Trinis jam for Buju

JENSEN LA VENDE and NAZMA MULLER

BUJU BANTON’s release from prison brought out the young, old, differently-abled and non-English speakers, who chipped, jumped and took selfies during a parade in Port of Spain yesterday celebrating his return to the free world.

Banton, real name Mark Myrie, was released from the McRae Correctional Facility in Georgia, US after spending seven of the ten years he was initially sentenced for conspiracy to possess cocaine in 2011. He was arrested two years prior and one day after he had won a Grammy for best Reggae album. While in prison, he earned a master’s degree in music business management.

During the parade, a man who gave his name as “Ras” said Buju was the last of the prophets and he just wanted to celebrate him. The parade began at the Queen’s Park Savannah and ended at Ariapita Avenue.

While the crowd following the two music trucks was not as expected, onlookers with their hands outstretched, hoping to get the best picture and video, filled the side walks.

During the parade there was one moment that none of the organisers appreciated. Buju’s most controversial song, written when the 45-year-old was 15, Boom Bye Bye was played. Immediately the crowd cheered, and while they did that, the organisers were seen telling the DJ to stop playing the song. Buju stopped performing the song over two decades ago and apologised to the LBGQTIA community for the lyrics which calls for the killing of gay men.

One of the promoters for Buju’s first concert in TT, Donovan Rhodan, said he just wanted to celebrate the freedom of his friend. The I Am Legend concert is carded to take place on April 21.

Rhodan said: “He has been my friend and family for years and we are here to celebrate the freedom of my friend and the victory that was struck. TT has shown their support over the years, and this just shows of all the places in the world where there is celebration they (TT) are leaders. “

Asked about the fanfare received in TT versus the response in Jamaica, Rhodan said Jamaica is home for Buju and if such a celebration were to take place there he would have had to leave his family and be a part of the celebration depriving him of reconnecting with them.

And that’s what Buju did as images emerged out of Jamaica of him hugging his daughter as he reunited with his family yesterday.

There was no parade but Jamaicans played Buju songs as their way of welcoming him home.

Cat Coore, lead guitarist of Third World, was happy to share his elation about Buju’s return. “He is out of the top drawer–one of Jamaica’s premier artists and what happened to him was so unfortunate. I am so happy he is finally home.”

Core happened to be in Tampa, Florida during Banton’s trial for conspiracy to traffic cocaine. “I am just so sorry he lost so much of his life because of this,” he said.

Buju stopped by his Gargamel Studio on Carlisle Avenue, off Red Hills Road in Kingston, on Friday night, and shook hands with fans before leaving to visit his father.

Earlier, video of his arrival at Norman Manley International Airport showed him being mobbed by the usually stern-faced customs and immigration official. A large crowd had gathered at the airport in the hope of catching a glimpse of him but he was escorted under tight security through a side exit and taken to a Jamaica Defence Force barracks where he was processed as a deportee.