Buju Banton

In March of 2003 he released Friends for Life, which featured more sharply political songs. After rumors of legal action and a preemptive countersuit, the group disbanded and released Level II in 2003 (see 2003 in music). Inna Heights (1997) substantially increased Banton's international audience. Personnel shifts wracked the group and contributed to the relative failure of Finally (1999, 1999 in music) and Blackstreet soon broke up. The song inspired several clubs to stop playing songs with excessively violent subject matter. It won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal by a Duo or Group and went four times platinum in the United States. It also included a single called "Murderer" which condemned the violence in Jamaican dancehall music, inspired by the murders of dancehall musicians Panhead and Dirtsman. Dre).

Till Shiloh (1995) was an influential album, using a studio band instead of synthesized music, and marked a shift away from dancehall towards roots reggae for Banton. The follow-up, 1996's Another Level (see 1996 in music) was a breakthrough success due to the top single "No Diggity" (with Dr. He began supporting AIDS education and released a song called "Willy (Don't Be Silly)" (1993; The Voice of Jamaica), promoting the use of condoms. Their debut, Blackstreet, was a moderate success due to singles like "Before I Let You Go". Since this time, Banton has become more socially conscious, leaving behind his old style of singing songs of violence and promiscuity. Blackstreet was an American R&B and soul group founded in 1994 (see 1994 in music) by Teddy Riley, a New Jack Swing pioneer known for his work as a member of Guy. Banton, who had just signed to Mercury Records, was forced by his label to issue a statement; he refused to apologize and cited his religion (Rastafarianism) as the basis for his beliefs.

He is one of the most popular musicians in Jamaican history, having hit the charts there suddenly in 1992, with "Bogle" and "Love Me Browning/Love Black Woman", both massive hits in Jamaica and less so abroad. Soon afterwards, Banton released "Boom Boom Bye Bye", a controversial song that advocated violence and murder towards Jamaican homosexuals (called "batty boys"). "Banton" is a Jamaican word referring to someone with a superior attitude, but was also the name of a local artist (Burro Banton) that Buju watched as a child. "Buju" is a common nickname for chubby children; it means "breadfruit". He was born in a slum near Kingston called Salt Lane.

Buju Banton (born Mark Myrie 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall and ragga singer.