You might think a Rasta Man would never touch the cancer stick, the man-made material better known as cigarettes. However, according to Buju Banton, when he was a little boy he actually sold cigarettes to Bob Marley.
In an interview with Essence Magazine, Buju explains how he came about to sell cigarettes to Bob Marley at a fairly young age.
I remember when I was about 6 or 7 years old, my mom used to sell at a roundabout in Barbican Square… One particular day this blue car pulled up and there was nothing but some dreads in the car. And one of them who was on the driver side look out and said, “Madda, give me a pack a Craven-A [a popular Jamaican brand of cigarettes].” And she say, “Hurry up quick an’ carry it go gi him, a Bob Marley.” And I ran across de road an’ put de Craven-A inna him han’. And by de time I should give him the Craven-A and turn around, we couldn’t see the car anymore. People from all over Jamaica just down pon de car, an was jus standing up and look at de dread
.
It is important to point out that buying cigarettes does not necessarily means that the buyer has any intentions of smoking said cigarette. Not only could the person be buying the cigarettes for someone else but in Jamaica it was a common practice for some weed smokers to empty the tobacco from a cigarette and then re-stuff it with marijuana.
So Bob Marley could have been buying the cigarettes for someone else or he could have been buying it so he could use the cigarette wrapper to smoke his weed. Let’s hope he was not smoking it though, because as Sizzla said: Rasta “nuh want nuh cancer stick no man-made material.
Be the first to comment