unity and brotherhood that transcends divisions of race and culture. With 2 stages, an authentic ‘late-night’ Jamaican dancehall, international arts & crafts, a massive food court and an extensive schedule of children’s activities, Sierra Nevada has something to offer people of all ages.

Early Bird Tickets Almost Gone – Less than 100 discounted ‘Early-Bird’ Tickets to SNWMF 2011 are still available. These may be purchased online and via mail order through February 28th or until all Early Bird tickets are sold, whichever comes first. At the current pace, we anticipate that all Early-Bird Tickets will be gone before the end of this weekend, so if you want to purchase tickets to SNWMF 2011 at a discount, make sure to place your order right away. As always, children 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Limited on-site camping is also available for festival goers.

The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival typically features dozens of the finest reggae and world music bands, and 2011 will be no exception, as many addition artists will be added in the coming months. For additional information, please log onto www.snwmf.com, or call the hotline at (916) 777-5550.

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Lee Scratch Perry built his fame with his amazing work behind the mic and behind the mixing board. In addition to his solo reggae performances, he also worked with a range of artists including the punk pioneers The Clash, hip hop pioneers The Beastie Boys, and Paul McCartney. Perry’s success led to more creativity and eccentricity: in the 1970s he created his own dub music studio, The Black Ark, which cemented his role as a progenitor of many great dub and reggae sounds, albums, and productions.

Lee Scratch Perry’s prolific output made him rich and famous, but Kingston, Jamaica’s streets were the scene of politically-motivated gang warfare. Lee Perry’s success shone a spotlight on him, and gangsters flocked to that light like moths to a flame: Perry was threatened and extorted by criminals and police alike, but the reggae artiste continued to create new works. Lee Perry formed The Congos, a Rastafarian reggae band, and created his magnum opus, Heart of the Congos, in 1977. Unfortunately, Island Records, Perry’s label, refused to release the spiritual work and his wife left him to carry on with a studio musician (taking Perry’s children with her). Shortly thereafter, The Black Ark mysteriously burned to the ground and Perry left for Europe.

After that rise and crash, Scratch Perry spent a decade in Europe exploring various substances and continuing his unrelenting creative streak.

Finally, Lee Scratch Perry gave up all toxic substances, became a vegetarian, and married a Swiss woman. He spent the 1990s rebuilding himself and his career, reemerging on the international reggae music scene. Most recently, in 2008, at age 70, Perry’s world tour included such diverse locations as the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Brazil, Japan, and New Zealand.

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On Sunday, February 27, 2010, dub poet Infinity will perform live at Sullivan Hall in New York City. King of Zulu Entertainment is presenting this “dubmatic” night of entertainment in celebration of Infinity’s birthday.

Dub poet Infinity is a Jamaican Rastafarian who continues the dub poetry traditions of Mutaburuka, U-Roy, and Big Youth. He frequently performs at Francois K’s Deep Space nights in Brooklyn, appearing alongside Dub Gabriel, Dr. Israel, and DJ Kiva.

The dub poet will be accompanied by live dub reggae music from the Super Hi-Fi Reggae Band. The evening performances will also feature Asia J, Hamiba, Kefaibra & Hatneema Shemzura, Kate Hess, and Jah Rico. Additional music will be provided by Soul Selector with soundtracks by King of Zulu Entertainment.

Dub event details:

• Sunday, February 27, 2011
• Tickets are $10
• Sullivan Hall at 214 Sullivan St New York, NY
• Doors at 8pm, show starts at 9pm.

Directions to the Infinity dub event at Sullivan Hall:
Take the A, B, C, D, E, F, or M train to the West 4th Street station. When you leave the station, walk up West 3rd Street 2 block sand then make a right turn on Sullivan Street.

You can learn more about Dub Poet Infinity at his Facebook page.

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Rasta colors appear throughout reggae music and the Rastafarian world in general, whether on Rasta flags, reggae clothing, or Bob Marley posters. Any long-time dub or reggae fan is likely to encounter them repeatedly.

The 3 Rastafarian colors each have symbolic meaning in the Rasta religion:

• Red, the color of the blood of the people and the Church of Triumphant (the Rasta church).
• Gold (sometimes simply yellow) for the wealth of Africa, the Rasta homeland.
• Green for the land and vegetation of Ethiopia, the promised land.

