DAMIAN MARLEY

Reggae / World / Hip Hop

 

Jr Gong has been honing his skills—not so quietly—for some time. He made noise early on with 1996’s Mr Marley, and his major label debut Halfway Tree showcased a unique gift for blending hard-hitting reality rhymes and an uncommonly eclectic musicality; with a classic reggae sensibility at its core and run through with streams of hip-hop, r&b and dancehall, the album resonated with urban tastemakers and won a Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2001. (“A Grammy in reggae is good,” he observes. “But it will be great to see reggae win Album Of The Year…it’s not about one man shut off from the rest of the crabs in the barrel.” So while slow-burners like “It was Written” and “Educated Fools” became club classics, Jr Gong was laying the groundwork for the tracks that would become Welcome To Jamrock—an album that was ultimately several years in the making. Hear the album and you instantly understand it to be the work of a perfectionist; Jr Gong is not focused on overnight success. “Some songs just come. ‘Jamrock’ was like that,” he explains. “But other songs take a lot longer. This is street music, and the streets have to feel it.”

He can be sure the streets will. Following the path blazed by its title track, Welcome To Jamrock opens with the devastating attack of “Confrontation”—this is Jr Gong at his best, rhyming with the conviction of a street preacher and the intellect of a university economist. That essence is spread throughout the album, even when he switches pace and explores different riddims. “It’s like going to war. Sometimes you have to wear camouflage to really get in there,” says Jr Gong of the diverse appeal of the album. “Dancehall, r&b, hip-hop…it’s more about feelings. We’re not just trying to do a segment of the mix. We’re trying to do the whole mix.” This is that mix—never content to deliver a straightforward “reggae” album, Jr Gong touches on various sides or urban life as we live it today, from the smoky spiritual love ballad “There For You” to the nostalgic throwback jam “The Master Has Come Back”. Hip-hop fans will bump to “Pimpa’s Paradise” featuring Stephen Marley and Black Thought of the Roots as Nas rips his verse on “Road to Zion”, while classic reggae heads will spark to the rugged sound of “Khaki Suit” which features the combo of Bounty Killer and Eek-A-Mouse. Taken together the songs on Welcome To Jamrock convey a consciousness that’s framed by the song “For The Babies”, which Jr Gong says was inspired by the idea that “we raise our children with the same lies we were told.”

Welcome to Jamrock
In Stores Now!
Order CD

“…reggae song of the year” -- New York Times

“A” -- Entertainment Weekly

Download @ iTunes | Napster | Real | Music Match | MSN | Yahoo!

Click here to watch Welcome To Jamrock video & a private conversation with Damian Marley

 
Leave a Comment

about that.....your kinda silly

ill be your wife if you'd like.... :]

Namamekashiki

Totally love this.

Namamekashiki

Totally love this.

james

this guy is fucking mazing :)

Marley™

The secks.

autumn Keshick

Hey my cousin wants to make out with you in egg saled.
She looks like the girl off Norbit. You know respusha.
SORRY

MusicDish

Great groove. check out
http://www.purevolume.com/kobotown, these guys are
along the same lines

I love you, marry me pleasee

 
Page 1 of 10 next >
 

Location:  Kingston, Other

Members:  Damian Marley

 

Welcome To Jamrock

No release date
 
 

Universal Records

Blue October

Rock / Alternative / Indie

Hinder

Rock

Forever The Sickest Kids

Powerpop / Pop / Rock

Jack Johnson

Pop / Folk Rock

view all 10 artists

 

harris

orem, ut

Erick Enzo

Lima

desiree :]

new hampshiree.

alyssa

California.

ALLY[FR3$H]

hb; ca

[ACE OF SPADES]

In Vida's world

view all 2,196 fans