Damian Robert Nesta "Jr. Gong" Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican DJ, singer, lyricist and rapper. He is the recipient of four
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
.
Early life, education and family
Damian Marley is the youngest son of
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...
musician
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...
. He is the only child born to Marley and
Cindy Breakspeare
Cynthia Jean Cameron Breakspeare (born October 24, 1954) is a Canadian- Jamaican jazz singer, musician and beauty queen. Breakspeare was crowned Miss World 1976. Breakspeare is the mother of reggae musician Damian Marley, through her relationship ...
, a
Jamaican
Jamaican may refer to:
* Something or someone of, from, or related to the country of Jamaica
* Jamaicans, people from Jamaica
* Jamaican English, a variety of English spoken in Jamaica
* Jamaican Patois, an English-based creole language
* Culture ...
jazz musician, former model and crowned
Miss World
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss I ...
1976. After seeing the movie ''
Damien: Omen II'', which is about the coming of the Antichrist, one of Bob's last requests in Germany was to have Damian's name changed. "Damien being a devil...It was inappropriate for him as a Rastafarian to have a child with that name," Bob said and Damian's name was later changed.
Damian was two years old when his father died. His nickname "Junior Gong" is derived from his father's nickname of "Tuff Gong".
Career
Early releases (1992–2004)
At the age of 13, he formed a musical group by the name of the Shephards, which included the daughter of
Freddie McGregor
Freddie McGregor (born 27 June 1956, in Clarendon, Jamaica) is a Jamaican singer, musician and record producer. His music career began when he was seven years old.
Biography
In 1963 he joined with Ernest Wilson and Peter Austin to form The C ...
and son of
Third World's Cat Coore. The group opened the 1992
Reggae Sunsplash
Reggae Sunsplash is a reggae music festival first staged in 1978 in the northern part of Jamaica. In 1985 it expanded with the addition of an international touring festival. The festival ran annually until 1996, with a final event in 1998, befo ...
festival. The band fell apart in the early 1990s, and Damian started his solo career.
With the backing of his father's label, Tuff Gong, he released his 1996 debut album ''
Mr. Marley'', which surprised many who were unaccustomed to hearing a Marley
deejaying
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...
rather than singing.
Marley released his second studio album ''
Halfway Tree
''Halfway Tree'' is the second album by Jamaican reggae artist Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. The name "Halfway Tree" comes from his mother, Cindy Breakspeare, being from the rich part of town, and his father, Bob Marley, coming from the poor part of t ...
''. The name "Halfway Tree" comes from his mother Cindy Breakspeare being from the rich part of town, and his father Bob Marley coming from the poor part of town, thus him being "a tree halfway in between the 'rich' world and 'poor' world." Additionally, Halfway Tree is a well-known landmark that marks the cultural center of Half-Way-Tree, the clock tower that stands where the historical eponymous cotton tree once stood is featured prominently behind Marley on the cover of the album. The album was released on 11 September 2001 and received the
2002 Grammy Award for
Best Reggae Album
The Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1985 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works in the reggae music genre. Honors in sev ...
. It was co-produced by Damian Marley and his brother
Stephen Marley
Stephen Robert Nesta Marley (born April 20, 1972) is a Jamaican-American musician. The son of Bob Marley, Marley is an eight-time Grammy Award winner, three times as a solo artist, twice as a producer of his younger paternal half-brother Dam ...
, who had also produced Damian's debut album ''Mr. Marley''.
''Welcome to Jamrock'' (2005)

Marley released his third studio album ''
Welcome to Jamrock
''Welcome to Jamrock'' is the third studio album by Jamaican reggae/dancehall artist Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. The album was released on September 12, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and one day later in the United States.
Marley won two 2006 Gramm ...
'' which was released on 12 September 2005 in the United States and 13 September 2005 in the United Kingdom. The album sold 86,000 copies in its first week of release,
[ and was eventually certified gold after selling 500,000 copies in the United States.
Damian's half-brother, ]Stephen Marley
Stephen Robert Nesta Marley (born April 20, 1972) is a Jamaican-American musician. The son of Bob Marley, Marley is an eight-time Grammy Award winner, three times as a solo artist, twice as a producer of his younger paternal half-brother Dam ...