The Rasta color scheme – red, gold, green – is also the color scheme of Ethopia’s flag in the 1800s. At that time the flag also included the Lion of Zion, the promised land. Ethiopia is the promised land in the Rastafarian belief system; it Mount Zion, heaven on earth. Some Rastas interpret the need to repatriate Ethiopia as a spiritual, rather than physical, directive, and achieve it in part by surrounding themselves with Ethiopian colors and symbolism.

Black is sometimes cited instead of yellow in the Rastafarian color scheme – red, black, and green were the colors of Marcus Garvey‘s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Because Garvey is often cited as a Rasta prophet, it makes sense that his organization’s colors would be adopted. However, there are clear distinctions between Marcus Garvey’s empowerment movement and the specifics of the Rastafarian religion.

The Rasta colors symbolize not only strength but loss and longing: red is the blood that was shed by the martyrs throughout Rasta history, yellow is the gold stolen from the people, and green is the land to which Rastas hope to return.

Rasta colors have a strong tie to reggae music. Bob Marley made Rastafarianism popular throughout the world, and with it the Rasta colors red, gold, and green. The 1982 Steel Pulse album True Democracy includes the song Dub’ Marcus Say, which explained the colors. Here’s a video of Steel Pulse playing a similar song, Rally Round, live in Argentina.

Steel Pulse explains the Rastafarian colors with these lyrics:

Marcus say sir, Marcus say
Red for the blood
That flowed like the river
Marcus say sir, Marcus say
Green for the land Africa
Marcus say
Yellow for the gold
That they stole
Marcus say
Black for the people
It was looted from

Today, some take these Rastafarian colors to define an inclusive, expansive Rastafarianism, with red symbolizing the life blood of all living things, gold symbolizing all treasures that we cherish and enjoy, and green for the whole earth that we all share. But this definition reads as more of a New Age definition of connections than the more exclusive traditional Rastafarianism would seem to lend itself to.

Some Rastas claim the gold comes from the Jamaican flag, which is green, gold, and black. Others dispute this assertion, claiming that Jamaica is Babylon and therefore unholy.

It is also said that red always goes below the other colors because blood flows downward.

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The first thing you must know about me is that I always stand what I stand for. Good? The second thing you must know about yourself listening to me is that words are tricky. So when you know what me a stand for, when me explain a thing to you, you must never try to look ‘pon it in a different way from what me a stand for.

When Bob Marley passed away in 1981 the world mourned the loss of reggae’s loudest voice. These Bob Marley quotes include many of his famous statements, from his reggae songs, interviews, and musings.

