‘Too Too Bad’ Buju returns to NY with new music, plenty advice

Grammy-winning artiste, Buju Banton, is preparing for another important chapter in his career as he returns to New York hot on the heels of dropping off a brand new album and ready to deliver crucial advice for young musicians as he headlines one of the biggest summer concerts for 2026.
Banton enjoys top billing for the Roots and Rhymes Summer Tour 2026 at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on Saturday, July 18, alongside his good friend, Stephen Marley, with newly announced special guest Gramps Morgan, as well as Lila Iké and Skillibeng, creating one of the strongest reggae line-ups to hit New York this summer.
It was on June 2 this year that Gargamel surprised thousands of music lovers with an impromptu performance that transformed New York’s Times Square into a Caribbean American Heritage Month block party as he riled up fans, delivering Driver, Murderer, and his new single, Butterflies.
Few concerts in New York’s reggae history matched the emotional significance of Banton’s return to American soil in 2024. More than 18,000 fans packed UBS Arena for his historic Long Walk to Freedom concert — his first New York performance following his incarceration. Demand proved so overwhelming that a second show was quickly added and sold out within days. Now, Banton is returning to his old stomping ground with even greater purpose and anticipation.
“It’s been two years since I performed in the great city of New York, and I’m looking forward to seeing the masses,” he shared with RoadBlock radio listeners.
He continued, “Let us come together and celebrate this epic moment in time and be a part of history once more.”
The Roots and Rhymes Summer Tour represents much more than another concert. For him, it showcases three unique expressions of reggae music sharing one stage.
“This is something that’s very much needed in the reggae music community ... You have Gramps Morgan giving you a smoother ballad to reggae. Stephen Marley comes with a revolutionary sound, and Buju Banton comes with that dynamic to reggae.”
He believes audiences will experience reggae music in its fullest expression.
“When you come to this concert ... you’re treated with a variation of musical cadence that warms your heart,” he explained.
And he reminded fans why reggae continues to transcend generations.
“Reggae music is not something that’s fleeting. It’s here forever,” he reminded.
The UBS concert will take place just one day after the worldwide release of Banton’s highly anticipated new studio album, Too Too Bad, which officially drops today, July 17, through VP Records. For Banton, the timing could not be more symbolic.
Speaking about the project, the reggae superstar described the disc as far more than a collection of songs.
“This is one filled with entertainment. This is one filled with musical renaissance moments where one can listen to the music and remember a time when the music spoke to us and all we wanted to do was just dance ... forget our troubles for a moment and dance.”
The 13-track project, he explained, offers something for every listener.
“There are tracks there for the ladies ... tracks there for upliftment ... and tracks there to show love in a different kind of way.”
According to Banton, Too Too Bad is built around “different emotions, different feelings, different melodies and different rhythm compositions”, making it “a total body of work”.
More than three decades after bursting onto Jamaica’s music scene with Stamina Daddy, Bonafide Love, Love How the Gal Dem Flex and Bogle, Banton said his mission now remains clear: to reconnect younger generations with authentic dancehall culture.
“I personally believe that our music has not reached the apex in its natural form for us to throw anything away and adapt a new form,” he shared. “There’s a culture that does not need to be reinvented. It needs to be embraced ... creativity needs to be poured into it.” 
He said the album deliberately recreates the atmosphere of Jamaica’s legendary sound system era.
“This album encapsulates that era ... when the music spoke to us, and we didn’t have all those fancy things ... we had real turntables,” he said.
Banton also reflected on the humble beginnings that shaped his career. He recalled working on legendary Jamaican sound systems like Rambo International and Sweet Love, where artistes had to master every rhythm thrown their way.
“It helped you to be extremely creative because you cannot go to every event with the same compositions,” he said
That experience, he said, prepared him for everything that followed.
“The journey encompasses the achievement. There is no achievement without that journey ... That journey has never been one of smoothness. It has always been tumultuous,” he added.
Yet throughout every triumph and challenge, Banton said one constant has remained.
“The people have been the guiding force and strength that has helped us stay grounded because their love is immeasurable.”
Even with a new album, another international tour and decades of accomplishments under his belt, Banton said his greatest hope is to strengthen reggae’s future. He wants younger artistes to appreciate the culture’s roots.
“We know from whence we come ... Remember the fundamentals because before reggae music ... it was roots music,” he added.

entertainment@gleanerjm.com