Buju Banton is heading back into a new album cycle with the label that helped define his early career. The Grammy-winning reggae icon has confirmed a new studio album, "Too Too Bad," due out July 17, marking his return to VP Records after building his recent catalog independently through his own Gargamel Music.
The Main Story
Banton announced the album's title and release date directly on his own social media, describing "Too Too Bad" as a "Real Dancehall Ting" — language that signals a deliberate pivot back toward the harder-edged, riddim-driven dancehall sound that built his reputation in the early 1990s, distinct from the more roots-reggae, Rastafari-influenced records that have defined much of his catalog since "'Til Shiloh."
The album's lead single, "Butterflies," was produced by Supa Dups for Black Chiney Music and released through a joint Gargamel Music and VP Records credit, effectively previewing the partnership structure for the full album: Banton's own label working alongside the company that put out several of his defining early releases.
Background: Buju Banton the Artist
Born Mark Anthony Myrie in Kingston, Buju Banton began deejaying as a pre-teen and released his debut single, "The Ruler," in 1987. His breakthrough came in 1992 with "Mr. Mention," which became the best-selling album in Jamaican recording history at the time, followed by a major-label run with Mercury Records that produced "Voice of Jamaica" in 1993.
By the mid-1990s, Banton's sound and subject matter shifted toward his Rastafari faith, most notably on "'Til Shiloh" and "Inna Heights" — albums widely credited with helping steer Jamaican popular music back toward roots reggae after a run of dancehall dominance. That evolution culminated in a 2010 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album for "Before the Dawn."
Banton's career was interrupted in 2011 when he was convicted on cocaine trafficking charges in the United States and incarcerated until his release and deportation to Jamaica in December 2018. His comeback was immediate and historic: the March 2019 "Long Walk to Freedom" concert filled Kingston's National Stadium with more than 30,000 fans, a show widely credited with reviving large-scale live reggae events in Jamaica. He followed it with the albums "Upside Down 2020" and "Born For Greatness."
Why It Matters
A VP Records reunion carries weight in reggae and dancehall specifically because of the label's history: VP has been one of the genre's most consistent commercial engines for decades, and Banton built part of his early catalog in that same ecosystem before moving to major labels and, later, releasing independently through Gargamel. Returning to VP for a dancehall-leaning project, rather than another roots record, is as much a genre statement as a business one — a signal that Banton is deliberately working the dancehall side of his catalog rather than leaning further into the roots-reggae lane that won him his Grammy.
What's Next
"Too Too Bad" arrives in the middle of Banton's Roots and Rhymes Summer Tour, co-headlined with Stephen Marley, which runs across North America from June 17 through July 25. With the album landing on July 17, roughly a week before the tour wraps, expect the back half of those dates to double as the record's first live showcase. YardRock TV will continue tracking additional single releases, tracklist details, and any further VP Records collaborations as "Too Too Bad" approaches release.
Conclusion
Nearly four decades into his recording career, Buju Banton returning to VP Records for a dancehall-first album is a reminder that his catalog still has range left to explore — and that the label relationships that shaped reggae's biggest eras still matter when one of the genre's most significant living artists decides where to plant his next record.