FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

DANCEHALL REGGAE ICON BUJU BANTON’S SCORCHING NEW ALBUM
TOO BAD IN STORES & ONLINE TODAY

- Too Bad US Tour Kicks Off Tonight In Ann Arbor, MI -

(Kingston, JA/Brooklyn, NY – 12, September 2006) Gargamel Music, Inc. is happy to announce the North American release of international reggae star Buju Banton aka Gargamel’s phenomenal new album Too Bad in stores and online today on Banton’s own Gargamel Music label. It’s been three-and-a-half years since Buju Banton’s Grammy-nominated Friends For Life, but well worth the wait as the iconic deejay or yore returns to his roots delivering his first pure dancehall collection since the days of Mr. Mention (1992) and Voice of Jamaica (1993).

Several of the tracks on Too Bad are already certified hits in the core market: “Hey Boy” (aka “Talk To Me”) peaked at #4 on Hot 102 Jamaica’s Weekly Top 30 chart; “Me & Oonu” on the classic Surfari’s “Wipe Out” riddim reached #3 on BBC 1Xtra’s Top 10 Dancehall Chart and recently moved up two notches to #22 on JA’s Weekly Top 30; “Til It Bend” hit #3 on RETV’s Weekly Dancehall Chart; The street single “Nothing,” produced by Banton and his Gargamel production crew, just broke into the Top 10 at #10 on the Weekly Top 30 and currently sits at #12 on the RETV chart.

The lead commercial single “Fast Lane” boasts a reflective Buju chatting lyrical verse over an unconventional riddim steeped in jazzy, rare grooves. A breakthrough masterpiece, “Fast Lane” has also received an overwhelmingly positive response at Specialty, Mixshow and Commercial radio stateside. An accompany music video will be lensed in the coming weeks.

The highly anticipated release of Buju Banton’s Too Bad also coincides with the launch of the Too Bad US Tour, officially kicking off on September 12th in Ann Arbor, Michigan and crisscrossing the country over the next six weeks. The tour will feature Banton juggling new and classic hits alongside the Shiloh band, plus dancehall dynamo Assassin and up-and-coming Gargamel Music artist New Kidz.