Damian Marley continues to honor the Marley legacy in his personal manner as an artist carving his personal path. The Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and producer stays on the forefront of the reggae style for his music, collaborations, producing of different artists, and his very personal reggae cruise.
The Welcome To Jamrock Reggae Cruise set sail final month for its seventh installment, the primary annual voyage because the cruise was placed on hiatus because of the worldwide COVID pandemic.
Prematurely of the ship’s departure, we had been capable of meet up with Marley by way of Zoom and study extra about his music creation course of, his relationship with hashish—hashish consumption, hashish activism, and hashish reform—and the inspiration behind making a reggae competition on water.
Excessive Occasions: You’ve been performing music for many of your life. Do you bear in mind the start line?
Damian Marley: We began off doing performances in my aunt’s lounge till my aunt determined to take us on the highway. We then began doing issues like Mom’s Day exhibits and Valentine’s Day exhibits, little ladies’ birthday events—issues like that in Jamaica.
Excessive Occasions: Did you ever think about you’d someday go from that to headlining your personal competition cruise?
Damian Marley: We weren’t the primary folks to give you a musical cruise however there had by no means actually been a profitable reggae cruise. It’s one thing my supervisor, Dan [Dalton], dropped at my consideration—that there’ve been different genres doing cruises. The entire tradition of a cruise—going to an island, being out within the solar, out on the ocean and all that stuff—lends itself very properly to the tradition of reggae music. Nonetheless, there was hesitation if our fanbase was financially capable of go on a cruise, and naturally we ended up proving that we do have the market to have the ability to do this.
The thought of the Caribbean sea, solar, and climate, going to Jamaica, the music, and all these items—it goes hand in hand [with reggae] and it’s sort of shocking that it truly hadn’t been achieved earlier than. However right here we’re, those who truly executed the concept.
Excessive Occasions: When it comes to concepts, what function does hashish play in your inventive course of?
Damian Marley: Hashish performs a very massive function in my life typically. I’m burning a spliff as I’m talking to you now, so what function does it not play? It’s sort of arduous to say. It’s part of my day-to-day routine. Many of the issues I’m doing are underneath the affect of hashish [laughs].
Excessive Occasions: Is there a particular technique of consumption or particular pressure you like?
Damian Marley: Ocean Grown OG Kush tends to be one in all my favorites, however we nonetheless take pleasure in different strains, too. Selection is the spice of life in that manner.
I additionally normally smoke, I don’t actually do many edibles or that sort of stuff. It’s principally smoking, though I’d encourage folks not to smoke and as a substitute devour edibles as a result of smoking in itself isn’t a wholesome behavior—however that’s simply what I do.
Excessive Occasions: Do you are feeling that the act of consumption opens you as much as different methods of considering or different non secular exercise?
Damian Marley: It places you in an area the place you have got time on your personal ideas, the place you possibly can hear your ideas a bit extra clearly. It helps you focus much less on the busyness round you and also you get extra unique to your personal ideas.
Excessive Occasions: As in placing your personal ideas underneath your personal kind of microscope?
Damian Marley: Extra so that you simply get to listen to your personal voice extra clearly by silencing among the different voices round you.
Excessive Occasions: So it’s extra that it helps you block out distractions and different exterior components and tune you in to you.
Damian Marley: Particularly once I was youthful. Now, in fact, [smoking] is a part of my life so I don’t have the sort of jolt and impact from while you simply begin smoking. However after highschool once I was smoking and studying the bible and studying about my religion as a Rastafari, you actually get to meditate and zone in by yourself voice and sure matters differently.
Excessive Occasions: From a music standpoint, what can we be looking out for from you within the coming months?
Damian Marley: I’m about to start out making some music for myself proper now, so it’s a bit troublesome to say particularly what to search for, however you possibly can search for some music from me this 12 months. I’d suppose we’ll most likely begin with a couple of singles main up into an album. We additionally lately launched an album I produced for an artist by the identify of Kabaka Pyramid, the place myself and the crew produced all the album, and we’re actually happy with that.
Excessive Occasions: Is it the identical inventive enter that you simply present when producing a document for another person that you simply present for your self?
Damian Marley: We give one-hundred % when making music, no matter what we’re doing, you already know what I imply?
Excessive Occasions: Whether or not you’re creating music for your self or another person, is there one thing you hope the viewers takes from it?
Damian Marley: Yeah, one thing that they want. So it’s not for me to say what they have to take, however we wish them to take one thing that they want, one thing that may profit their life in some sort of manner.
One thing I at all times discover very fascinating and such a pleasure is in how folks interpret songs and what they take from them. Generally with sure songs and sure lyrics, somebody may discover a utterly totally different which means from what I used to be attempting to say within the dialog of the lyrics. They interpreted it utterly otherwise, and that’s at all times very fascinating to see. So, it’s not for me to say what folks take away from it, however we wish them to take one thing that brings substance to their life and one way or the other impacts their life in a constructive manner.
Excessive Occasions: So that you’re creating the substance from which different folks can have an expertise, however you’re not right here to dictate what that have is.
Damian Marley: We’re not telling you how you can take the dosage, we’re simply making the drugs.
Excessive Occasions: When it comes to the drugs, what kinds of hashish endeavors are you at present concerned in?
Damian Marley: Proper now, the model that we’re engaged on and supporting known as Proof, however the general model that I and Dan are part of known as Ocean Grown. The product that Ocean Grown is now presenting known as Proof, which is clearly herb that you simply purchase and smoke. However the beauty of Proof is the work that we’re doing to assist individuals who have been locked up for herb turn into free.
With Proof, we’re additionally partnered with the group Final Prisoner Undertaking (LPP), and the entire goal of this group is to assist people who find themselves locked up for marijuana and assist them acquire their freedom now that the hashish legal guidelines have modified. So we now have a larger goal apart from attempting to simply promote herb and generate profits. We need to do this—don’t get me improper—however we’re doing a little nice work inside the group via this Proof model and thru LPP and thru what the entire motion stands for. We’re encouraging folks to take a look at that half to completely perceive what the motion is all about, whereas additionally having fun with the hashish.
Excessive Occasions: So the model has that social impression aspect, which is absolutely vital.
Damian Marley: Yeah, actually vital. Hashish customers are usually good individuals who need to do good, so it goes hand in hand.
Comply with @damianmarley and take a look at https://damianmarley.com for tickets, tour dates, and the newest on the Welcome To Jamrock Reggae Cruise.