• A hungry mob is an angry mob.
  From Them Belly Full (But We Hungry), on Natty Dread (1974)
• A little wine sometimes, that’s all. Spirits bad. Alcohol wrong. Herb does grow.
• But my hand was made strong by the hand of the Almighty.
• Destruction of the poor is poverty. Destruction of the soul is vanity.
  From Wisdom
• Don’t forget your history nor your destiny.
• Don’t gain the world and lose your soul
  From Zion Train
• Don’t let them fool ya or even try to school ya.
• Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cos every little thing is gonna be alright.
  From Three Little Birds, on Exodus (1977)
• Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind.
  From Redemption Song on Uprising (1979)
• Excuse me while I light my spliff, good God I gotta get a lift
  From Easy Skanking on Kaya (1978)
• Every day the bucket a-go a well, one day the bottom a-go drop out.
  From I Shot The Sheriff, on Burnin’ (1973)
• Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny.
• Facts an’ facts, an’ t’ings an t’ings: dem’s all a lotta fockin’ bullshit. Hear me! Dere is no truth but de one truth, an’ that is the truth of Jah Rastafari.
• Free speech carries with it some freedom to listen.
• Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don’t give up the fight.
• Have no fear for atomic energy, ’cause none of them can stop the time.
  From Redemption Song on Uprising (1979)
• Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.
• Hey, Mister Music, you sure sound good to me! I can’t refuse it what to be got to be.
  From Rainbow Country and Roots, Rock, Reggae on Rastaman Vibration
• How good and how pleasant it would be before God and man, yeah to see the unification of all Africans.
• How long will they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look?
• I believe in freedom for everyone, not just the black man.
• I don’t stand for the black man’s side, I don’ t stand for the white man’s side. I stand for God’s side.
• If I am guilty I will pay.
• If puss and dog can get together, why cant we love one another?
• If you get down and quarrel everyday, you’re saying prayers to the devil, I say.
• In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty!
  From Rat Race on Rastaman Vibration (1976)
• In this bright future you can’t forget your past.
• It takes a revolution to make a solution.
  From Revolution on Natty Dread (1974)
• I’ve been here before and will come again, but I’m not going this trip through.
• Judge not, before you judge yourself. Judge not, if you’re not ready for judgment, whoa oh oh
  From Judge Not (1961)
• Just can’t live that negative way… make way for the positive day!
• Let righteousness cover the earth – like the water cover the sea.
  From Revolution on Natty Dread (1974)
• Life and Jah are one in the same. Jah is the gift of existence. I am in some way eternal, I will never be duplicated. The singularity of every man and woman is Jah’s gift. What we struggle to make of it is our sole gift to Jah. The process of what that struggle becomes, in time, the Truth.
• Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality
  From Wake Up and Live! on Survival (1979)
• Like the bird in the tree, the prisoners must be free.
  From Revolution on Natty Dread (1974)
• Me love everyone. But what me don’t love is them people fight against me. Me don’t love them.
  From a 1975 interview with Demott Hussey
• Me was alone by myself long before me meet any friend.
  From a 1975 interview with Demott Hussey
• Music… is a godly thing, you know.
  From a 1975 interview with Demott Hussey
• My music fights against the system that teaches to live and die.
• My music will go on forever. Maybe it’s a fool say that, but when me know facts me can say facts. My music will go on forever.
• Never make a politician grant you a favor. They will always want to control you forever.
  From Revolution on Natty Dread (1974)
• No chains around my feet, but I’m not free; I know I am bound here, in captivity.
  From Concrete Jungle on Catch a Fire
• None but ourselves can free our minds.
• One good thing about music, when it hits… you feel no pain.
• One love, one heart, let’s get together and feel alright.
  One Love (cowritten with Curtis Mayfield), from Exodus
• Only your friend know your secrets, so only he could reveal it.
  From Who The Cap Fit
• Open your eyes and look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living? We know where we are going, we know where we are from.
  From Exodus
• Today, people struggle to find what’s real. Everything has become so synthetic that a lot of people, all they want is to grasp onto hope.
  from Rolling Stone’s The Immortals (2004) “Bob Marley”
• Plenty people are just pure hypocrite.
  From a 1975 interview with Demott Hussey
• Rastafari not a culture, it’s a reality.
• Rise O fallen fighters, rise and take your stance again, He who fight and run away, Live to fight another day
• See, you can’t love my music if you love reality.
  From a 1975 interview with Demott Hussey
• The good times of today, are the sad thoughts of tomorrow.
• The harder the battle the sweet of Jah victory.
• The more people smoke herb, the more Babylon fall.
• The more you accept herb, the more you accept Rastafari.
• The only truth is Rastafari.
• The power of philosophy floats through my head, Light like a feather, Heavy as lead
• The road of life is rocky, and you may stumble, too – so while you point your fingers, someone else is judging you!
  From Judge Not and Could You Be Loved on Uprising (1980)
• The stone that the builder refused, will always be the head cornerstone.
• They say: only the fittest of the fittest shall survive, stay alive!
  From Could You Be Loved on Uprising (1979)
• Truth is the light // So you never give up the fight.
• Until the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is finally discredited and abandoned…WAR! So that is prophecy, and everyone knows that is truth. And it came out of the mouth of Rastafari.
• When one door is closed, don’t you know, another is open.
• When the race gets hard to run. It means you just can’t take the pace.
• When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself.
• Wisdom is better than silver and gold
  From Zion Train
• You ain’t gonna miss your water until your well runs dry.
• You can fool some people sometimes but you can’t fool all the people all the time.
  From Get Up, Stand Up on Burnin’ (1973)
• You’re working in iniquity, to achieve vanity.
  From Small Axe on Burnin’
• Your life is worth much more than gold.
  From Jamming on Exodus (1977)

Do you know other Bob Marley quotes? Post your favorites in the comments section.

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At the Gibbons federal court in Tampa, Florida federal court today, United States District Judge Tim Moody gave the announcement and declared December as the time for a new trial. The mistrial decision came after 4 long days of deliberation by a jury.

It seems that the 2-night drum vigil held by Rastafarian elders at Buju Banton’s Carlisle Avenue Gargamel Studios actually worked. Twice today the jurors told Judge Moody that they could not reach a decision, prompting the mistrial declaration.

