Hard to believe now, but Buju Banton was once the most notorious man in Jamaican music, his early single 'Boom Bye Bye' being widely interpreted as a call to go out and murder homosexuals. These days, however, the dancehall supremo has put all that nastiness far behind him - and his new album continues the rehabilitation, being about as threatening as a glass of semi-skilled milk. These anaemic reggae tunes portray Buju as a gentle giant, who fears God, respects women and likes nothing better than a bit of tree-hugging in his spare time. All he wants, he says, is to be recognised as a true star like his heroes Shaggy and Bob Marley. This still seems a bit unlikely - while Banton's gruff vocals are certainly distinctive, his songwriting is distinctly on the slushy side, and no amount of throwing urban, hip-hop influences into the mix can change that. That said, Friends For Life is a shrewd commercial move that should keep the old rogue ahead of his Jamaican rivals for a few more years yet.
