Buju Banton: King of the Dancehall
Published by Jamie July 10th, 2006 in NewsYesterday there was an article in the Jamaica Gleaner about who deserves the title “King of the Dancehall” with a handful of Jamaican experts weighing in on the subject. Yellowman, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Tony Rebel and Buju were all mentioned. According to ska legened Derrick Morgan:
“Right now wid like Beenie, Bounty and Buju dem, I feel the more consistent artiste among them is Beenie Man or Buju Banton, that in terms of being a king of the dancehall now. If is the now music, I would put Beenie Man in front, for all times it would be Yellowman. Bob Marley would be the King of Reggae. Lyrics-wise, I would put Beenie Man and Buju Banton. A my two bwoy dat and if yuh want cultural deejay mi woulda put Tony Rebel. But Beenie more consistent in terms of having hits; mi nuh really know nuh Bounty (song) weh mi can si down an hum.”
Winston “Merritone” Blake had this to say:
“The only legitimate person who was only a few steps away from the coronation is Buju Banton. With the body of work that he has done already and the type of lyrical structure he is still miles ahead of the rest, but recently he started jumping all over the place. Because to make a conscious album and then the next thing him gone back to talking bout di sex an thing, that kind of inconsistency cannot work for me. It’s not the one-drop performance that makes you great, it’s the consistency, so they need to decide exactly what they are going to be and work consistently.”
With all due respect to Mr. Morgan and Mr. Blake, no other living reggae artist is even on the same playing field as Buju Banton. Yes, he has gone back to making more “slackness” tunes (which is what started his career!), but he still releases instant-classic conscious and lover’s reggae hits on a pretty regular basis. Even the great Bob Marley made songs for the clubs and the radio deejays to boost his appeal and income (see: Could You Be Loved). Ain’t nothing wrong with being diverse!
Make no mistake about it… if there is a “King of Dancehall,” it is definitely the great Buju B!
What do you think? Leave a comment below…
11 Responses to “Buju Banton: King of the Dancehall”
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You’re right. Buju is the King. How can Beenie and Bounty even be compared?
buju is the best ever me a zimbabwean listen to inna heights no doubt
buju banton is still king of the reggae dancehall.actually in our country (Botswana)most people respected buju from eversince his first album but ina heights got much suport.i do not dismiss beenie man and bounty killer,the due are good.
Beenie man is the king of dancehall with no doubt
no one has as many hits, he is an performer allso and love around the world, he been there and never went away, he is the king of the dancehall and michael jackson is the king of pop, don’t take me wong buju and bounty I have everyone of the albums and more
Beenie is a great artist. But no comparison to Buju. Sorry…
Bounty killa, Buju Banton and beenie man are veteran dancehall D.J’s. Though i hate comparing reggae artistes but i would say Beenie has a good claim to the king of dancehall crown. Bounty killa is known for his real dancehall tunes, I mean, he is a real gangster, a real representative of jamaican people, a real father to other great D.J’s (Elephant man, Vybez kartel, Busy signal, Mavado, e.t.c.). When it comes to hardcore dancehall, yuh can count on Bounty. Buju banton, a very humble Reggae musician is what we can describe as king of Reggae. When it comes to the dancehall, gargamel is a solid hitmaker, when it comes to produsing music for soul upliftment, yuh can count on Buju. Buju is very similar to the late Bob Marley, and he is the one that I and many other Reggae fans here in Arfica look up to as the real reggae king.
One luv.
But its amazing how that no 1 is writing bout Anthony B, Capleton and Kalonji. These guys are just a few steps away from reggae royalty especially Capleton.
Buju is great ragga dude…his music is grt.Most of us in Bots like him…he used to be popular here in the early 21st century….the latest i got frm him is the one that hav “Dops….
FROM MY PERSPECTIVE BUJU B IS LEGENDARY. HE IS THE KIND OF SINGER THAT YOU WOULD SINCERLY MOURN FOR IF SOMETHING SHOULD HAPPEN. HE IS THE KIND OF SINGER THAT MOVES YOU, HE MAKES YOU REFLECT AND HE DEFINITELY IS AND INTELLECTUAL. I’M 35YRS AND I’M NOT ONLY INTO MUSIC I CAN DANCE TO, I’M INTO INTROSPECTIVE MUSIC. BUJU DELIVERS THAT. I’M A GUYANESE THEREFORE, I’M MAY NOT KNOW WHAT THE REQUIREMENTS ARE TO BE KING OF THE DANCEHALL, BUT I WOULD HOPE IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH BEING ABLE TO RESONATE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE BECAUSE BUJU B CERTAINLY HAS THAT ABILITY.
PS:ULTIMATELY, I SAW BUJU OCT, 2007 IN GUYANA. I FLEW FROM HARTFORD, CT TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE AND TO TOP IT OFF BUJU JOINED MY FLIGHT IN PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD. TO SAY THE LEAST I WAS IN A STATE OF EUPHORIA.
hi
mdhu6fgscxpev00i
good luck