This is a temporary reprieve: Banton remains charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 5Kg of cocaine. If he is found guilty in December he’ll face a possible sentence of 20 years to life in prison. Both of Banton’s codefendants have already signed plea agreements in exchange for lesser charges.

David Markus, Buju Banton’s lawyer, has begun the process of requesting bail for Banton; we’ll know more about whether bail is awarded tomorrow.

The case has already been running for nearly a year after Banton was arrested in a sting operation last December and accused by an FBI informant of attempting to purchase cocaine with the goal of reselling it. He is also charged with aiding his codefendants in possessing a firearm during the course of cocaine distribution. The event was captured on a surveillance camera but Banton was not present for the actual purchase.

Buju Banton has maintained his innocence from the beginning of this ordeal, claiming that the government informant pressured him to make the purchase. Specifically, he explained that he only discussed cocaine to impress the informant, who he believed to be related to the music business. Banton’s lawyers have used this to build an entrapment defense for the singer.

Stephen Marley, son of Bob Marley, spoke as a character witness for Banton during the trial.

Buju Banton’s next album, Before the Dawn, containing 10 songs recorded in 2009, is scheduled to be released tomorrow.

This article is part of a continuing series about Buju Banton’s arrest, accusations, and trial. For more information about the trial, please see these related articles:

1. Buju Banton mistrial, new trial in December, September 27
2. Buju Banton still waiting for drug trial verdict, from September 24
3. Buju Banton cocaine defense lawyer claims entrapment, from January 27
4. Buju Banton drug arrest: dancehall reggae star buys cocaine from undercover cops, from December 15, 2009

In the meantime, here’s a Buju Banton music video, Power of Prayer by Gargamel himself.

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Update: this article is part of a continuing series about Buju Banton’s arrest, accusations, and trial. For more information about the trial, please see these related articles:

1. Buju Banton mistrial, new trial in December, September 27
2. Buju Banton still waiting for drug trial verdict, from September 24
3. Buju Banton cocaine defense lawyer claims entrapment, from January 27
4. Buju Banton drug arrest: dancehall reggae star buys cocaine from undercover cops, from December 15, 2009

They say a good offense is the best defense, and apparently David Oscar Markus, Buju Banton‘s lawyer, agrees. He turned up the heat on a anti-Banton conspiracy theory when he filed court documents yesterday, Tuesday, January 26, 2010 claiming that Banton only attempted to purchase the cocaine after being convinced to do it by a government-paid informant.

The move is a good one, since Buju Banton is reported to have sampled the drugs before making the purchase and (if you believe the US authorities) was caught red-handed. He was arrested in Tamarac, Florida back on December 10, 2009 and pleaded not guilty to the drug charge in a federal court in Tampa, Florida.

The US DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) has filed an affidavit claiming that they received a tip from a “confidential informant” regarding the drug deal. The informant wore a wire to record drug negotiations with Buju Banton. Later, at a meeting in an “undercover warehouse” the agents claim that Banton and 2 associates sampled a 20-Kg load of cocaine from an undercover law enforcement officer in Sarasota, Florida.

In order to win the entrapment defense in a US court of law, Banton’s lawyer Markus must prove that Buju wasn’t “predisposed” to purchase cocaine and wouldn’t have engaged in the criminal behavior if the government hadn’t induced him to do so.

To do that, Markus is arguing that the government’s secret informant courted Banton for months, making repeated attempts to interest him in a cocaine purchase.

In fact, some of the government’s secret recordings may help Banton’s case, as Markus has argued that some of them include Banton’s “repeated attempts to putt off” the secret informant’s efforts to interest him in a drug deal.

Buju Banton’s lawyer is attempting to have the government’s secret informant’s name is revealed. He’s also making inquiries into how much the informant was paid and whether he has a past criminal record. Perhaps he’s hoping to show that the informant had so much to gain from entrapping Banton that he overstepped the bounds of a legal undercover investigation.

Buju Banton pleaded not guilty in Tampa federal court to charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine and aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm during the course of the cocaine distribution. His trial is currently scheduled to start in March 2010 and he’s being held without bail at Pinellas County Jail.

If convicted, Banton could face a sentence of life in prison.

