Ziggy Marley
Love Is His Religion
2007-08-22
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Bob Marley’s legacy is such that in most populated areas of the country you can hear at least one Marley song playing, whether it’s by Julian, Cedella, Damien, Stephen, Ky-Mani, Ziggy or Bob himself. Collectively, the Marley children have won at least a dozen Grammys and their styles are as different as their mothers. Stephen Marley produced Damien’s Welcome to Jamrock and is probably the most played of the new Marley releases, rife with high-profile guest spots and embraced heavily by commercial radio, dancehall and reggaeton aficionados. Stephen, a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer, released Mind Control this year. On it, he perfectly emulates his father’s voice and inflection while his modern production and strong love for traditional reggae mixes well with guests Damien and Julian Marley, Mos Def and Ben Harper (the latter of whom also shared a stage with Ziggy at Bonnaroo this year for a lively version of the reggae anthem “Get Up, Stand Up.”). Ziggy eschews the grittier, shotta themes of half-brother Damien “Junior Gong” Marley and has consistently embraced and written music celebrating unity, religion, family and love.
In 1978, when he was only 10 years old, David Nesta “Ziggy” Marley first sat in on a session with Bob Marley & The Wailers, already legends. Soon after, along with siblings Stephen, Cedella and Sharon, The Melody Makers were formed. They made a few albums of their own blend of reggae, R&B and other popular sounds, but it was their 1988 release, with the singles “Tomorrow People” and “Tumblin’ Down,” that made Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers a household name. Conscious Party, produced by the Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz, and with contributions from Rita Marley, Lenny Pickett and Jerry Harrison (also from The Talking Heads), won the 1988 Grammy for Best Reggae Album — their first of three (1989’s One Bright Day and 1997’s Fallen Is Babylon also won). In 2003, Ziggy’s solo album Dragonfly was released, with contributions from Flea and John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers and a couple of dudes from Incubus.
Love Is My Religion just won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album of 2007. Beating heavyweights Buju Banton, Matisyahu, UB40 and Sly & Robbie, Ziggy’s second solo album is almost entirely solo. He wrote all the songs, played most of the instruments and produced all but three tracks, which were co-produced by Ross Hogarth, another Grammy-winning producer. The mostly upbeat album speaks of political crisis, global brotherhood and overcoming stereotypes, all familiar themes within Ziggy’s music. Soon after recording the album last year, Ziggy and his band began a world tour supporting the album with dates all over Europe, North America, South America, Australia, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Philippines, Japan and China.
Ziggy’s live shows are immensely popular and in recent shows, including the Austin City Limits Music Festival, he and his band have been playing new tracks, songs by The Melody Makers and quite a few favorites by his father. The eldest Marley sibling was noticeably chillaxed when his assistant passed the phone to him after his show at The Reggae Rising Music Festival in Humboldt last week to speak with Synthesis.
“It was good. A lot of people up there, good vibes,” Marley said about the festival. “We’ve been everywhere promoting the song, the message, the album from last year. This is the first time I’ve been so continuously on the road for a long time. I think I’m gearing down right now, doing some gigs here in America. We’ll head to Dubai to do one show there, maybe Egypt. A couple shows here and there, but no big, extensive tour anymore.”
He added, “Russia. I haven’t been to Russia, but next time...”
Some consider Ziggy’s music both with The Melody Makers and as a solo artist to be too uplifting...too positive, but those accusations would serve only to please him. His message is meant to inspire and uplift, especially the youth. He even lent his voice to the animated movie Shark Tale (as Ernie the Jamaican Jellyfish) and contributed the theme song to the animated show Arthur. To support charitable children’s causes in Jamaica, Ethiopia and other developing nations, Ziggy formed U.R.G.E. (Unlimited Resources Giving Enlightenment). He’s an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, which provides musical instruments and lessons to children in public schools throughout the United States. Since 1992 he’s also worked with Stephen Marley running Ghetto Youths International, a company set up to help young artists get a start in the music business.
“Children are the most important people in the world. Children are open minded, so they are not closed to hear concepts or ideas that are probably not of normal things,” Marley said. “We are adults, we are trained. Some of us are stuck in our ways, but children are open. Changing the world relies on the children and what we teach the children today because people who are leading the world right now, they are not changing that. So I always try to be involved in things that [put children first]. It’s important to me.”
His children appear on his album, and while being a parent may not directly affect his music, it is admittedly an important factor.
“Obviously, the way I live, I just take things in stride so that everything just kind of flows,” Marley said. “Having kids and things like that does affect me, but not like BAM! It’s more like whoooosh, you know?”
