Reggae Icons, Jamaican Culture, and Homophobia Essay...

Reggae Icons, Jamaican Culture, and Homophobia The world is in trouble/Anytime Buju Banton come/ Batty boy get up and run/ ah gunshot in ah head man/Tell dem crew†¦ it’s like/ Boom bye bye, in a batty boy head, rude boy nah promote no nasty man, them hafi dead. The average member of the reggae dancehall culture knows the message that this song is sending to its listeners. However, without a translation these lyrics do not mean a thing to someone who is not familiar with this culture and the vocabulary of dancehall artists. Translated the lyrics read: The world is in trouble/When Buju Banton arrives/Faggots have to run/Or get a bullet in the head /Bang-bang, in a faggot’s head/Homeboys don’t condone nasty men/They must die. These†¦show more content†¦Unlike North America where homosexuality has come to be more tolerated, there is no sign that it will be accepted in Jamaica. On July 19, 1992, Buju Banton made headlines when his self-produced single Boom Bye Bye entered the music charts in the no. 15 position. Within weeks of the release, Buju Banton was locked into the biggest controversy of his career thus far. After hearing the lyrics of the song the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD) accused the artist of gay bashing. GLAAD was strongly against Buju Banton’s song because it went against what they stood for as an organization. GLAAD is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The GLAAD also organizes the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to respond to negative and positive portrayals of their community in media, thorough their Monitoring and Mobilization program, in which they focus on studying a nd articulating cultural and media-specific trends, issues and controversies. True to its missions of improving the public’s attitudes toward homosexuality and putting an end to violence and discrimination against lesbians and gay men, GLAAD decided to expose Buju Banton’sShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Mirroring Lives of a Jamaican and a Rastafarian4081 Words   |  17 PagesThe Mirroring Lives of a Jamaican and a Rastafarian Introduction This paper is a series of two interviews that I had over the course of the semester. I used both of the interviews as a series of research. I then used this research and supported it with published work. The first interview occurred when I was in Jamaica. I randomly crossed paths with Peter. He informed my friends and I that he was a Rastafarian. We spoke with him for about two hours on the beach. He informed us about his religion