Buju Banton, born Mark Myrie, is a 36-year-old Caribbean singer renowned for his husky voice and controversial lyrics. After making waves for his dancehall work in the early 1990s, he has more recently transitioned to a roots reggae style celebrating a Rastafarian lifestyle. His most recent album Rasta Got Soul, is nominated for a Grammy Reggae Album of the Year. He also recently won a 2009 IRAWMA award for best crossover song with John Legend.

Buju Banton‘s career has been marked by controversy and international protests regarding his the homophobic content of his early works. Banton’s reggae Grammy nomination is being protested by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation via an online petition.

This story was first reported by the Tampa Bay, Florida newspaper the St. Petersburg Times.

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The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the United States’ lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, called on community members and allies to contact the Recording Academy and sign an online petition protesting the recent Grammy nomination of reggae singer Buju Banton’s album Rasta Got Soul, and urging Recording Academy members to not support his nomination.

You can see the petition at http://www.glaad.org/bujubantonpetition.

Change.org is hosting a form for concerned parties to contact the Recording Academy.

Jarrett Barrios, President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), explains that:

Reggae singer Buju Banton’s anti-gay lyrics and the climate of hatred they create are a threat to the safety of gay and transgender people everywhere. In a climate of increased anti-gay violence in this country and Banton’s home country of Jamaica, it is deeply disappointing that the Recording Academy would choose to laud the work of a singer who has advocated violence against the gay community.

In a popular song released in 1988 entitled Boom Bye Bye, Banton repeats the anti-gay ‘f-word’ and says that “f—–s have to die” and he will “shoot them in the head” or “burn them.” The Associated Press has reported that the song Batty Rider from Banton’s 1993 record Mr. Mention glorifies the shooting of gay men.

In October 2009 Buju Banton was quoted in news reports as saying “This is a fight, and as I said in one of my songs ‘there is no end to the war between me and f—-t’ and it’s clear.”

“We call on the media to shine a spotlight on Banton’s history of anti-gay lyrics in coverage of this year’s Grammy Awards as well as the Recording Academy’s decision to honor him without taking steps to ensure his future career is not marked with promoting violence,” said Barrios.

GLAAD also successfully campaigned Clear Channel to withdraw its sponsorship of 2007 Reggae Carifest featuring Banton and Bounty Killer. The concert continued in a smaller venue without it’s sponsorship.

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Springbok vice-captain Victor Matfield said “it was a joke out there. The guys couldn’t sing along to it and even the crowd were starting to laugh. It was very disappointing.”

Ras Dumisani South African Anthem video

Here’s a video of Dumisani’s reggae rendition. Dumisani was backed by his Afrikhaya Band as he sang the 4-language anthem that gives tribute to his home country’s diversity.

During the event, Dumisani “appeared to forget the lyrics,” according to the BBC UK, which went on to state that “he also struggled to hit the high notes and many in the crowd in Toulouse began to laugh.”

The Guardian has stated that Ras Dumisani “is rapidly becoming public enemy number one in South Africa.” There’s already a Facebook group called “Ban Ras Dumisani from ever singing again”. It has over 2000 members at the time of this writing.

On a more official level, The South African Rugby Union delivered a written complaint to the French hosts, complaining that Dumisani’s performance of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika (“God Bless Africa” in Xhosa) was “absolutely disrespectful”, overlooking the fact that, according to French officials, Dumisani was recommended by the South African embassy in France.

Today, Bloomberg News reported that the South African embassy denied recommending him, stating that “This was not a recommendation from the embassy since the embassy had no exposure to his performances nor is he a renowned performer.”

Reggae singer Ras Dumisani’s response

Ras Dumisani, a reggae singer who hails from Durban, South Africa, and now lives in France, has released 1 album, Zululand Reggae, with his Afrikhaya Band.

On Saturday, Dumisani’s initial response was indignant denial that “everyone at the stadium told me I sang well, even after the match. The Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika has been my tune since I was a baby. How can I not know the words? I am the biggest reggae man in South Africa and the Springboks are my team.”

He went on to suggest to South Africa’s Times that Springbok coach Peter de Villiers “didn’t like I call RastafarI at the end of the song.”

Dumisani has since apologized for the performance but also blames technical difficulties for the weak performance in Toulouse last Friday night. He has appeared on South Africa’s 702 radio talk show to accuse the event organizers of “wanting to sabotage” his performance.

“They gave me a very old cordless microphone and then they gave me a very old monitor to put around my waist and in my ear. I found it was distorting,” he explained.

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