| Damian Marley |
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Damian Marley |
| Also known as |
Junior Gong* |
| Born |
July 21, 1978 (1978-07-21) (age 31)
Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres |
Reggae
Reggae fusion
Dancehall
Hip hop
Ragga |
| Years active |
1996 - Present |
| Labels |
Tuff Gong, Ghetto Youth International, Universal Records |
| Associated acts |
Bob Marley, Ky-Mani Marley, Ziggy Marley, Stephen Marley, Julian Marley, K'Naan, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Yami Bolo, Mariah Carey |
Damian Robert Nesta "Junior Gong" Marley (born July 21, 1978) is a reggae artist, a humanitarian, and the youngest son of Bob Marley. He has won three Grammy awards.
Biography
Damian was two years old when his father Bob Marley died; he is the only child born to Marley and Cindy Breakspeare, Miss World 1976. Damian's nickname Junior Gong is derived from his father's nickname of Tuff Gong. Marley has been performing since the age of 13. He shares, along with most of his family, a full-time career in music. Unlike his brothers and sisters, however, his musical specialty is "toasting", a Jamaican vocal technique that is a predecessor to rapping.
Albums
His 1996 debut was Mr. Marley,. His second release, Halfway Tree was released in 2001 and received the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. His third album, Welcome to Jamrock was released in September 2005. Welcome to Jamrock centers on poverty and politics in Jamaica. Marley stated that Welcome to Jamrock is about hope and that he wants to continue to spread that throughout his musiccitation needed. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he won Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for Welcome to Jamrock. He is the only Jamaican reggae artist in history to win two Grammy Awards on the same night. He is also the only reggae artist to win in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance category at the Grammy Awards. Welcome to Jamrock was considered the best reggae song of the decade by the New York Times. He is currently in the studios with Nas working on a collaborative album entitled Distant Relatives, which is stated to be released April 20, 2010. The album title is inspired by Nas and Damian’s relationship, but also their shared African ancestry, which is a common thread throughout the album.
Tours and guest appearances
In 2004 Marley participated in the 27-city Bob Marley Roots, Rock, Reggae Festival Tour with his four brothers, Ziggy, Julian, Stephen and Ky-Mani who all have their own professional recording careers.
Marley frequently tours with his brothers Julian and Stephen, who are both members of the Ghetto Youths Crew. In December 2006 Marley appeared alongside brothers Stephen and Julian in Stephen's music video "The Traffic Jam". In 2004, Marley recorded a song with hip hop group Cypress Hill called "Ganja Bus" on their album Till Death Do Us Part. Marley also appears on the song "Get a Light" by Snoop Dogg. This song is on the album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment. He also made a song with Redman and Method Man from The Wu-Tang Clan. He is featured on a recent Gwen Stefani remix "Now That You Got It" (produced by Swizz Beatz).
January 25, 2005 was the release date of Morgan Heritage's album Full Circle; Damian Marley appeared on the song "Girlz 'Round The World".
On September 7, 2005 he did a 1 minute long freestyle as a guest in the famous hip hop programme Rap City on BET, freestyling on the beat of his song, "Welcome To Jamrock".
During mid-2006, Marley went on tour with musical artist Ben Harper all around the US. He played on many known stages, such as Central Park New York. He was also one of the many artists who played at the inaugural Osheaga Festival, in Montreal.
In May 2006, Marley performed at KROQ Weenie Roast. In June 2006, Marley performed at Bonnaroo Music Festival. In July 2006, Damian should have played at the Danish music festival Roskilde Festival, but had to cancel due to troubles with customs.1
On January 7, 2006 Marley conducted the main performance at Peace Fest in Trinidad.
On September 19, 2006 Marley became the first reggae artist to perform for the popular PBS show Austin City Limits.
Marley also participated in Season 3 of Extreme Makeover Home Edition by performing a special concert for the Rainford family, in which the father Dunstin was a Jamaican native.
Over the last year he has played numerous University homecomings including Emory and Indiana, often accompanied by his brother Stephen. Stephen was also present when Marley played music festivals such as Miami's Bang, Earth Day in San Francisco and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2007 in Indio, California.
Marley was the opening act for Van Halen during their 2007 Reunion tour concerts in Philadelphia.
Marley performed at the June Black Arts festival in Hunstville, Alabama on June 2007, alongside his second cousin Lance "Wayne" Marley.
Marley recently did a song with pop sensation Gwen Stefani. The two made a remix version to the song "Now That You Got It" off of the album The Sweet Escape. Stefani now performs this song on her Sweet Escape Tour.
A collaboration with Guru has been released on Jazzmatazz 4, "Stand Up Some Things'll Never Change" in 2007
Marley recorded his song "Welcome to Jamrock" in Simlish for The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, an expansion pack in the The Sims series. The song also featured on FIFA 06 soundtrack.
He also collaborated with Mariah Carey on her new album E=MC² (April 15, 2008) on a song called "Cruise Control". The two recorded the song together in Boca Raton, Florida in December 2007.