A couple of days ago, Boom Jones gave me a copy of Heartland Reggae, a documentary about the 1978 One Love Peace Concert in Jamaica. Reggae greats Peter Tosh, U-Roy, Jacob Miller, Junior Tucker and Bob Marley & The Wailers perform in this hazy documentary. At the finale of the movie, during Bob Marley’s performance of “Jah Live,” 10-year-old Ziggy dances excitedly onstage — his father singing on the left, his mother singing on the right — awash in the rhythm and a whirlwind celebration of unity, religion, family and, most importantly, love. Not much has changed.
In 1978, when he was only 10 years old, David Nesta “Ziggy” Marley first sat in on a session with Bob Marley & The Wailers, already legends. Soon after, along with siblings Stephen, Cedella and Sharon, The Melody Makers were formed. They made a few albums of their own blend of reggae, R&B and other popular sounds, but it was their 1988 release, with the singles “Tomorrow People” and “Tumblin’ Down,” that made Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers a household name. Conscious Party, produced by the Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz, and with contributions from Rita Marley, Lenny Pickett and Jerry Harrison (also from The Talking Heads), won the 1988 Grammy for Best Reggae Album — their first of three (1989’s One Bright Day and 1997’s Fallen Is Babylon also won). In 2003, Ziggy’s solo album Dragonfly was released, with contributions from Flea and John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers and a couple of dudes from Incubus.
Love Is My Religion just won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album of 2007. Beating heavyweights Buju Banton, Matisyahu, UB40 and Sly & Robbie, Ziggy’s second solo album is almost entirely solo. He wrote all the songs, played most of the instruments and produced all but three tracks, which were co-produced by Ross Hogarth, another Grammy-winning producer. The mostly upbeat album speaks of political crisis, global brotherhood and overcoming stereotypes, all familiar themes within Ziggy’s music. Soon after recording the album last year, Ziggy and his band began a world tour supporting the album with dates all over Europe, North America, South America, Australia, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Philippines, Japan and China.
Ziggy’s live shows are immensely popular and in recent shows, including the Austin City Limits Music Festival, he and his band have been playing new tracks, songs by The Melody Makers and quite a few favorites by his father. The eldest Marley sibling was noticeably chillaxed when his assistant passed the phone to him after his show at The Reggae Rising Music Festival in Humboldt last week to speak with Synthesis.
“It was good. A lot of people up there, good vibes,” Marley said about the festival. “We’ve been everywhere promoting the song, the message, the album from last year. This is the first time I’ve been so continuously on the road for a long time. I think I’m gearing down right now, doing some gigs here in America. We’ll head to Dubai to do one show there, maybe Egypt. A couple shows here and there, but no big, extensive tour anymore.”
He added, “Russia. I haven’t been to Russia, but next time...”
Some consider Ziggy’s music both with The Melody Makers and as a solo artist to be too uplifting...too positive, but those accusations would serve only to please him. His message is meant to inspire and uplift, especially the youth. He even lent his voice to the animated movie Shark Tale (as Ernie the Jamaican Jellyfish) and contributed the theme song to the animated show Arthur. To support charitable children’s causes in Jamaica, Ethiopia and other developing nations, Ziggy formed U.R.G.E. (Unlimited Resources Giving Enlightenment). He’s an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, which provides musical instruments and lessons to children in public schools throughout the United States. Since 1992 he’s also worked with Stephen Marley running Ghetto Youths International, a company set up to help young artists get a start in the music business.
“Children are the most important people in the world. Children are open minded, so they are not closed to hear concepts or ideas that are probably not of normal things,” Marley said. “We are adults, we are trained. Some of us are stuck in our ways, but children are open. Changing the world relies on the children and what we teach the children today because people who are leading the world right now, they are not changing that. So I always try to be involved in things that [put children first]. It’s important to me.”
His children appear on his album, and while being a parent may not directly affect his music, it is admittedly an important factor.
“Obviously, the way I live, I just take things in stride so that everything just kind of flows,” Marley said. “Having kids and things like that does affect me, but not like BAM! It’s more like whoooosh, you know?”
A couple of days ago, Boom Jones gave me a copy of Heartland Reggae, a documentary about the 1978 One Love Peace Concert in Jamaica. Reggae greats Peter Tosh, U-Roy, Jacob Miller, Junior Tucker and Bob Marley & The Wailers perform in this hazy documentary. At the finale of the movie, during Bob Marley’s performance of “Jah Live,” 10-year-old Ziggy dances excitedly onstage — his father singing on the left, his mother singing on the right — awash in the rhythm and a whirlwind celebration of unity, religion, family and, most importantly, love. Not much has changed.
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