Buju Banton’s "Boom Bye Bye" beme a smash h 1992 wh lyrics advotg for the murr and torture of gay men. We asked five queer Caribbeans to unpack the song’s legacy and impact on their liv.
Contents:
- JAMAI'S ANTI-GAY 'MURR MIC' CARRI VLENT MSAGE
- GAYS PLA
- BOY BIMAD TSAITRACK 1 ON HOMEG! PRODUCED BYELIE RIZK & JOE KELLEHERTHE OFFICIAL VERSN OF “BOY BI” IS A PROFSNAL STUD RERDG AND ADDS A NEW BRIDGE AND TRO TO THE ORIGAL SONG FIRST UPLOAD JUNE 2020.DEC. 3, 20201 VIEWER16.7K VIEWS23 CONTRIBUTORSTRANSLATNSPORTUGUêSBOY BI LYRICS[INTRO]SO, DO YOU LIKE GIRLS OR DO YOU LIKE BOYS? (HA-AH, HA-AH)OH, HUM, I MEAN, UH Y?[VERSE 1]WHEN MY IENDS ASK ME 'BOUT MY SEXUALYI CHOKE UP AND JOKE THAT THE ANSWER'S NOT EASYLIKE I'M WATCHG A DISNEY MOVIE AND THE UPLE GETS ONBUT WHO SHOULD I LOOK AT, IS SHANG OR MULAN?I LIKE BOYS AND GIRLS BUT I STILL DON'T KNOW WHYI ULDN'T GET EHER ONE IF I REALLY TRYI'M SWCHG MY PREFERENCE LIKE AN ON AND OFF SWCHIF I HAD A DIME FOR EVERY CSH I'VE HAD I'D BE RICH[CHOS]LIKE BOY BIGIRL, HINEW GUYI'M BI?I CRY EVERY TIMEI TRY TO CI[VERSE 2]I GUS YOU'RE RIGHT, I'M BI JT WHOUT THE SEXUALI'M TOO SRED TO DATE SO I'VE JT BEEN BY MYSELFLIKE I'M WATCHG A DISNEY MOVIE AND I SLOWLY START TO SWEATIS JASME'S DANCG OR ALADD'S OPEN VT?OH, SUCKS SOMETIM TO BE RIGHT THE -BETWEENI'M TOO GAY FOR GIRLS, TOO STRAIGHT TO BE A DRAG QUEENI'M JT PLAYG, I'M JT SAYG, I'D LIKE TO BE CLEARI DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOG ON HEREYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE[BRIDGE]AND LOVE N BE HARDFOR SOMEONE WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WANTI'M MISSG A PARTFOR ALL OF MY LIFE GOT A HOLE MY HEARTAND LOVE ULD BEA WNG GAME TO THOSE WHO ARE STRAIGHT BUTI'M PERFECTLY PLETE1, 2, 3[CHOS]LIKE BOY BI (BOY BI)GIRL, HI (GIRL, HI)NEW GUY (NEW GUY)I'M BI?I CRY (I CRY) EVERY TIMEI TRY TO CI2EMBEDCANCELHOW TO FORMAT LYRICS:TYPE OUT ALL LYRICS, EVEN REPEATG SONG PARTS LIKE THE CHOSLYRICS SHOULD BE BROKEN DOWN TO DIVIDUAL LUSE SECTN HEARS ABOVE DIFFERENT SONG PARTS LIKE [VERSE], [CHOS], ETC.USE ALICS (<I>LYRIC</I>) AND BOLD (<B>LYRIC</B>) TO DISTGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENT VOLISTS THE SAME SONG PARTIF YOU DON’T UNRSTAND A LYRIC, E [?]TO LEARN MORE, CHECK OUT OUR TRANSCRIPTN GUI OR VIS OUR TRANSCRIBERS FOMABOUT
JAMAI'S ANTI-GAY 'MURR MIC' CARRI VLENT MSAGE
* bye bye gay boys *
One of the most popular was Buju Banton’s 1992 sgle “Boom Bye Bye, ” a track that followed a tradn of Jamain songs that poe vlence agast queer people — and one that beme lodged the memori of queer Caribbeans, makg clear that homophobia was alive and well our hom and muni. Origally wrten when he was jt 15 years old, “Boom Bye Bye” fds Banton llg for the murr and torture of “batty boys, ” a Jamain patois slur for gay men (whom the star nflat wh pedophil).
GAYS PLA
Though Banton would go on to break Bob Marley’s rerd for the most number one songs Jamai, the artist attracted protts om LGBTQ+ advot throughout his reer, leadg him to sign a 2007 pledge lled the Reggae Compassnate Act where he and other proment reggae artists agreed to stop performg songs wh homophobic lyrics. Its populary and overt homophobia have helped to rerce queerphobic sentiments and ma harr for LGBTQ+ people to seek acceptance throughout the Caribbean.
