Perhaps one of the most controversial Dancehall songs ever made, Buju Banton’s ‘Boom Bye Bye’ is a derogatory hit directed at paedophiles – however, the song conflates them with homosexuals and features strong homophobic undertones as a result. The song repeatedly states that ‘batty boys’, a slur for homosexuals, should be killed:

It’s like boom bye bye inna batty bwoy head
Rude bwoy nah promote no nasty man, dem haffi dead

The song is specifically about a paedophile raping a young boy, one such incident was a controversial case at the time in Jamaica. However, in many countries prone to homophobia such as Jamaica, conflating “homosexuality” with “paedophilia” is common.

The homophobic undertones of the song are not unique in Jamaica or Dancehall. Jamaica has had a long history of treating homosexuals poorly, a trend that was reflected in Dancehall music at the time.

After strong campaigning from LGBT+ rights groups, Buju Banton agreed to stop performing the song post 2007. He soon after stated he never signed such an agreement, and repeatedly performed it after-the-fact. In March 2019, Buju agreed to remove the song from all platforms.