, was a producer and co-writer of the hugely successful song of the same name. The lyrics to the single "Welcome to Jamrock
''Welcome to Jamrock'' is the third studio album by Jamaican reggae/dancehall artist Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. The album was released on September 12, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and one day later in the United States.
Marley won two 2006 Gramm ...
", which was performed over a riddim
Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm". In the context of reggae and dancehall, it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the ...
produced by Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separat ...
for Ini Kamoze
Ini Kamoze ( , born Cecil Campbell; 9 October 1957) is a Jamaican reggae artist who began his career in the early 1980s and rose to prominence in 1994 with the signature song " Here Comes the Hotstepper". The single topped the US ''Billboard'' ...
some 20 years earlier, centred around poverty, politics and crime in Jamaica. While the single was controversial at home over its perceived negative viewpoint of the island,[Boyne, Ian]
'WELCOME TO JAMROCK' – A phenomenon
. ''Jamaica Gleaner''. 2 October 2005. Retrieved 2 March 2011. many praised the content of the song. Dr Clinton Hutton, professor at the University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...
, said of the single: "'Jamrock' uses the icon of the inner city, of alienation, of despair, of prejudice, but of hope, of Jamaican identity, to remind us of the fire of frustration, the fire of creativity, the fire of warning to open up our eyes and look within to the life we are living. And still some of us don't want to hear and to look and say enough is enough." The single reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and number 55 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It was also number 100 on the Top 100 Songs of the Decade listing by ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
''.
Other notable singles from the album include "The Master Has Come Back
"The Master Has Come Back" was the second international single from Damian Marley's ''Welcome to Jamrock'' album, while " Road to Zion" was released in the U.S. Released on December 12, 2005.
In 1976, Bunny Wailer released his solo album ''Black ...
", "Road to Zion
"Road to Zion" was the 2nd US single to be taken from Damian Marley's ''Welcome to Jamrock'', while "The Master Has Come Back" was released in Europe.
It contains a sample from "Russian Lullaby" by Ella Fitzgerald.
The song also inspired Nas an ...
" featuring Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ...
, and "Khaki Suit" featuring Bounty Killer
Rodney Basil Price (born 12 June 1972), known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant flai ...
and Eek-A-Mouse
Eek-A-Mouse (born Ripton Joseph Hylton, 19 November 1957) is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is one of the earliest artists to be described as a "singjay".Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide To Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Guides, ...
.
''Distant Relatives'' (2006–2010)
At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he won Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for ''Welcome to Jamrock
''Welcome to Jamrock'' is the third studio album by Jamaican reggae/dancehall artist Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. The album was released on September 12, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and one day later in the United States.
Marley won two 2006 Gramm ...
''. He is the only Jamaican reggae artist in history to win two Grammy Awards on the same night. He is also the only reggae artist to win in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance category at the Grammy Awards.
In 2008, he made an appearance on singer Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the ...
’s ''E=MC²'' album as a featured artist on the album track “Cruise Control
Cruise control (also known as speed control, cruise command, autocruise, or tempomat) is a system that automatically controls the speed of a motor vehicle. The system is a servomechanism that takes over the throttle of the car to maintain a st ...
”. At the 2009 Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the ...
news of a collaborative album between Marley and Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ...
was announced, when Nas told MTV reporters "Right now, I'll tell you first, I'm working on an album with Damian Marley. We tryin' to build some schools in Africa with this one, and trying to build empowerment. We're tryin' to show love and stuff with this album. So, the record's ... all about really the 'hood and Africa also as well."
On 17 May 2010, Marley released ''Distant Relatives
''Distant Relatives'' is a collaborative studio album by American rapper Nas and Jamaican reggae vocalist Damian Marley. It was released on May 18, 2010, by Universal Republic and Def Jam Recordings. The album is Nas' tenth (third for Def Jam) an ...
'', a collaborative album with Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ...
