'Disaster Averted': A Review of "Before The Dawn" by Buju Banton

You know, with all of the news surrounding the recent and still ongoing troubles of Reggae and Dancehall legend Buju Banton, it got me to thinking of so many different things, not the least of which was actually losing his presence in Reggae music. Certainly you can’t erase history and Buju, perhaps even more so than almost all of his peers, has seemed to do more with his time as, along with his actual music and all of his other involvements and controversies he has managed to pack four or five decades worth of memories in his twenty plus years in the business. Because of this, he’s also endeared himself to so many Reggae and music fans in general and done so in such a way which is so unlike most of his peers that his is now a status which, is very important to the music, but is one which does not require much upkeep. These days, even still, after all they’ve done Buju’s actual peers like Beenie Man, Capleton and Bounty Killer are looked at with a ‘what’s new’ attitude by most fans. They have to remain current and if they don’t you start to hear terms such as ‘flop’ or ‘fell off’ begin to turn up more and more in their cases. Buju Banton? No such thing. Buju could well go two or three years with no sizable hit and the attitude will be defensive in terms of what is to come as opposed to offensive of what has yet to arrive. I think Buju’s position is best summed up by the famous quote from another of his peers, Tony Rebel, who once said of Buju in terms of his position in Reggae music and amongst other Reggae artists, “He’s our sun”. So, could we have possibly, or could we still lose our SUN and still manage to hold the vibes as high, even given the lack of demand on him? Most likely. But even within his somewhat ‘reserved’ usual state in the music, Buju Banton has become a PRESENCE just as much as he has become a top notch artist (and he has become both). His very name is one which is so unusual that it cannot possibly reference ANYTHING else in the typical lexicon of the world and it has become synonymous with several things throughout the years, good and bad, but one of the things which has remained unquestionable is that - “Buju Banton is a Reggae artist” - He will be referred to as such well into perpetuity, no matter where he goes and no matter what he does when he gets there.

So, to lose such a powerful force and presence to something as completely ridiculous as drug charges would be . . . one of the biggest fucking tragedies in the modern history of Reggae music. And while we could compare his potential situation to that of someone like Shyne, from the Hip-Hop community, certainly Shyne’s status in that genre wouldn’t be anywhere near Buju’s in Reggae and Dancehall (and maybe not even in Hip-Hop, for that matter) and there’s also Jah Cure who emerged from eight years of incarceration at the age of twenty-eight years, WELL within his prime and a much better artist than when he left at twenty one. Buju, at thirty-seven, just couldn’t manage to serve even an eight year term and reemerge in his mid-forties with the same command musically or socially and, to be most selfish, to not have a Buju Banton album every three years or so would really just bother me. Well, after all of that appears that Buju himself agrees as, with clearly as much free time as he’s surely had over the past ten months or so, he’s devoted it to playing a major role in delivering this, his most unexpected of new albums, ”Before The Dawn”. Reportedly, the tunes here are largely comprised of work from sessions just prior to his incarceration and Buju has taken a very active presence in determining exactly how they were mixed and ultimately presented for the album. Still, given the fact that he was unable (or at least seemingly unable) to record any new material for it and was largely unable to actually DO anything for it more than he had done gives it somewhat of a detached feel and I’d actually suggest that he knew this going in which is why he also reportedly went out of his way to write a note specifically for the album’s liner’s notes. Also, the album only has ten tracks and if you know Buju’s style then you well are aware of the fact that just he also brought forth a HUGE album just a year and a half ago in ”Rasta Got Soul” and, in a very un-Buju like manner, he delivers his next set in the very next calendar year. Certainly all of that would lead us into thinking that ”Before The Dawn” has been very hurried together to meet some type of ‘deadline’ and I can definitely imagine what the thinking might’ve been from Buju and company at his label, Gargamel Music - Envisioning the prospect of going through his trial, ultimately proving his innocence and on the exact same day have this album release (and if that was their actual plan then the fact that his jury came back hung ONE DAY BEFORE the album’s release date makes them nothing less than clairvoyant) (and a little creepy) - To mark his reappearance to the world with a display what he does best, making this kind of ‘larger than life’ type of scene. The album’s title even seems to suggest such a setting. While those plans seem to have been put on hold for the time being (if they ever even existed) what is certain still is that Buju Banton is still Buju Banton and whenever he releases a project the Reggae world and, to some degree, the larger music world in full, is going to take a notice and that has never been more the case than now as, because of the attention given to his situation, one could well make the case that this album has become his most high profile to date with the looming spectre of musical ‘martyrdom’ facing him. The question, however, does remain of whether or not ”Before The Dawn” is any good. Given all of Buju’s literal and physical detachedness from the project, the very fact that it exists just one year after an album which supposedly took him YEARS to create (nothing rare for him) and just the fact that it appears to have been hurried along to make it available definitely means that it can’t really be any good. Right?

