As his lips kissed the spliff on one end, the flame of his lighter caressed the other. Swallowing a velvet smoke of humility, he released a cloud of calm wrapped with that signature Marley smile. The timeless consistency of Stephen Marley’s musical journey over the decades has effortlessly placed him as a pantheon of Reggae music and rightfully so.
“Anyone who would view me as a genius in this business is very smart,” chuckled Marley with a quasi-smile.
“The thing is, we’ve put in the years – from 1979 I’ve been a professional. We’d come from school, you’d get a little time to play around then homework then rehearsal with the likes of We The People Band; so it really wasn’t like your typical after school laid-back vibe. Remember, we had a hit record at the time, Children Playing In The Streets, and on the rise you had Nadine Sutherland and Junior Tucker so there was a nice youth movement that was going on that was very professional. And over the years, obviously being around so many great professional people – from musicians to varied people in the industry – we developed into a force,” he continued while delivering a soupçon rendition of the Bob Marley-penned, Children Playing In The Streets.
Marley’s musical prowess has truly culminated since the days of the Melody Makers and etched his name amongst some of the world’s best producers. From Berry Gordy and Quincy Jones to Timbaland and Pharrell Williams, Marley presents himself as much more than your typical beat maker. “It really goes with who we are and the privileges that we grew with and, a lot of that has to do with being around great musicians and loving music….but more importantly taking the time to learn the music and truly understanding it,” Marley explains. “So we were very privileged to have had those tools at our disposal and we could literally walk into the studio at any given time. But definitely we don’t just make beats…we produce.”
Although he doesn’t perform locally on a consistent basis, his musical presence and influence is still felt and widely respected. Having delivered a masterfully-laced set at the 25th staging of Reggae Sumfest 2017, Marley’s musical blitzkrieg added his own gravitas to the Reggae concert, showcasing his rollicking gumbo of spoken-word, Soul, Funk, Jazz, Rock, Hip-Hop, Reggae and Dancehall.
“Sumfest…it was a great vibe yuh know,” quipped Marley as he reignites his spliff and took a puff. “A good night; good music with good people. I really enjoyed the show. To tell the truth, I believe this was my first solo performance in Jamaica in the longest while and you know the people haven’t really seen me perform here in a while, so my band and I were really excited to give them a taste of what the world sees. To be honest, I wouldn’t say my lack of performances in Jamaica is strategic cause you know they use to say the same about our father – that he doesn’t do enough shows here – we go out into the world so much that sometimes you just want to be home and have that home vibes without having to worry or think too much about the performance at hand. At the same time scheduling has a lot to do with our lack of visibility locally. For most of the main shows that are held in Jamaica, we’re normally touring during that period. It just so happens that this time I’m available.”
With the Pitbull-led single, Options, heating up various charts globally, Marley continues to display his versatility and languid ability to chameleon himself to the sound of ‘today’ without losing a step in his stride. “Pitbull came and visited us at the Lion’s Den studio in Miami and he really came to lay vocals on my record, When She Dances,” Marley confessed before pelting out the chorus of said single. “So that’s how we meet up for him to give me a verse on that and from that he had his record coming up and I gave him an energy on Options.”
Of course with Damian Marley’s latest opus, Stony Hill, Stephen helped to hone the audio puzzle while lending his vocals to Medication, Grown & Sexy and Perfect Picture a record – and for the most part it’s just a matter of how the creativity comes…….
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #4– September-October 2017