. The album title refers not only to the bond between the artists but the connection to their African ancestry, which inspired the album both musically and lyrically. They have previously collaborated on "Road to Zion", on Marley's ''Welcome to Jamrock
''Welcome to Jamrock'' is the third studio album by Jamaican reggae/dancehall artist Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. The album was released on September 12, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and one day later in the United States.
Marley won two 2006 Gramm ...
'' album. The album joins two different flavours of music with Marley's dub-rock aesthetic and Nas' flow. Damian and Stephen produced much of the album. The proceeds of this album will go to building schools in the Congo.
The album debuted at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart with first-week sales of 57,000 copies.[Caulfield, Keith]
'Glee' Stops the Show at No. 1, Stones Come in Second On Billboard 200
''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''. Retrieved 26 May 2010. It serves as Nas's tenth top-ten album and Marley's second top-ten album in the United States. The album also entered at number four on ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''s Digital Albums
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
,[Digital Albums – Week of 5 June 2010](_blank)
''Billboard''. Retrieved 27 May 2010. and at number one on its R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated Jan ...
,[R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Week of 5 June 2010](_blank)
''Billboard''. Retrieved 27 May 2010. Rap Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated Jan ...
,[Rap Albums – Week of 5 June 2010](_blank)
''Billboard''. Retrieved 27 May 2010. and Reggae Albums charts.[Reggae Albums – Week of 5 June 2010](_blank)
''Billboard''. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
Internationally, ''Distant Relatives'' attained some chart success.[Album Performance: ''Distant Relatives''](_blank)
acharts. Retrieved 27 May 2010. It entered at number 33 on the European Top 100 Albums
The European Top 100 Albums chart was the European adaptation of the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. It ran from March 1984 until December 2010. Also commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums, the chart showcased the sales of an act in 19 E ...
chart.[European Albums – Week of 5 June 2010](_blank)
''Billboard''. Retrieved 27 May 2010. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 30 on the UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
and at number four on the R&B Albums Chart.[The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart – 23 May 2010](_blank)
BBC Online
BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, the childr ...
. Retrieved 27 May 2010.[UK Top 40 RnB Albums – 23 May 2010](_blank)
BBC Online. Retrieved 27 May 2010. In Canada, the album entered at number 9 on the Top 100 Albums chart.[Canadian Albums: Top Albums Chart](_blank)
''Billboard'' (5 June 2010). Retrieved 3 May 2016. In Germany, it debuted at number 38 on the Media Control Charts
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass ...
.[Album Top 50 KW 20 – Gültig ab 28.05.2010](_blank)
MTV. Retrieved 28 May 2010.
The first single, "As We Enter
"As We Enter" is the first single from Nas and Damian Marley's collaboration album, '' Distant Relatives''. The track is produced by Damian Marley. There are no full verses in the song, but rather Nas and Damian Marley rap in call-and-response fa ...
", was released on iTunes on 23 February 2010. It peaked at number 10 on the iTunes Hip Hop/Rap charts and number 41 on the iTunes Music charts. The single debuted at number 39 on the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
At a sold-out panel discussion on the African diaspora
The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were ...
and its relation to music, sponsored by National Geographic, Damian and Stephen Marley and Nas were among the several hip-hop and reggae musicians voicing their solidarity. The discussion focused on the collaborations between artists of the two genres, and highlighted the ''Distant Relatives'' project.
''SuperHeavy'' (2011–2015)
The existence of SuperHeavy
SuperHeavy was a one-off supergroup project consisting of Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart, A. R. Rahman, and Damian Marley. Stone and Stewart have collaborated in the past with Jagger. Jagger said of the band, "We wanted a convergence o ...
was secret until May 2011. Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
, English musician and the lead vocalist of rock band The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
, announced its formation on 20 May 2011. SuperHeavy was Dave Stewart's idea. Inspired by the sounds washing into his home in Saint Ann's Bay
Saint Ann's Bay is a settlement in Jamaica, the capital of Saint Ann Parish. It had a population of 10,961 at the 1991 census.
Musicians Floyd Lloyd and Burning Spear, and Marcus Garvey were born in the town.
History
When Christopher Colu ...
