Buju Banton

In March of 2003 he released Friends for Life, which featured more sharply political songs. Bilal is also the name of a neo soul musician who took his stage name from the original Bilal. Inna Heights (1997) substantially increased Banton's international audience. He was known for his beautiful voice for he was the first man to call people to their prayers. The song inspired several clubs to stop playing songs with excessively violent subject matter. Muhammad later freed him completely and appointed him as muezzin. 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. Abu Bakr, upon witnessing this torture, bought Bilal from Umayya so that Bilal could practice Islam freely.

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. Umayya would have Bilal laid in the scorching sand in the desert, during the hottest hours of the day, with heavy rocks placed on his chest to prevent him from moving. 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. When Umayya learned of his slave's conversion, he decided to torture Bilal. Since this time, Banton has become more socially conscious, leaving behind his old style of singing songs of violence and promiscuity. When he heard Muhammad preaching he decided to convert to Islam. 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 was a slave owned by Umayya.

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"). In Muslim tradition, Bilal ibn Rabah was an Abyssinian who Muhammad chose as his muezzin, and was the first black convert to Islam. "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.