My mother tells this story about a time when her father and my nts and uncl were drivg to the village; he was potg out gay people, trans people, drag queens, and told them, “If any of y’all end up like this, I’m gog to shoot you. And this is where gets ntroversial—as if the cri of appropriatn by whe and/or gay culture weren’t loud enough. He’s explaed that was wrten about a pedophile abg a young boy Jamai, but ’s been wily terpreted as advotg for and glorifyg the murr of gay men.
On the track, he refers to gay men wh the rogatory slang term “batty bwoy, ” and seems to repeatedly advote for their murr:.
BOY BIMAD TSAITRACK 1 ON HOMEG! PRODUCED BYELIE RIZK & JOE KELLEHERTHE OFFICIAL VERSN OF “BOY BI” IS A PROFSNAL STUD RERDG AND ADDS A NEW BRIDGE AND TRO TO THE ORIGAL SONG FIRST UPLOAD JUNE 2020.DEC. 3, 20201 VIEWER16.7K VIEWS23 CONTRIBUTORSTRANSLATNSPORTUGUêSBOY BI LYRICS[INTRO]SO, DO YOU LIKE GIRLS OR DO YOU LIKE BOYS? (HA-AH, HA-AH)OH, HUM, I MEAN, UH Y?[VERSE 1]WHEN MY IENDS ASK ME 'BOUT MY SEXUALYI CHOKE UP AND JOKE THAT THE ANSWER'S NOT EASYLIKE I'M WATCHG A DISNEY MOVIE AND THE UPLE GETS ONBUT WHO SHOULD I LOOK AT, IS SHANG OR MULAN?I LIKE BOYS AND GIRLS BUT I STILL DON'T KNOW WHYI ULDN'T GET EHER ONE IF I REALLY TRYI'M SWCHG MY PREFERENCE LIKE AN ON AND OFF SWCHIF I HAD A DIME FOR EVERY CSH I'VE HAD I'D BE RICH[CHOS]LIKE BOY BIGIRL, HINEW GUYI'M BI?I CRY EVERY TIMEI TRY TO CI[VERSE 2]I GUS YOU'RE RIGHT, I'M BI JT WHOUT THE SEXUALI'M TOO SRED TO DATE SO I'VE JT BEEN BY MYSELFLIKE I'M WATCHG A DISNEY MOVIE AND I SLOWLY START TO SWEATIS JASME'S DANCG OR ALADD'S OPEN VT?OH, SUCKS SOMETIM TO BE RIGHT THE -BETWEENI'M TOO GAY FOR GIRLS, TOO STRAIGHT TO BE A DRAG QUEENI'M JT PLAYG, I'M JT SAYG, I'D LIKE TO BE CLEARI DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOG ON HEREYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE[BRIDGE]AND LOVE N BE HARDFOR SOMEONE WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WANTI'M MISSG A PARTFOR ALL OF MY LIFE GOT A HOLE MY HEARTAND LOVE ULD BEA WNG GAME TO THOSE WHO ARE STRAIGHT BUTI'M PERFECTLY PLETE1, 2, 3[CHOS]LIKE BOY BI (BOY BI)GIRL, HI (GIRL, HI)NEW GUY (NEW GUY)I'M BI?I CRY (I CRY) EVERY TIMEI TRY TO CI2EMBEDCANCELHOW TO FORMAT LYRICS:TYPE OUT ALL LYRICS, EVEN REPEATG SONG PARTS LIKE THE CHOSLYRICS SHOULD BE BROKEN DOWN TO DIVIDUAL LUSE SECTN HEARS ABOVE DIFFERENT SONG PARTS LIKE [VERSE], [CHOS], ETC.USE ALICS (<I>LYRIC</I>) AND BOLD (<B>LYRIC</B>) TO DISTGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENT VOLISTS THE SAME SONG PARTIF YOU DON’T UNRSTAND A LYRIC, E [?]TO LEARN MORE, CHECK OUT OUR TRANSCRIPTN GUI OR VIS OUR TRANSCRIBERS FOMABOUT
A 2006 Time magaze article referred to Jamai as one of the most homophobic untri on earth due to s high rate of vlence agast the LGBT muny. While this signatn has sce been bated and attus have begun to change recent years, the untry’s lonial-era laws crimalizg homosexualy rema place.
There n be ltle doubt that Mark Myrie (“Buju Banton”) advot the murr of gay men “Boom Bye Bye. “Boom Bye Bye” lls for gay men to be shot the head, shot wh an Uzi, have acid splashed on them and then to be burned like an old tire or necklaced.
To unrstand the lyrics of “Boom Bye Bye, ” you mt know that “batty man” and “batty bwoy” are rogatory terms for a gay man Jamain Patois.