Buju Banton Shares Anti-Mask Rant After Selling Face Masks, Daughters React
Dancehall great Buju Banton has expressed his frustration with the face mask-wearing protocols put in place to combat the spread of COVID-19. The singer, 47, called on the people of Jamaica to stop wearing face masks and declared in not so many words: ‘if a dirt, a dirt’.
“We wan done wid dis mask wearing bullsh-t inna Jamaica. Who fi dead ago dead and who nah go dead, haffi jus live. We tired of you intellectual fools trying to tell us how to live our lives, you are so smart why you haven’t found the cure for cancer,” he declared in the first of three Instagram videos uploaded today, October 21 which he captioned “Free My People Now”.
He explained that he was motivated to speak out after a friend asked him if he was okay.
Banton condemned the authorities for the economic fallout brought on by the containment measures and said that they were responsible for the poverty in Jamaica right now. He added that these authorities have not helped the hundreds of people who have been laid off or the businesses that have been forced into early closures since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Jamaican people need fi wake up. Mi nah wear no mask cause mask nuh mek fi man,” he said. “Free my people!” he shouted.
The Gargamel’s rant today is a bit of a turnaround because the singer sold a branded face mask to promote the launch of his Upside Down 2020 album in June. The cloth masks were sold for $23 USD each along with a copy of the album, according to his official store. The branded masks are also available without the album for $12 USD.
In March, Buju also embraced social distancing and was not even inclined to hug his own daughter, Abihail Myrie, since he thought she was interacting with too many people outside ‘in the world’.
In a tweet today, minutes after her father’s videos were posted, Abihail said, “So anyway y’all wear your masks!!!”
https://twitter.com/abihailmyrie_/status/1318942541337776130
Banton’s other daughter, Jodian Myrie, a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) politician, also cosigned Abihail’s tweet and added her own, “Let us all as Jamaicans play our part in flattening this curve by continuing to wear our masks and practicing social distancing! Follow the protocols set in place to protect not only your life, but the lives of your loved ones.”
Let us all as Jamaicans play our part in flattening this curve by continuing to wear our masks and practicing social distancing! Follow the protocols set in place to protect not only your life, but the lives of your loved ones.
— Jodian Myrie (@JodianMyrie) October 21, 2020
Jodian’s tweet was retweeted by the Jamaican Minister of Health, Dr. Christopher Tufton.
The comment section of the videos also overwhelmingly disagreed with Buju’s opinions, with many of the superstar’s fans urging him to wear his mask and respect the other enforcement measures ordered by the Jamaican government.
One fan said, “Sorry Buju but this is a NO go because it is appearing that you have a problem with the economic impact of this pandemic instead of the Heath aspect of it killing our people hence, aligning you with the folks that don’t love brown people‼️ Tighten up sir. ❤️ You same way though”
But undeterred, Banton responded to the backlash, “This platform will be one of truth. Not what no one wants it to be. Sorry. Truth can be hard to swallow…”
Banton has also promised to have more regular conversations of this sort with his 1.2 million Instagram followers.
“Any of u the ever question who controls the media in Jamaica and who control them?! Nooo u too busy,” he added in another comment.
“My people listen Please its all planned all thought out but thankfully its was intercepted only there agents are pushing the fear to push there agenda I know a lot of u have swallowed the whole pill may GOD help us,” he continued.
In another video, the Blessed singer said that people are being led astray by the authorities, adding that the virus seemed to be more intelligent than man.
“They taught you to love Micheal Jackson, then they teach you to hate Bill Cosby. Don’t you see that they have been lying to us for all this time? Why should we believe them now? How ironic it is that this virus act as if it is more intelligent than man,” he reasoned.
Buju’s recent meet with American rapper Kanye West in Jamaica was criticized when both artistes were pictured maskless in a Kingston studio.
In response to questions over whether Kanye had respected the island’s COVID-19 measures during his visit, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness emphasized his public plea to Jamaicans to wear a mask while indoors.
In April, another Rastafarian artiste, Chronixx, had also expressed a similar point of view on the pandemic on Instagram, before deleting his post.
Jamaica recorded 71 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Wellness. To date, the island has had 8,445 cases of the virus and 174 deaths.