Thursday, October 15, 2009

Buju meets some gays; manages to not shoot them

In an ongoing bid to try and rebuild his international career after people noticed what he was actually singing, Buju Banton has had a meeting with gay people in the US. Banton's planned US tour had been suffering under the weight of calls for a boycott, and this was an attempt to try and offset that.

Michael Petrelis was one of those taking part in the awkward meeting. He got a taste of why Buju is struggling to balance messages to his Jamaican fanbase with the need to not have protests outside his US concerts:

As I expected once it became public knowledge that I was part of a crew of gay advocates that meet with a homo-hating Jamaican singer, I received messages from straight Jamaicans claiming to be Jesus-loving Christians, who then proceeded to condemn me for daring to call for the singer to say these three words in a public forum in Kingston: Love gay people.

It's going to be virtually impossible to get Buju to say that. And even if you can, there's still his fanbase to deal with. I'm not sure there's much to be gained in an awkward photo-op between the two sides, for either side.


1 comment:

Olive said...

And even if you can, there's still his fanbase to deal with. I'm not sure there's much to be gained in an awkward photo-op between the two sides

On one hand, I think you're right. Buju Banton is a tool, and all his fans are tools too. But forcing him to face his prejudices is funny if nothing else.

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