Thursday 8 January 2015

In the SPOTLIGHT/ Musical Breakdowns: Reggae & The 2nd generation Marley’s



It would be unfair to address any work on the Marley’s without acknowledging the history and mystery of Rastafarianism. It originated in the heart of Africa, in the land of Ethiopia. Here came about the religion that redefined the outlook and approach of how life would be lived in Christian Africa and the West Indies. Through this came about an indigenous expression of worship and energy called the Reggae music movement. It was entrenched into the Rastafarian culture and the way the people saw life.


 It was true in every way to what the culture represents. Embodying the spirit of freedom, reflection, forgiveness, mercy and peace. A whole lot of the percussive rhythm in reggae comes from West Indian folk music meshed with popular American genres of the 60’s – Jazz and R&B.
 Enter – Reggae.

 The world got introduced to music magicians like Baju Bantu, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and the one, Bob Marley. A movement had begun and the world was listening. These players and singers brought about emotions that were unheard of in music till date. Something that serenaded the soul and comforted the ears. Never was angst and passion delivered in such a mellifluous and, to be honest, relaxing way.

  
Lyrics, for the first time, evinced basal emotions of mankind without the element of sour taste sadness. Yet the genre was not limited to just one expressing relaxed and breezy beats, it held essence of peace and freedom; creating in those that heard it, a mighty fervour to reach out and grab hold of it.

So here’s where I come in with Bob...Bob Marley popularized this genre like no other. He left a legacy in music that will, in all certainty, will be unscalable till kingdom come. With songs like Three little birds, No woman No Cry, Exodus, Sun is shining etc he sold to the world a new message. It just said; be at ease wherever you are and whatever you’re in the middle of.
 

 He had 8 children in his short and solid lifetime. He had without a doubt created little images of himself, not just physically, but also musically. His children Damian, Ziggy, Stephen, Julian and Ky-Mani worked their own rhythms into their learning’s of reggae. It definitely is defining of how the genre is perceived today. Let’s look at each of these talented folks a little briefly so as to soak in the cool they create:

Damian Marley: 
  Affectionately called ‘Junior gong’ because he represents his father’s style so much in the early days. He has undoubtedly been the more successful commercially of the lot. With major mainstream hits like Welcome to Jamrock and the Distant relatives album with Nas. His style is one of throwing Jamaican Patois (English-African Creole spoken in the West Indies) drenched lyrics. His music definitely gives reggae that punch each time it shoots out of a speaker. Songs like Strong will continue and Jamrock are testimony to the same. Damian is indeed the ‘punk’ element in the reggae world today.



Ziggy Marley: 
 Ziggy was the first to make the musical break He and the Melody makers, that included his brother Stephen were important in forging reggae into the 90’s media, ensuring the genre stays alive and young. Breathing life into the Bob Marley legacy, Ziggy gave several classic reggae hits in his own respect like : Love is my religion, Tommorows people, Power to move ya. Here’s a great number called Look who’s dancing.



Stephen Marley:
 
 Here’s the soul master of the lot. Stephen has never been about the cool appeal that reggae is smothered with. He wears the colours with a message to deliver, giving voice to greater lyrical themes. To savour the best of Stephen give these a shot: Made in Africa, No Cigarette Smoking, Jah Army, Mind Control, Inna Di Red, Chase dem. You can almost smell the faded tall grass below the setting sun as the lions walk past the landscape on the bosoms of Africa

Julian Marley:
 
  There’s not much known about Julian other than that he was raised in England, separate from the Marley clan. HE dropped 3 great albums from the 90’s till now, with Awake being the most defining of them all. Julian is the most casual of the mentioned brothers in the post musically. His approach harks back to storytelling and laid-backness of unkempt reggae. One listen to Boom Draw and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Great songs from the Awake album include: A little too late, Rosehall, Violence in the streets, Just in time. (PS: Google him, I think he looks a lot like John Turturro to me some how o_o)

 

Ky-Mani Marley:

 
 Now this one is a definite outlier, who has broken relatively free from complete immersion into reggae-dom. Ky-Mani’s music currently defined as hip hop embellished reggae, a little more skewed to hip hop either ways. His best two works include the albums- Many More Roads and Radio. With Radio, we clearly see the shifting style of Ky-Mani to the realm of Hip hop, exploring beats of the streets into reggae delivery. The result was a great album that confuses purists and delights savor-ist. His commendable singles include: Heart of a lion, Hailie I, Ska-Ba-Dar, The March, Hustler, I’m Back.

 

The point of this post? Like the other genres I’ve spoken about in Musical Breakdown, I honestly feel that reggae is drastically under-recognized by today’s music world. I ran into the style two years ago and doubtlessly, it changed as well as added a lot of angles through which I appreciated music.

I was wondering since long as to how to honour the reggae genre and its artists. I couldn’t decide on whether to keep it separate or mesh the two for the longest time. Finally, I realized I couldn’t just leave a genre and it masters different in this case, as it’s a more specific post. Marley’s have been the greatest influence on reggae. Here to the blood and brothers that defines the genre for me today.

(Dubstep infused reggae, a new angle to the genre indeed)

I feel that the Marley’s are closest to what one must start listening to in order to savour this delightful genre in the 2010’s. It deserves your earnest attention, press play once and you’ll be taken by rivers of red, yellow and green, into a world of music you haven’t seen ever before. It yearns for Jah and calls for heaven in every other lore its masters write.

Reggae has a philosophy, you know? It's not just entertainment. There's an idea behind it, a way of life behind the music, which is a positive way of life, which is a progressive way of life for better people
 – Ziggy Marley

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