Not necessarily. It has its moments. While you almost certainly aren’t going to see this album appearing on any ‘top ten’ lists (“Top Ten Reggae Albums by An Incarcerated Artist“???) (maybe), it does prove to be almost instantly better than the kind of languid and terse effort which I was expecting (as it seemingly would have been built on tracks which weren’t fit to find their ways onto other projects just yet, but were good enough for this one). “Instantly” is the key word here as the very first tune on Buju Banton’s brand new album, ”Before The Dawn”, ’Rasta Can’t Go’, turns out to be HUGE and the single biggest moment on the entire album. How fitting is it that Buju begins the song by saying -

“I see myself as morning sunrise that is certain every morning
I see myself as the moon which is sure to come following the sun”

From a lyrical point of view of the tune borders on being just about perfect as, Buju doesn’t mean “I” in the literal sense there because, as you see with tune playing out, he uses himself as a representative of Rastafari and the song says that no matter where you hide and how well you THINK you’ve done it, Rasta will notice and be there. It is a VERY powerful sentiment and although sonically the song isn’t the greatest (not that it’s bad), when you really tune this thing in, you’ll get an education not to be missed.

“Now I see Ras in Buckingham Palace
He was surrounded by no guards nor sentries
Now I see Ras stroll in The White House
Make security appear like Mickey Mouse”

HUGE TUNE and somewhere Peter Tosh is grinning from ear to ear. The next two tracks, ‘In The Air’ and ‘Do Good’ both have their ups and downs and do so in a few different aspects. The former sounds absolutely SPECTACULAR. It is sonically a devastating tune, but with its constant refrain of “can you feel it”, it kind of has a standard and formulaic type of feeling and, by its end, it hasn’t said very much at all. The latter, on the other hand, also sounds pretty good with the beautiful Nyah drum backing and lyrically it is also pretty good, but it’s just kind . . . It just an average song. There is a lot of SPACE in the track with the chorus just feeling too long (the tune itself is damn near seven minutes long) and it just could have really been a better song, however, it is probably one of the album’s best.

Unsurprisingly, you put someone in Buju’s exact position and have them on a record saying, “Jah knows I’m innocent”, you’re going to get quite the reaction which is exactly what happened with the album’s first single (I THINK), ‘Innocent’. The tune has become somewhat of battle cry for many supporters of the artist through his ordeal.

“I’ve been badly singled out
By beloved friends and Bredrens who sold me out
I was the cornerstone rejected and refused
Left alone in my blues
Your foot could never fit my shoes”

It is on this tune where the claims of the album being somewhat prophetic seem to ring true given Buju’s defense and, again, there is no tune on this album which has captured the early imaginations and attentions of the masses and there is no surprise why that is (and I‘ll speak more on that in closing).