, Jamaica, Stewart urged Jagger to fuse their sound with that of Indian orchestras. Stewart and Jagger had mutual liking for Indian orchestrations; thus, A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in in ...
was added to the supergroup, as well as British singer Joss Stone. The name of the band is said to be inspired by Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...
.
The group began recording their self-titled debut album in early 2009 at a studio in Los Angeles. They recorded about 35 hours of music. The album was previewed at Jim Henson Studios
The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...
, Los Angeles, on 30 June 2011. The band played eight of the recorded songs at the event.
"Miracle Worker
Thaumaturgy is the purported capability of a magician to work magic or other paranormal events or a saint to perform miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking.
A practitioner of thaumaturgy is a "thaumaturge", "thauma ...
" was released on iTunes as the album's lead single on 7 July 2011. It is a reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...
song performed by Marley, Stone and Jagger. The single entered at number 195 on the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. The music video was released on YouTube on 12 August 2011. Directed by Stewart and filmed at Paramount Studios
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldes ...
in Los Angeles, the video features all five members of the band.
" Satyameva Jayathe" (the national motto of India, which literally translates as "Truth Alone Triumphs") was released as the second single from the album on 9 August 2011, a week before India's Independence Day
Independence Day is celebrated annually on 15 August as a public holiday in India commemorating the nation's independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947, the day when the provisions of the Indian Independence Act, which transf ...
on 15 August. Composed by Rahman to have an Indian feel, Jagger sings in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
on the song, which also features Stewart, Stone and Marley. The song premiered exclusively on Radio Mirchi
Radio Mirchi (also known as 98.3 Mirchi) is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the EntertainmentNetwork India Ltd (ENIL), which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group. ''Mirchi'' is Hindi for re ...
98.3 FM on 9 August across twenty-two Indian cities, and Tata DoCoMo
Tata Docomo was an Indian mobile network operator, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Teleservices. In October 2017, Bharti Airtel announced a merger deal with Tata Teleservices and the acquisition of Tata Docomo. As of 21 July 2019, all Tata D ...
is set to simultaneously promote the song and the album on mass media.
"Beautiful People" reached number 64 on the Dutch Single Top 100
The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the ...
chart.
Damian also worked with electronic artist Skrillex
Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead sing ...
on a song called "Make It Bun Dem
"Make It Bun Dem" is a song by Skrillex and Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. The single was released on May 1, 2012 by a request of Ubisoft Entertainment SA.
Background
The song started out as an original, without lyrics, in early 2012. The instrumen ...
" in 2012. This song also appears in the 2012 game Far Cry 3
''Far Cry 3'' is a 2012 first-person shooter game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the third main installment in the ''Far Cry'' series after '' Far Cry 2''. The game takes place on the fictional Rook Islands, a t ...
. Affairs of the Heart was a massive hit in Jamaica, topping the reggae charts.
''Stony Hill'' (2017–present)
Damian Marley released his fourth studio album, ''Stony Hill'', in July 2017. Its first single "Nail Pon Cross" was released in August 2016. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album
The Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1985 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works in the reggae music genre. Honors in sev ...
at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards
The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongc ...
.
Musical style
Marley has described his music as "dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Ro ...
and reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...
. I've noticed ... people trying to separate the two of them," he continues. "It's Jamaican culture in general. I don't try to classify or separate."
''Distant Relatives'' fused hip hop and reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...
musical elements, Marley and Nas also incorporated samples from African music into the album. The album's lyrical content heavily revolves around themes concerning Africa, from ancestry and poverty, with social commentary
Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...
of the United States and Africa. The track "Count Your Blessings" reflects on the plight of Africa.
Discography
Studio albums
Collaborative releases
Singles
Other charted songs
References
External links
*
*
Damian Marley
on Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marley, Damian
Jamaican Rastafarians
Jamaican reggae musicians
Jamaican reggae singers
Jamaican people of Canadian descent
Jamaican_people_of_English_descent
Motown artists
Grammy Award winners
People from Kingston, Jamaica
Reggae fusion artists
D
1978 births
Living people
Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica
SuperHeavy members
21st-century Jamaican male singers