Joshua Omaru "YG" Marley (born December 5, 2001) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the son of rapper and singer

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

and former CFL football player Rohan Marley, and the grandson of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

pioneer

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

. He rose to prominence with his 2023 debut single " Praise Jah in the Moonlight", which became an international hit, peaking within the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and earning platinum certification from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). He has since collaborated with

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

, Chloe Bailey, and

Davido David Adedeji Adeleke (born November 21, 1992), known professionally as Davido, is a Nigerian American, Nigerian-American singer, songwriter and record producer. Davido was born in Atlanta, U.S, and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He made his mus ...

, appearing on the latter's 2024 single " Awuke".

Early life and career

Joshua Omaru Marley was born on December 5, 2001, in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

. He is the son of American rapper and singer

and Jamaican football player Rohan Marley. His parents never legally married but had a long-term partnership for 15 years. Marley is also the grandson of

musician

. Marley has numerous siblings and half-siblings between his parents, including sister model

Selah Marley Selah Louise Marley (born November 12, 1998) is an American model and singer. She is the daughter of singer/rapper Lauryn Hill and former football player Rohan Marley and a granddaughter of late reggae musician Bob Marley. She has walked the ru ...

and half-brother former NFL player Nico Marley. He was raised in

South Orange, New Jersey South Orange is a historic suburban Village (New Jersey), village located in Essex County, New Jersey. It was formally known as the Township of South Orange Village from October 1978 until April 25, 2024. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. During his childhood, Marley often joined his mother on stage at her concerts. At the age of nine, he declared "I wanna rap" to an audience at Hill's concert. In 2013, he began performing written original material during the shows. In 2017, he landed a modeling campaign for

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland, the United Arab Em ...

, and was featured alongside his sister Selah in ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American progressive online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to '' Vogue'', targeted at teenage girls and young women. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and ...

''. In February 2018, he joined his mother during her performance at Woolrich's

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

party. The following month, Marley previewed a then unreleased snippet of " Nice for What" by

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

on his

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia social media and instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of the app are that pictures and messages, known as "snaps", are usually availa ...

. In 2020, Marley attended a pre-

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

brunch hosted by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

, and told ''

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 ...

'' that he is "working on new music", and further stated that Hill would be featured on the project. In 2021, '' Vibe'' reported that he was featured on a track called "Slick" by Selah Marley. In late 2023, he began performing an original song, " Praise Jah in the Moonlight", during Hill's concert tour commemorating the 25th anniversary of '' The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill''. Video clips from his performances went viral on social media, most notably on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. On December 27, 2023, Marley officially released "Praise Jah in the Moonlight", his first single. The single quickly became a streaming hit, reaching number one on the United States and Global Spotify Viral 50 charts. In addition to gaining popularity on TikTok, the film '' Bob Marley: One Love'' based on Bob's life was released after the debut of YG's single "Praise Jah in the Moonlight". In January 2024, it was announced that he would be a featured performer at the 2024

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

music festival. The following month, "Praise Jah in the Moonlight" peaked at number one in New Zealand; it entered the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, with Marley becoming the sixth member of the Marley family to enter the chart. It also reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Norway. In March 2024, appeared on Adin Ross'

Kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

stream. In May 2024, He released his single "Survival", which sampled his grandfather's song "Ambush In the Night" from his 1979 album of the same name. That same month, he performed the song alongside his mother on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. On July 19, 2024, he released the version featuring Hill entitled "Survival (Version)". The following month, Marley appeared on the song "Never Let You Go" from the album, ''Trouble in Paradise'' by singer Chloe Bailey. In October 2024, he collaborated with Nigerian singer

on the single " Awuke".

Discography

Singles

Other appearances

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{Authority control 2001 births Living people American reggae musicians American hip-hop singers Singer-songwriters from California Marley family