Dancehall icon Buju Banton has graced the cover of the July issue of Global Rhythm magazine's annual Crucial Reggae issue celebrating Jamaican music and culture.
The periodical has an international circulation of more than 120,000 readers and growing with each edition. The Buju Banton/Crucial Reggae special issue is out now and can be found at major music chains, newsstands and independent music and book retailers around the world.
Writer, Wes Orshoski, who traveled to Kingston to meet with the icon, says, "If you're profiling a musician, you want him and his music to be relevant and you want that musician to have a tale, one that bounds off the page. Buju is such a musician...He has a complex, intriguing story, one that continues to unravel a little bit more every few months. As an interview subject, you get a charge just being around him."
Meantime, Banton who is also in the process of completing his roots album Rasta Got Soul - was voted Most Educational Entertainer at the 2008 International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA), held recently in New York. In addition, his award-winning hit song, "Driver A" is featured on the popular video game Grand Theft Auto IV.
Additionally , back in Jamaica Buju two new singles "Sleepless Nights" and "Waterworks" are heating up dancehalls just as the double video for "Cowboys" and "Curfew" from the compilation Buju Banton Presents: Jamrock Classics Vol. 1, is gaining nuff traction on local music video channel Hype TV.
Buju Banton will play several shows throughout the summer, however, contrary to publicized reports, he is not slated to perform on this year's staging of Reggae Sumfest in Montego Bay. Fans can catch Banton and his Shiloh band on the following confirmed dates:
July 6 - St. Andrew, Grenada
July 26 - Toronto, Canada
August 2 - St. Thomas , US Virgin Islands
Aug 9 - Freeport, Bahamas
August 22 - Santa Fe, New Mexico
August 23 - Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
