Buju Banton shakes up Toronto with energetic return after 15 years

Fifteen years since his last visit to Canada, reggae superstar Buju Banton returned to Canada, gracing Toronto's Scotiabank Arena last night with a performance that left fans ecstatic and proud to be of Caribbean decent as members of the diaspora.

Ahead of the show, Buju spoke on Friday with Flo 98.7's Specs Da Boss, sharing insights into his musical journey and excitement about reuniting with his Canadian fanbase.

In the main event was Erue White, Director of Basketball at St Jude's Academy in Mississauga, who shared his thoughts on the memorable night.

“I attended the Buju concert last night. It was a great concert – he performed extremely well, very energetic on the stage, sang every tune that was needed. It was a very spiritual concert at the end,” White said, describing the range of Buju's performance that spanned his classic hits, spiritual songs, and dancehall favorites.

White highlighted a standout moment when Buju celebrated Caribbean unity by calling on attendees from various islands to represent their heritage.

“The most memorable moment of the concert for me was when Buju went through just having everybody from the Caribbean kinda represent their heritage, calling out Grenada, Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica obviously, and Canada,” he noted, emphasising the pride and sense of community in the crowd.

“The whole of the Caribbean basically was participating, and even the Canadian people on a whole were supporting Buju.”

White also spoke about the broader impact of having high-caliber reggae artistes perform in Toronto.

“Culturally, it's beneficial to have events like this. Toronto and Canada will support these events on a major scale,” he said, noting that while Buju was the solo headliner, adding other artistes could have made it an even more celebrated event.

“Nothing was bad about the concert… the best part was just the salute to the crowd and the diversity in the crowd,” White reflected.

Buju's performance was a long-awaited return to Canada and a powerful reminder of his influence across the Caribbean diaspora. Fans left the arena feeling energised and united, making this one of the most impactful historical reggae events Toronto has seen in years.

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