Marley recently appeared at the Sonoma County Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa on June 7, 2008.
Marley also made an appearance at the 1st annual Romantic Rhythms Music Festival on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean. He appeared alongside a varied list of entertainers such as Shaggy, Lionel Ritchie, Kenny Rogers, Keyshia Cole, Maxi Priest and Brian McKnight, to name a few. The festival ran from June 13 to 15, 2008.
Marley has also helped out on B-Real's debut solo album with the song "FIRE".
Marley and Stephen's latest release is a song called "The Mission", a track from Reggae Gold 2008 album. The track was produced by Trevor "Baby G" James.
Every February in Miami, Marley and his brothers perform at his family's annual Caribbean Festival in honour of their late father Bob Marley.
A song of his, "Something For You (One Loaf Of Bread)" also produced by Trevor "Baby G" James, appears on hit videogame FIFA 09.
In 2009, Damian Marley and Nas are slated for an international tour after the release of their collaborative album Distant Relatives.
Damian Marley is also slated to perform at the Rock the Bells hip hop festival this summer. The concert will hit 10 North American Cities from June 27 and Aug 9. The festival will include, Common, Nas, The Roots and Big Boi along with others. The tour will make stops in Chicago, Toronto, Washington, D.C., Boston, New York, Detroit, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Vancouver.
On February 5, 2010, Damian Marley participated along with Hip-Hop artist Nas at BET's SOS Help for Haiti, a telethon in aid of the earthquake ravaged nation. They performed the song "Strong Will Continue" from their long-awaited album Distant Relatives.
On February 23, 2010 Damian Marley performed a free show at the Whistler Live Village Square as part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
On February 24, 2010 Damian Marley performed a free show at LiveCity Yaletown as part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Cultural Olympiad.
Personal life and beliefs
Born as Damian Marley, he was nicknamed "Jr. Gong" in honour of his legendary father, Bob "Tuff Gong" Marley. He has 12 siblings total; 10 on his father's side and 2 on his mother's side. Damian was two years old when his father died, killed by the spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain, at 36 years of age. Marley has been in the music business since he was a child. He began performing as the vocalist for a group called The Shepherds. The Shepherds performed at several shows in Jamaica including the Reggae Sunsplash music festival in 1992. After The Shepherds' demise, Marley turned to DJing. In 1993 Marley's debut single "Deejay Degree" was released on Tuff Gong Records (the label founded by Bob Marley) and the following year he released "Sexy Girls On My Mind" for the Main Street label.
Marley's next release 1995's "School Controversy" was featured on the Epic/Sony Wonder compilation, "POSITIVELY REGGAE" with all sales proceeds going to Jamaica's Leaf of Life Foundation, an organization which assists children who are HIV positive. Although still a teenager, Marley was selected as the "POSITIVELY REGGAE" spokesperson, a role that introduced him to the international press and record buying public. The same year Damian performed at select dates on the Shabba Ranks World Unity tour and with his brother Julian performed at Jamaica's Reggae Sunfest and Sunsplash festivals. His first album, Mr. Marley, was released in 1996. He is Rastafari and his music reflects both his beliefs and the Rastafari guiding principles of one love, one planet, and freedom for all nations. While he travels and tours the better part of the year, his home base is split between Kingston, Jamaica and Miami, Florida. Marley spends a lot of time with his brother Stephen at his "Lion's Den" studio in Miami Dade county Florida. He has a younger half brother Christian and a half sister Leah from his mother Cindy.
Discography
Singles
References
- ^ http://www.roskilde-festival.dk/object.php?obj=4c9000f&base=57872774&code=1 Roskilde Festival announcement and explanation of Marley's withdrawal from the festival.
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 350. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
External links
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![Clip artiste: Stephen Marley & Damian "Jr Gong" Marley track: "The Mission" label: Tuff Gong Ghetto Youths VP Records album ... Video](/viewVideo.html?title=Stephen & Damian Marley The Mission&videoType=YouTube&summary=artiste: Stephen Marley & Damian "Jr Gong" Marley track: "The Mission" label: Tuff Gong Ghetto Youths VP Records album ...&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/MSCMe7bti5g&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://0.gvt0.com/vi/MSCMe7bti5g/default.jpg&celebrity=Damian Marley)
 05 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/_GZlJGERbvE&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://1.gvt0.com/vi/_GZlJGERbvE/default.jpg&celebrity=Damian Marley)
 06 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. Distributed by Universal Music ...&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/VJMTVD9rHDQ&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://0.gvt0.com/vi/VJMTVD9rHDQ/default.jpg&celebrity=Damian Marley)
 Youths dem ballin out Hear the ghetto youths dem ballin out Di youths dem ballin&39 ...&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/7Y6ihWvymwg&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://0.gvt0.com/vi/7Y6ihWvymwg/default.jpg&celebrity=Damian Marley)
