Last weekend (July 13-14), reggae and dancehall legend Buju Banton rocked New York’s UBS Arena for 2 bombastic sold-out exhibits — his first U.S. performances in 13 years. As it seems, these two exhibits have been simply the starting of Gargamel’s huge Stateside comeback.

Today (July 15), Billboard can completely reveal that the Grammy-winning celebrity is mounting a 14-date U.S. area trek dubbed ‘The Overcomer Tour.’ Three-time Grammy-nominated R&B singer-songwriter Fridayy will function the tour’s particular visitor. Produced by AG Touring, a Black-owned firm, in affiliation with Gargamel Music and XO Management, The Overcomer Tour will kick off on Aug. 24 at Amerant Bank Arena in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and go to main U.S. cities comparable to Houston, Atlanta and Boston, earlier than concluding on Nov. 17 at Barclay Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Fans should buy tickets at Banton’s official web site. Pre-sale begins Wednesday, July 16 at 10 a.m. native time; General onsale begins Friday, July 19 at 10 a.m. native time.

“In each state of the United States of America, you have different synergy of people, different melting pot of ethnicities coming together. And when the music that they love comes around, they react in one harmonious way, just enjoying themselves,” Banaton tells Billboard through Zoom throughout a rehearsal break that was later crashed by the legendary Marcia Griffiths. “That’s a remarkable feeling to share among the masses. After not being here for quite some time, I look forward to reigniting that passion and euphoria.”

And it has been fairly a while since the star final carried out in the States. Just sooner or later after he gained the 2011 finest reggae album Grammy for his timeless Before the Dawn, Banton’s prison trial kicked off in Tampa, FL. He was finally convicted of conspiracy to own with intent to distribute 5 or extra kilograms of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense and utilizing communication wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offense, and sentenced to 10 years in federal jail.

The now 50-year-old spent eight years in Georgia’s McRae Correctional Institution and regained his freedom on Dec. 7, 2018. Since his launch, Banton signed with Roc Nation and launched a pair of Grammy-nominated LPs: 2020’s Upside Down 2020 and 2023’s Born for Greatness. He has additionally appeared on a number of main movie soundtracks — together with 2020’s Bad Boys for Life and 2024’s The Book of Clarence — and returned to touring round the world, most notably with 2019’s Long Walk to Freedom live performance in Kingston, Jamaica, his first post-release efficiency.

As he prepares to go again on the highway, Banton is letting the music lead the means. “Music knows no time, so we don’t have a clock inside the rehearsal room,” he says. “We just do what the music calls us to, and when we feel like we’ve accomplished something, we call it a day and then resume the next day and reconvene.”

With a profession that spans almost 40 years, Banton has an in depth catalog to tug from. He has despatched 12 initiatives to the prime 10 of Reggae Albums, together with 1997’s eight-week chart-topper Inna Heights. From “Make My Day” and “Champion” to “Wanna Be Loved,” “Blessed” and “Buried Alive,” Banton has soundtracked almost 4 many years of dancehall and reggae, bringing the two genres to myriad world audiences and defining a number of generations alongside the means. Of course, such a deep discography complicates the job of crafting a tour setlist, and Banton isn’t significantly eager on remaining married to a selected assortment of songs.

“My catalog is rather extensive, so to highlight one or two songs would be cheating a lot of people and will also be putting my foot in my mouth,” he jokes. “I don’t want to suffer from that deadly disease — foot and mouth disease. You don’t want to catch it! I try to make the masses a part of what I am doing in whatever way I can. We also try to poll to find out what’s the favorite in each territory. It’s important. In modern times we have so much tools, back in the day we didn’t have all this at our fingertips. I want to do more.”

Of course, with a brand new tour comes new music, and Banton guarantees a brand new album that’s “100% dancehall, hardcore roots reggae, something fi yuh skank on, fi di gyal dem bruk wild!” As Banton tells it, “the music needs help and that’s not a secret,” so, along with his new report and tour, he hopes to “reignite the passion of reggae music and let [people] know it hasn’t died.” While he hasn’t determined if he needs to prioritize collaborations on the new album, he appears to be like fondly at “Body Touching Body” and “Party Girls,” his two 2023 Victoria Monét duets. “I tried some R&Reggae with Victoria Monét and it was rather successful,” he displays. “I like that mix of R&B and reggae.”

“I have been in this business since I was 19 years old making reggae music for the world. It’s been 36 years, going on 37 years,” Banton says. “I just [want to] lift up the name of the true and living creator and say ‘Hi’ and greetings and ‘I love you’ to all the good people who come out to see Buju Banton and have been supporting me throughout my struggles.”

Find the Overcomer Tour dates beneath.