No forwards for Buju's gay meeting

'BETWEEN a rock and a hard place' summed up for many the situation Buju Banton found himself in this week, following his unprecedented meeting with gay activists.

On the Observer website yesterday there were close to 200 comments under the headline 'Buju breaks under pressure?'. A few criticised the meeting even taking place. Most sympathised with Banton, aka Mark Myrie, and hit back at the gay lobby. Hard.


At the photo-op Myrie looked far from comfortable. He knew that their list of demands, had he agreed, would be unpalatable in Jamaica – as those readers comments suggested.

The meeting was a response to his US-tour severely disrupted as it has been by the kind of protests that have continued to dog his commercial viability.

All because of Boom Bye Bye, a recording he made as a teenager. That one song, despite classics such as the Til Shiloh album, has prevented him from becoming the crossover star his talent demanded.

'Cultural imperialism' suggested one Observer reader. One big headache for the Gargamel.