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<\/p>\nJulian Marley has a famous last name. But the 47-year old singer, songwriter and musician has never rested on the shoulders of his father\u2019s reputation. Born in London, he\u2019s the ninth child of legendary reggae pioneer Bob Marley, and one of several to pursue a life in music. Julian Marley\u2019s latest release, Colors of Royal<\/i>, has its roots firmly planted in reggae, but it also represents Marley\u2019s interest in \u2013 and considerable skill with \u2013 other musical forms.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally, when most of the fans hear me, they hear the roots rock reggae, the \u2018one drop,\u2019\u201d he explains. \u201cThis album has a different sound.\u201d Producer Alexx Antaeus has worked with artists diverse as the Rolling Stones, Malcolm McLaren and Young M.C., and he brought that wide experience to the making of Colors of Royal<\/i>. \u201cHe took me out of the box for this one,\u201d Marley says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But Marley established his musical bonafides long ago. With brothers Stephen, Damian and Kymani, he formed Ghetto Youths Crew in the late 1990s. More than a mere record label, it\u2019s one component of Ghetto Youth Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bettering the lives of underprivileged people around the globe.<\/p>\n
Julian released his first solo album, Lion in the Morning<\/i>, in 1996. He toured internationally in support of that album, and was a featured main-stage artist on 1997\u2019s all-star Lollapalooza Tour. Subsequent releases like 2003\u2019s A Time & Place<\/i>, Awake<\/i> (2009) and 2019\u2019s Grammy-nominated As I Am<\/i> built his substantial following. Along the way, Marley\u2019s style has broadened to embrace all the kinds of music that inform his unique musical sensibility. His latest record is a culmination of his decades in music.<\/p>\n
Marley says that Colors of Royal<\/i> \u201chas a bit of dance style, a bit of Afrobeat, a bit of Latin vibe.\u201d He says that for him, making music has always been about \u201cpushing the message beyond the limits, taking it to [different] places. If it can be translated in different ways and different sounds, then I’m all for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marley\u2019s upbringing in London gave him a front row seat to many styles of music. \u201cWhen you’re in England, every music is top music,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have rock, you have jazz.\u201d He took it all in, as well as enjoying sounds from his mother\u2019s record collection. I was surrounded by that,\u201d he says, \u201clistening to Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. So I’m influenced by everything from Nat King Cole to John Lennon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Combined with the reggae and ska of Jamaica, those influences all swirled around in Marley\u2019s head. Colors of Royal<\/i> had its beginnings during the pandemic. \u201cI was in Jamaica,\u201d Marley recalls, \u201cand obviously everything was locked down. But I was exploding with music; I had so much stuff inside that wanted to be released.\u201d When he was able to go out again, Marley visited a small local restaurant that hosted nighttime music sessions. There he met Antaeus. The two became friendly, and would meet again and again at the restaurant.<\/p>\n
On their third or fourth meeting, Antaeus approached Marley, saying, \u201cYou know what? I’ve got a studio inside this room here.\u201d Marley was surprised and intrigued: \u201cLet’s go check it out,\u201d he enthused. Antaeus had already begun work on a recording of \u201cThe Tide is High,\u201d a 1967 classic by legendary reggae artist John Holt. The song had gained a second round of popularity when Blondie released their version in 1980, but Antaeus believed there was still more mileage in the song.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve been thinking about you for this track,\u201d the producer told Marley. \u201cI\u2019d like to hear how you sound on it.\u201d Marley agreed, cut a vocal, and was very pleased with the results. \u201cFrom that seed, Alexx was like, \u2018You know what? It would be nice to do more,\u2019\u2019\u2019 he recalls. Colors of Royal<\/i> is the result of that working relationship. \u201cIt just came from nowhere,\u201d Marley says. \u201cIt was not thought about; it wasn’t in the plan. It was just led by a true divine inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n
That divine inspiration is at the heart of everything Marley does. A devoted Rastafarian, his original lyrics are suffused with the positive, uplifting messages of that faith. Even in a world filled with pain and suffering, Marley\u2019s mission is to share good vibes wherever he and\/or his music goes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe positive is in every person,\u201d Marley emphasizes. \u201cThe only time the positive is not<\/i> there is when you\u2019re not yourself.\u201d And his idea of success is about much more than selling concert tickets, CDs or downloads of his music. \u201cI want to see the people rise up,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s what success is. We want to see that seed of love and peace out there in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another part of Marley\u2019s message is extolling the benefits of ganja, considered a sacrament in the Rastafarian religion. His popular single \u201cBoom Draw\u201d from Awake<\/i> praises the herb. And he\u2019s encouraged by recent changes to the laws in the U.S., where marijuana is now legal for recreational use in 21 states and the District of Columbia. \u201cIt\u2019s good to see,\u201d he says. \u201cWe know what we’ve been talking about all these years: the medicine part, the meditation part and the spiritual values. So let\u2019s give thanks for a step in the right direction after all of these years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Traversing the globe to perform for audiences on nearly every continent, Marley has made an important discovery. \u201cEverywhere you go is different, but people are people,\u201d he says. \u201cAs soon as that music starts, I don’t even remember what part of the world I’m in anymore, because that spirit in the music takes over, and we all become one people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Traveling the world with a famous surname all but guarantees that people will have their own expectations of you. But Julian Marley is at peace with that, proud of his family name but nonetheless forging his own way in the world. He admits that his father inspired him: \u201cWhen you see the thing that your father is doing, yeah, that’s what you want to do,\u201d he admits. \u201cBut I didn’t want anyone<\/i> to tell me to play music, and no one could tell me to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says that growing up around his father\u2019s music was an education. \u201cListening to my own family was like going to university for music,\u201d he says. \u201cYou feel no pressure, because you’re already educated with the right tools to go out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Marley does indeed go out there. Ahead of a run of show dates in the Southeast, on June 24 he was a featured performer at the 3rd<\/sup> Annual Reggae Fest in Truckee, California. His set was expected to include songs from Colors of Royal<\/i> as well as favorites from his back catalog. And it was all delivered in harmony with his messages of love and unity.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why we go out there in the first place,\u201d Marley says. \u201cIf it was just to sing about anything<\/i>, I wouldn\u2019t have the drive.\u201d He emphasizes that a career in music built around the idea of merely being \u201can entertainer\u201d wouldn\u2019t be fulfilling for him. \u201cI want to make music because I want to free the people’s minds and bring people together for a good cause,\u201d he says. \u201cIf it wasn’t for that, I could be doing something different.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Julian Marley has a famous last name. But the 47-year old singer, songwriter and musician has never rested on the shoulders of his father\u2019s reputation. Born in London, he\u2019s the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,49,63],"tags":[5185],"class_list":["post-25577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-new-release","category-reggae","tag-julian-marley","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-63-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25577"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25676,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25577\/revisions\/25676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}