Buju Banton Cops 2 Nominations at 2012 IRAWMA Awards

Despite the fact that embattled Reggae superstar, Buju Banton languishes in a Miami federal prison, his music continues to garner positive attention, locally and overseas.

The currently incarcerated singjay copped a pair of nominations for the 31st annual International Reggae And World Music Awards (IRAWMA), scheduled to take place on July 5 in Chicago, Illinois. This marks the second award show that Buju Banton has nabbed nominations since he received a ten-year sentence on federal drug charges last June.

The artiste, whose real name is Mark Myrie earned a Best Song nomination for his internationally acclaimed collaboration, Jah Army alongside fellow Reggae superstar, Damian Marley and Stephen Marley.  Additionally, he received a nomination for Concert of the Year for his Before The Dawn concert, which took place in January 2011 in Miami.

Ephraim Martin, the president of IRAWMA producers, Martin’s International insists that this proves the never-ending validity and impact of Buju’s messages, through music.

“Buju was and is still a messenger for the people in his own right. History shows and tells us, that just about all great leaders, messengers and freedom fighters, who ended up in jail or prison at some point, returned to be better leaders,” he said, via press release.

 Additionally, Martin encouraged Buju Banton to stay strong through his current situation and believes that the Reggae artiste will regain freedom sooner rather than later.

“Buju, we encourage you to stay strong and not to be discouraged. The unknown reason(s) you are where you are will be revealed to the world in a powerful manner, in the years to come!”

A video of Buju’s performance at the 1994 IRAWMA Awards has been posted on Martin’s official blog/online TV channel for the public to see.

Buju Banton won the 2011 Best Reggae Album Grammy award for his critically-acclaimed album, Before The Dawn  a day prior to his conviction on three drug related charges in February of last year. This past February, the self-professed Gargamel won a awrd for Dupblate of the Year at Stone Love's annual award show. The award was for Jah Army, alongside Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley.