Something happen this week that has troubled my soul and stirred me to post tonight.
Sunday morning, I went to the supermarket to see the headline of both the Jamaica Gleaner and Observer discussing the arrest of Mark Myrie, popularly known as Buju Banton. I had not time to investigate the paper.
However, for the entire week, Buju's arrest dominated the news and discussion all around Jamaica.
At first, I was appalled and felt that it was a set-up. That the gay American community plotted and schemed something to cause Buju's downfall, especially since he was being considered for a Grammy Award.
As more data however came out, I reconsidered my position. The problem is that even though I know the CIA is capable of setting up people for fraud as they did with Marcus Garvey (that what I was lead to believe while I was studying Marcus Garvey in my undergraduate year), this time I think Buju lived out his self-fulfilling prophecy of "Driva".
I believe that drug cartels who start out selling ganja may diversify their product offerings and move to the more lucrative crop. After all their goal is profit. So if Buju sang about ganja, who is to say he was not singing about a real life experience? And if he sang from experience, who is to say he did not go further and diversify into cocaine after tasting success in his ganja trade?
However, I am against all drugs including alcohol and cigarette and know nothing about that underworld. And I never want to know. Why should you make money through the destruction of other people and their health and reasoning abilities?
Driva was an awful song promoting the lawlessness and the selling of a herb that has destroyed the lives of many Jamaican young men. In fact, it was very disappointing for me a former Buju fan, to know that he moved from conscious and clean lyrics to join the Jamaican artistes that glorify drugs.
Secondly, I considered the US Feds. They are nothing like Jamaican police. When you talk about criminal intelligence, plus surveillance abilities, the only police better are those in Israel. Look at the US Embassy in Kingston and you know how dead serious these people are when it comes to security. If they collect evidence that a man is guilty of an act, then that evidence would really be convincing.
Buju, you reap what you sow. Your words are bearing their fruit. May you be an example to all drug men and lyrical composers.
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