No place like home for Buju

Preparations were in high gear for the return of Buju Banton at Gargamel Recording Studio, which is located off Red Hills Road in St Andrew, yesterday. A woman was seen busy wiping down the walls, while technicians were installing Internet and security cameras. "Wi done clean up and thing - a just tru some dust blow over from the hardware wi just a see that everything copaCetic," Michael 'Tita' Dixon, who is the overseer at the property, told The Gleaner.

Buju, whose real name is Mark Myrie, was released from Georgia's McRae Correctional Facility yesterday, and arrived in the island last night.

"Everybody want give a hand 'cause a God-bless yute a come enuh, all him old man glad fi see him," Dixon said, adding, "Mr Myrie long fi see him son, all him pickney dem too, Marcus, Jahzeil, di wul a dem feel happy fi know say dem father a come - all Mama Strachan feel happy fi know say him a come home," he said.

But Dixon says there will be no grand celebration for the entertainer at the studio, that many are hoping for.

No grand celebrations

"Right now him tell wi say him coming and him want see di place cool and calm him nuh want nuh excitement, 'cause him woulda prefer deal wid those things when him deh pon di ground," Dixon said.

"Mi figure sey when him reach a di airport, him a guh divert and go someweh else," Dixon says. But he says that he expects Buju to record multiple albums in the studio over the next few months, having penned numerous lyrics while serving his prison sentence.

In 2011, Banton was found guilty on drug trafficking charges, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

"As him cool off, him haffi do couple album well 'cause him say him nuh want nuh old chune weh him leave yah, bare brand new chune him a guh leggo," he said.

Dixon said that as early as eight months ago, the property has been on lockdown for renovations to take place.

"Tile tek out and change and him say fi gi poor people all furniture in deh, and mi gi poor people everything stove, fridge, pot, everything mi gi to poor people, suh a bare brand new thing come and deh deh cause him send a container full a furniture," he explained.

Ecstatic to see the entertainer as a free man, Dixon said, "Is a joy fi know say him a come, all the flowers and the trees feel good.

"The world waiting on him and it's a joy fi know say him coming home because is a great man weh help out everybody the blind, the dumb," he said.

"Since him gone away, some a dem feel a way, and some dem dead and gone, 'cause dem nuh have nuh body fi help dem. Mi have all bredrin name Garnett, tek it to heart from Buju gone and all sick out," he went on.