Buju Banton to Holness: "We Are Brand Jamaica" — The Gargamel Defends Beenie Man

(ReggaeVibeMedia.com) — "Go check the file." That is Buju Banton's message to Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness, after Holness suggested some Jamaican entertainers wave the national flag to sell tickets while running the country down abroad. The Gargamel did not hold back in a social media post responding to the jab, and in one line he reframed the whole argument: "No you wrong, we do not wave the flag, we are the brand Jamaica."

Buju's point was about the work behind the flag. Drawing people into Jamaican culture, he wrote, "takes hard work, credibility, plus a body of work to get people more into Jamaican culture" — and, he added, "we have been pushing brand Jamaica long before you enter politics, go check the file. Big man anno so you do things." It is a reminder from an artist whose own return to the stage, after his 2018 release from a United States prison, became one of reggae's biggest stories, with his Long Walk to Freedom tour drawing massive crowds. That history gives the "check the file" line real weight with fans.

The back-and-forth started with Beenie Man. Speaking to ITV News, the dancehall veteran questioned how Hurricane Melissa relief funds were being distributed, and warned that coastal development could threaten the livelihoods of Jamaicans who depend on the island's beaches — fishermen, vendors and everyone who earns a living by the sea. Holness answered on Wednesday, October 28, at a ceremony reopening reconstructed wards at Black River Hospital in St Elizabeth, calling Beenie Man's comments "a lie that was told on Jamaica by someone who benefits from brand Jamaica."

"We must call them out because they go and wave our flag and get people to attend their shows while they are out there tearing down the country," the prime minister said. "It is not going to help one more person get one more grant and these things need to be said. Unfortunately I am the only one willing to say it." From the government's side, the frustration is easy to read: the administration received millions of dollars in donations to help Jamaicans devastated by the storm, and a globally known artist questioning that process on a British news network puts its handling of the money under a very bright spotlight.

Behind the sharp words lies a substantive dispute over disaster recovery. Beenie Man told ITV that assistance was failing to reach people who needed it and urged Jamaicans to demand accountability collectively. According to reporting on an auditor general's review, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management had spent J$26.2 million — 1.8 per cent of J$1.44 billion in cash donations — by February 23, 2026. Both men at the centre of the clash have the track records to back up their standing: Beenie Man, born Moses Davis, won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album with "Art and Life," while Buju, born Mark Myrie, took home the same award for "Before the Dawn."

So far, Beenie Man has not fired back at the prime minister's Black River comments, and Holness has not answered Buju directly. With two of the genre's biggest names now lined up against the government's messaging, the fight over relief money — and over who really speaks for brand Jamaica — looks far from settled.