Buju Banton isn’t a fan of males doing the new Dirt Bounce dance.
Dirt Bounce, a dance made by teenage dancer Tyreke Pennicott and popularized by Jamaican dancehall artist Laa Lee through songs “Tip Inna It” and later “Dirt Bounce,” has been dubbed the official dance of 2021. Laa Lee and his collaborator have been given the honorary title of the entertainers who are reigniting the fun in dancehall. Yet, fun is a pretty subjective word, and not everyone is down with the trend, especially when it involves men performing the dance, which requires a whole lot of rapid hip rotations.
Buju Banton offered a recent statement hitting out against fellow male counterparts who are publicly performing said whining movements while leaving less of the spotlight for the females. The entertainer, who has been previously called out for his anti-gay lyrics, has dubbed those men when “whining” in the dancehall as gay.
Buju Banton’s rant took place during an Instagram LIVE over the weekend. During the LIVE session, which he labeled ‘Buju Drive Time Live,’ the deejay shared and promoted his newest release dedicated to the ladies titled “Summer Body.” At one point, The Gargamel paused the LIVE to issue his PSA.
“We ago get rid of d whole heap a man weh a whine up inna dat b—bo cl—t, bcz we grow, we see woman a dance inna dancehall and some bwoy push dem outta the way. Most a them gay. We ago move dem back outta the way and make the woman dem stay,” the deejay declared.
“Dancehall is for life/ A nuff man go Dancehall and find their wife/ dancehall is an integral part of we life,” Buju said.
Buju Banton’s catalog covers both reggae and dancehall, with some of his earlier hits being labeled as blueprints by the likes of Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, among others. Many will argue that Buju’s recent stance on men dancing in the dancehall directly goes against his 1992 hit single “Bogle,” fashioned off a dance move created by the late Jamaican dancing pioneer “Bogle.” The moves which make up the legendary dance call for somewhat of a limbo action, as one performs a few hand movements. Banton’s song remains a staple in dancehall to this day after nearly three decades.
Fans of the Dirt Bounce see nothing wrong with the dance and find no correlation between the moves and one’s sexuality. For them, it is simply another way for people to have fun and express themselves during the global pandemic.
In 2019 following his Long Walk To Freedom show in Kingston, Buju Banton spoke about another of his classics, the controversial track “Boom Bye Bye,” which speaks about inflecting wounds on homosexuals. Banton has not performed the song since 2007 and has apologized for the pain and hurt caused by the track’s gritty lyrics.
“In recent days there has been a great deal of press coverage about the song “Boom Bye Bye” from my past which I long ago stopped performing and removed from any platform that I control or have influence over,” Buju told Urban Islandz in 2019. “I recognize that the song has caused much pain to listeners, as well as to my fans, my family and myself. After all the adversity we’ve been through I am determined to put this song in the past and continue moving forward as an artist and as a man.”
