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'Boom Bye Bye' boasts of machine-gunning gays and burning them with acid
Buju Banton
Grammy nomination for Buju Banton, who sings 'faggots have to die'
Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton, whose songs have advocated the killing of gays and lesbians, has been nominated for a Grammy award for the fourth time.
In August, Banton had his series of concerts in Las Vegas, Chicago, Dallas and Houston cancelled after a protest organised by LGBT groups. The website change.org gathered more than 650 complaints and Banton's promoter, Live Nation, owners of the House of Blues venues where he was to perform, announced they would not go ahead.
Banton's Rasta Got Soul was nominated for Best Reggae Album, competing with Gregory Issacs, Sean Paul and Julian and Stephen Marley. The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center has condemned the honour, describing it as "an affront to LGBT people".
Jim Key, chief public affairs officer, said: "We're shocked that Buju Banton, a singer with a long record of performing a song that glorifies the murder of gay people, would be honoured with a Grammy nomination, regardless of the artistic merit of any of his work.
"Throughout his career, Banton has performed music that promotes a culture of violence against lesbian and gay people; he sings in Boom Bye Bye that 'faggots get up and run' when he comes, that 'they have to die', and that he will shoot them in the head or 'burn them up bad'. He is completely unrepentant, refuses to stop performing the song.
"It's an affront to LGBT people, and to all fair-minded people around the world, that Buju Banton was even nominated. We certainly hope the members of the Recording Academy will not bestow the prestigious honor of a Grammy on someone whose music promotes murder."
Banton is only one of a number of Jamaican musicians, including Shabba Ranks, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer, who have released songs calling for violent and murderous attacks on homosexuals, but he became particularly notorious on the release of his 90s hit Boom Bye Bye, which boasts of machine-gunning gays and burning them with acid. Although in July 2007 he signed the Reggae Compassionate Act, the commitment not to perform songs which promote homophobia, he later denied his agreement.
