Okay, I’m a little behind in this review as this album was released in September of last year, but it recently hit my ears in a big way, so I feel obligated to give it a mention. While Ziggy and the rest of the Marley clan have been trying to recapture the family legacy since their illustrious father’s early departure, most of the time the efforts have simply lacked the finesse and soul of Bob Marley’s work. I say this as Ziggy Marley and the Melody Maker’s Fallen Is Babylon plays, having come alphabetically after Damian Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock on my mp3 player.
So, what is it about Welcome to Jamrock? Jamaican music has moved substantially farther into electronic and/or increasingly engineered forms since the 70’s. In the past 15 years or so, we’ve seen the emergence of such Jamaican stars as Shabba Ranks (“Mr. Loverman”), Shaggy (“Mr. Boombastic”, “It Wasn’t Me”) and Sean Paul (“Shake That Thing”, the currently popular “Temperature”), but these artists have been focusing on blending Jamaican dancehall with American hip-hop – and they’ve arguably been increasingly successful.
And then came Junior Gong to blow away the dust accumulating on the same tired, deep-voiced monotone rap-MC’s that seem to be making their way across the Caribbean onto American radio. Not that this album will ever get the kind of airplay that Sean Paul’s newest is getting. And, admittedly, it starts off with a number featuring the same rap style and the same over-produced feel of anything Sean Paul has done. But the song, “Confrontation”, does have one thing going for it in that it brings in a shadow of the past, his father’s former partner (along with Peter Tosh) in the Wailers – Bunny Wailer (aka Bunny Livingstone). Throwing in that little bit of history is an indication of where Junior is about to take us, despite the lackluster start to the album.
The second song, “There for You”, is where the album finally begins to reveal that Junior Gong, rather than the more prolific Ziggy, seems to have been the true inheritor of his father’s power. It’s a slow-moving reggae groove that picks up where his father left off. The instruments are not as synthetic as other reggae albums of the past twenty years – a more organic sound has replaced the synthetic keyboard sound of, for example, Ziggy’s Fallen Is Babylon. Admittedly, the song does have a string line that is evidently synthetic, but the overall groove of the song sounds more natural and soulful than anything on Fallen.
The title track follows “There for You” and it starts off with a sample – “Out in the streets/They call it murder”. Suffice it to say, the Junior Gong’s rapping puts an end to the previous incarnations of reggae-rap hybrids. The song itself is fully reggae with only rapping on the top. The lyrics to the song reflect on Jamaican life as a whole, referencing the rich, naïve Sandals tourists to stolen elections to extreme poverty that leads to a life of crime. His father’s political spirit lives on.
Damian’s brother Stephen shows up on “All Night”, a song surely ready for club play. It amazes me, also, the extent to which the Marley siblings’ voices so closely resemble their father’s voice. “Beautiful” features a guest spot by the tragic Bobby Brown and the song itself sounds like a perfect fusion between Damian’s dancehall/reggae roots and Brown’s modern American R&B roots. Speaking of roots, The Roots’ Black Thought shows up on “Pimpa’s Paradise”, in which Stephen Marley also guest stars, capturing a theme equally prominent in both dancehall and hip-hop. Sampling his father’s “Exodus”, “Move!” is the song most likely to get your feet moving, inevitably ending with a frenzy on the dance floor.
My favorite song on the album comes near the end. Guest-starring American hip-hopper Nas, “Road to Zion” has a soulful beat with female hums underneath Damian’s soulful crooning raps. When Nas comes in, he’s ready to tackle the sad situation of the world – attacking Robert Mugabe and the Catholic Church in equal measure, amongst other lamentations about the inequality and hypocrisy of the world at large.
The album rounds out with three more songs, the first of which, “We’re Gonna Make It”, seems like it was ripped directly out of the hands of Damian’s father’s hands. “In 2 Deep” is another track destined for the dance floor. Lastly, “Khaki Suit” rounds out the album nicely with a highly produced, yet highly catchy beat.
The album itself defies expectations, switching fluidly from slow, droning hip-hop/reggae to full on reggae to full on commercially ready dancehall hip-hop a la Sean Paul (but better, in my opinion). Despite the prevalence of production on an album such as this, the instruments and mixing on this album seem more organic and alive.
I can’t help but think that if Bob Marley was still alive, he would have released an album like this years ago. This album carries Bob’s legacy into new territories and I have no doubt that he would’ve gladly welcomed the sound and experimentation to his fold. If you’re a fan of reggae, especially the late Bob Marley, and are willing to open your mind to a more hip-hop influenced sound, then you must check this album out. Check that - even if you aren’t necessarily a hip-hop fan, you ought to at least give this one a listen as it may expose you to a new and enjoyable sound.
GRADE: B+
Posted by iain at April 14, 2006 04:20 PM