Five Buju Banton Songs to Know

Categories: News
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​This week's cover story takes a look at whether the U.S. government, with the help of a shady snitch, entrapped Buju Banton, and iconic and controversial, Grammy-winning reggae musician.

Buju is one of those rare reggae artists who achieved global fame while remaining a fan favorite in Jamaica. His career has also been marred by controversy due to violently homophobic lyrics.

Here, five songs to know by Buju Banton, for better or worse.


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DunkXChange Returns for a 2012 Edition in Fort Lauderdale on February 25

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If you're not already initiated into sneakerhead culture, don't get too worked up about it. Yes, the sneakers fetch exorbitant prices. No, they aren't always worn. And all that talk about uppers! Soles! Colorways! (This is something characteristic of collectors' vinyl toys too -- why aren't they just plain-old "colors" or "color combinations" instead of "colorways"?) Whatever. Everyone has his or her fetishistic little collections on some level, right?

And hey, at least sneakerhead gatherings are more fun than most collector's conventions. With various music-interested subcultural types interested in expensively adorning their feet (or not), performances and cameo appearances at the most popular of this recurring series, DunkXChange, are usually a given.
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The Ghost of Alligator Alley Rises Again as a New Venue in Downtown Hollywood

Categories: Local Music, News
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photo by Alex Rendon
The Alligator Alley All-Stars on the late club's final night.
In its seven-and-a-half year life, the late Alligator Alley in Oakland Park carved out a distinct swampy niche for itself. It was a rare intimate venue dedicated to a particularly old-Florida vibe, with geographically appropriate bar snacks, local micro-brews, and, most important, a nightly program of original, live blues and rock. (Fun fact: That's where we discovered the musicians who would eventually form current favorites Young Circles and Blonds.) 

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Ellen DeGeneres' Controversial Response to Renda Writer's "Second Annual Ellen Art Show"

Categories: News
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That's Writer on the left with the beard, fedora, and fanatical smile.

​Back in August, we reported that local poet and promoter Renda Writer was giving up his post as editor of local arts mag WeMerge in order to focus even more of his energy toward getting the attention of Ellen DeGeneres so that she may invite him to read one of his poems on her show. Now, after years of "Look at me, Ellen!" activity, DeGeneres has finally acknowledged his existence... kinda.

In his latest effort to get the attention of the beloved comedian/host, Writer put on an art show in Los Angeles devoted to her. The event featured more than 60 portraits of DeGeneres and was called, appropriately, "The 2nd Annual Ellen Art Show." The first was held here in South Florida last year. After the event, Writer dropped a couple of the paintings off to the mail room of the Ellen DeGeneres Show and... They made it onto television!

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Machine Gun Kelly Leaves Fort Lauderdale and Gets Arrested: Criminal Foreshadowing in Videos

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He's thinking, "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

Just last Thursday, County Grind attended a particularly wild concert that included some near-nudity, stage diving, and lots of masturbation chatter. The show was that of Machine Gun Kelly, the Cleveland rapper whose gift is his ability to spit out lyrics as fast as, well, a machine gun.

After the rapper left Fort Lauderdale, he and his crew headed to Orlando, and then Saint Pete, where he ended up in a jail cell. According to MTV and Twitter, it was in the slammer that MGK uncovered that the inmates recognized him. That was probably pretty neat and fortuitous for an up-and-coming, strikingly skinny, rowdy, white-guy rapper. He was charged with disorderly conduct and released on bail.

Let's take a minute to watch a few MGK videos that foreshadow last night's events. They hint at a lifestyle that is, you know, criminal.

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Luther Campbell Announces 2 Live Crew Reunion at Sundance

Categories: News, Reunited
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Alan Gutierrez

Bet you're wondering what the hell Luther Campbell is doing right now. 

The busy man is probably lounging, sipping a hot cocoa, in Park City, Utah. The father of booty music announced a 2 Live Crew reunion tour this past Saturday from Sundance. He attended the film festival to promote Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke, which screened to great reviews.  
 
"Utah and Sundance have welcomed booty bass with open arms," says Jillian Mayer, one of the creators of Life and Freaky Times. The 2 Live Crewer is the star of the short, which takes a very La jetée approach to Campbell's life.

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Diplo Backs Out of Show at Revolution Live With Sleigh Bells

Categories: Just In , News
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​You read right. DJ, producer, and active tweeter Diplo is off the bill for the Sleigh Bells show. He was expected to perform alongside the Brooklyn noise-pop duo at Revolution Live this February. 

Diplo grew up Thomas Wesley Pentz in Florida and hit it superbig collaborating with M.I.A. He's one-half of dancehall project Major Lazer with DJ Switch and heads his own record label, Mad Decent. Don't know why we're telling you this, because you're probably listening to something Diplo created right now or looking at his new photo book, 128 Beats Per Minute: Diplo's Visual Guide for Music, Culture, and Everything in Between.
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MegaUpload Versus the U.S. Government Versus a Girl Crying About Sopa

Categories: Just In , News
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The Internet
Wait, can we use this logo?
​If you were trying to watch season one of The Wire yesterday afternoon on MegaUpload, you were probably left with a lot of time on your hands to wonder why the site wasn't working. The major file-sharing website was shut down this afternoon by the U.S. Department of (in)Justice (we kid, we kid. Please, no, we love you.), resulting in one big old gigantic U.S. criminal copyright case. 

In addition, seven people were indicted on five counts of copyright infringement and conspiracy, according to the New York Times. It's also estimated that more than $500 million was lost in revenues by copyright holders thanks to downloaders and MegaUpload. Though it was widely reported that hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz (Alicia Keys' hubby) is the CEO of the company, Forbes claims he's not mentioned in the indictment. He recently helped orchestrate a pro-MegaUpload video that featured his wife, Kanye, Snoop, and Will.i.am.
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Jake Miller Lends Rap to Weston's Stop Burgers

Categories: Local Music, News
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Cook Jake Miller's burger medium.
Stop Burgers, a Weston-based emporium for beef patties, enlisted rapper and our recent interview subject Jake Miller to create a jingle for their 2012 advertising and marketing campaign with local high schools, radio and television. 

As a result of their partnership, Miller, a Weston resident, was given the opportunity to create a burger himself to be named after him. And that's how the Jake Miller Burger came to be. It's an eight-ounce sirloin burger topped with American cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise, ketchup and applewood smoked bacon in between a kaiser bun and will be join other burgers named after local celebrities such as Dan Marino and Jason Taylor.

James McDonnell, owner of Stop Burgers, was sold on Miller after the rapper came into the restaurant and rapped to him.

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Buju Banton Heads to Relatively Safer Miami Prison After Stay in Rough Texas Jailhouse

Categories: News
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The Jamaican consulate asked that Banton get better digs than the tough prison in Groesbeck, Texas.
Buju Banton has been on the move during the first few months of his ten-year sentence on federal drug charges. The iconic dancehall star went from Florida to Oklahoma to Texas, back to Oklahoma, and he'll soon be en route to the Federal Correctional Institution Miami, according to David Oscar Markus, Banton's attorney.
 
Plans to place Banton in a Mississippi prison fell through when authorities discovered that a codefendant in the case had already been assigned to the facility. Authorities then stowed Banton in a Federal Transfer Center in lovely Oklahoma City before moving him to a correctional institution in the dreadful-
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