The other tune which has seemingly been getting quite the nice response is ‘Battered & Bruised’ which kind of has this nice and springing vibes to it. I’m not as high on the song as others seem to have been thus far, that I’ve read, but it definitely has a very nice sonic appeal, albeit ultra-straight forward. ‘Try Life’ is also certain to get a nice spin because it features longtime Buju Banton friend, Gramps Morgan from the Morgan Heritage camp (that makes this the second consecutive review I’ve done with Gramps in a guest spot). You’ll probably be surprised to know that despite the fact that the riddim on this song sounds like the theme song from a 1975 sitcom show, I actually like it a bit. The tune speaks of the difficulties experienced by a particular woman and it comes through so REFINED that it caught my attention. It didn’t WOW me to any extent and I may, in fact, be overrating it, but to me it’s a pretty nice song. I didn’t have the same reaction to ‘No Smoking At All’, the changeup on ”Before The Dawn”, initially but the rocking tune did eventually grow on me just a bit, although not to the point where I now consider it amongst the class of the album. And I could also say the same of the decent tune ‘Life’. This one is CLEARLY a very personal track for Buju, but it’s unexceptional for the most part. That being said, however, should you ask me again in a year or so, I wouldn’t at all be surprised if I LOVED this tune.

With all of that being said, there’re two tunes right in the middle of the album which will probably go largely overlooked, but are second and third only to ‘Rasta Can’t Go’ in terms of quality in my opinion. First is my second favourite tune on the album, ‘Bondage’, which will probably (as it has thus far) be overshadowed by the tune before it, ‘Battered & Bruised’, despite the fact that it is clearly a better tune. This one, checking in at more than five minutes is exactly what ‘Do Good’ should have been because it so well makes a great usage of every second of the tune and in doing so becomes this MOVING and TWISTING tune about social upliftment and, indirectly, the Afrikan Diaspora. You REALLY feel the emotion in Buju’s set in the tune and it got fairly quickly to the point where I found myself singing along on the big chorus simply because I felt like I HAD to.

“Tears!
From my eyes!
Could not hold anymore!
Cry!
Like a child!
Who has lost his way home!
Longing!
To go to that place where I’m from!
They’ve got I in bondage”

And lastly there’s the related (at least in my opinion) ‘Struggle Together’, which is just so well done and arranged that, although musically it may be out of place and it isn’t his GREATEST work, could fit in with the best done by Buju because it’s simply done as well as it could possibly have been which is a quality in and of itself actually. As for the actual song - It is sublime. It speaks mostly of unity and coming together for the betterment of the world. In the middle of the song, Buju hits one of the finest lyrical stretches to be found on the whole of the album as well which pushes it even higher.

“No more divide and segregating
Make sure when you fight, you’re fighting for the right thing
Oh, what a joy unification bring
I never hurt your heart and you never hurt my feelings
Let’s be upful and bright in all our dealings”

Overall, as I alluded to (or at least tried to) in discussing ‘Innocent’, I think that perhaps that tune and this album, in general, has a much more interesting set circumstances than simply whether or not they’re any good. Despite the fact that Reggae music is often as hyper-political as it is, you rarely get the type of album whose social ramifications can simply outweigh its actual merits. You should remember the aforementioned Jah Cure’s debut album, ”Free Jah’s Cure” which arrived very early in the Cure’s time in prison and has subsequently gone on to achieve a ‘cult classic’ type of standing in Reggae music and has this type of larger than the moment type of aura around it. Certainly this album, on a MUCH larger scale, may some day grow into the same thing. Musically speaking, by its end, it’s probably what most were expecting - It certainly would have been better had he been able to add more substance to it and more tracks - But it isn’t horrible at all and HOPEFULLY once this situation has been wrapped up, it can serve as some type of ribbon for the entire matter. As it stands, ”Before The Down” is simply yet another strange piece for the time capsule of Buju Banton’s very unusual career. The Reggae world is better with his material than without it and hopefully we don’t have to wait another 8-10 for another one . . . Or longer.

Rated: 3/5
Gargamel Music
2010
CD & Digital