Damian Marley Interview
Welcome to Jamrock, Dubbing Bob Marley Songs, and Reggae's Future
January 2006 interview of Damian Marley, on success of 2005 album Welcome to Jamrock, challenges of sampling dad Bob Marley, and fusion of hip-hop, dub, and reggae music.
Your recent album "Welcome to Jamrock," which it made it to 55 on the Billboard hot 100, mixes reggae and rap in a much more fluid and cohesive whole than anything seen in the past; how long did it take you to record it?
It took us two years or so.... A lot of touring within that two years, so we do like three months in the studio and then go on the road for a month and a half.
When you say "the Studio," do you mean 56 Hope Road? (legendary Bob Marley businessfront)
Yeah. For this album, I'd say maybe half the production was done there.
Was there a lot of influence on your music from other dancehall hip-hop fusion musicians who've crossed over in the past?
Well definitely, one of my biggest musical influences. Shabba Ranks is somebody that I've been looking up to ever since I was a small kid, I used to go to concerts and watch him perform, so that's how, aside from my father and my bigger brothers, these are the people who really influenced me to get into music myself. People like Shabba Ranks, Supercat, Ninjaman, early dancehall artists in Jamaica.
You've said before that hip-hop is the music of today's generation. Do you think the goals of reggae music and rap music are the same?
The goals would depend on the individual that you're speaking about, really, because the goal of each individual is different. But overall the music, both genres of music, come from that same kind of people in terms of the streets; it's the voice of the people, whether it be classed as positive or negative, it's a true expression in terms of what they feel like, so it's a voice for the people, both genres of music.
Are you familiar with American reggae performers like Matisyahu and Sashomon?
Um, say those names again?
Matisyahu. Sashomon.
Yeah, well, I'm not familiar with their music, but I know of them, ya know, I'm aware of them.
So many people have done so many different versions of your father's work. What are you trying to do when you rework a Bob Marley song?
When I rework a Bob Marley song, it's just.... I mean, I'm a fan of his music, you know?
That's really where it's coming off of. Me love the music, so I'm gonna sample it. It's just like sampling is part of modern music production. It's part of how we do things now. That's one of my favorite artists, so I sample him. And, of course, my father. So why not? I look up to my father, and I look up to him as a musician, and then, his topics are the greatest topics. And they're the kind of topics that I would like to write about, that can teach people and have something conscious, something to say, ya know?
Do you listen to a lot of Scratch Perry?
Yeh, mon.
Do you have any favorite albums of his?
Scratch Perry albums.... Well, the albums I like of his are actually works he did with the Upsetters. He had one named "Upsetters a Go Go" that was done in his era. Me love the soul of the albums that he did with the Wailers. But he did a lot of works. So a lot of the time, what you find when you listen to him, I find one album that I love two tracks from, and then another album, three tracks, like that....
