Buju Banton -

The Gargamel Music family, comprising of close friends of jailed deejay Buju Banton, has set up an official blogspot for the artiste, where fans can keep in touch with Banton and his music.

The website - www.thisisbujubanton.wordpress.com, according to source close to Banton, is the only official blogspot where persons can donate to the star, as well as write to him while he is incarcerated in Tampa, Florida. According to the website, the blog has been set up to provide regular news on the case, to get official 'Free Buju' T-shirts (which are also available locally at the Gargamel studio), exclusive music, unreleased videos, media watch updates, letter writing campaigns - among other things.

lot of reading

The source who maintains regular contact with artiste said the deejay was doing well. The source said, "He's doing fine. (He is) great, his spirits are high. He's ready to let his side of the story be known. He's also doing a lot of reading and writing. He gets a lot of letters from fans and he's responding to them."

Banton has been in detention in the United States since December 10 when he was held in Florida after a United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) sting operation, during which his two co-defendants were arrested at a warehouse where they had allegedly gone to buy cocaine. The dancehall star was not at the warehouse at the time the others were arrested, but the DEA claims it has audio and video evidence of the artiste testing a package of cocaine. Banton is being represented by prominent US attorneys David Oscar Markus and Marc David Seitles. He is slated to return to court tomorrow for a status conference before the trial begins in March.

local icon

Since Banton's incarceration, a number of local artistes have continued to show their support for the local icon at various stage shows, wearing 'Free Buju' shirts and through songs. Anthony B has showed his support with the song, Free up the General while Cocoa Tea has done the song, Buju. The source said, while Banton has not heard the songs he is being kept aware of all the support from his music family.

A tribute to Buju Banton concert was also being organised to be staged in Miami early this year but has been postponed until further notice. According to the source, the delay has been mainly due to time restrictions in the schedule of the artistes willing to perform. They said, "the artistes are definitely on-board but a lot of them are on the road and it's the time frame that's really causing the delay but we're still working on it."