MUSIC REVIEWS
Damian Marley - Welcome To Jamrock
David Allun Jones
It must be hard being the offspring of a music icon while attempting a career in music. Before a single note is heard, everyone’s ready to compare their material to their relative’s, an unfair disadvantage that has quelled the success of many competent musicians. So on that note, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley’s work is nowhere near the same level as his legendary father Bob’s , but his latest album, Welcome To Jamrock, is a welcome throwback to the reggae movement of the early nineties when artists like Buju Banton, Beenie Man, Supercat, Shabba Ranks, Shaggy and Patra found equal airplay alongside it’s American hip hop and R&B cousins.
As reggaeton, dancehall and soca, in both pure and more pop-oriented formats, dominate the Ipod play lists of today, it almost seems have if the public forgot about the roots reggae sound it derives from. Marley’s left field radio hit “Welcome To Jamrock” brings everything full circle, though, making it the surprise smash of 2005. With it’s low budget music video and the lyric’s vivid honesty (the song introduces us to the tough streets of Jamaica where the politicians are corrupt, poverty is everywhere and the kids would rather tote guns than book bags), the song makes a strange bedfellow with the blinged out rhymes and million dollar video clips that have become the norm in the urban music world, yet ends up a welcome change of pace because of it. While the single unfortunately doesn’t set up the theme and the flow of the entire album, the disc still manages to be a great celebration of Marley’s committed island sound and intelligent artistry.
An effective blending of traditional love songs, spiritual odes and socially conscious informing, Marley makes sure that he equally entertains and educates, aware that a full reliance on one or the other can get a little numbing after awhile. The album starts off strong with the heavy handed “Confrontation”, which sounds like the aural equivalent of war with it’s explosive dancehall thrust as he fires off battle cries of intense combat while giving us a glimpse of the state of Jamaica from the perspective of the fed-up townspeople. It takes quite the opposite approach of “Jamrock”, but as a pair, they’re two of the most electric tracks off the album. Elsewhere, similarly serious minded tunes like the children’s lament “For The Babies”, Nas collabo “Road To Zion”, daddy-sampling “Move!” and the crack addict tale “Pimpa’s Paradise”, which offers the harrowing visuals of “broken crack pipes with lipstick traces” and a Black Thought verse, keep the mood straight-faced but no less entertaining.
Produced by Damian alongside his brother Stephen, it’s easily apparent that they have an exhaustive array of influences as the album does come across a little hodgepodge-y in sound. East Coast boom bap (“The Master Has Come Back”) in such close contact as giddy go-go pop (“All Night”) and the Neptunes-meets-80s R&B shuffle of “Beautiful” (a mainstream-geared thug love joint featuring a surprisingly ample guest hook from the graggly voiced Bobby Brown) make the album jump all over the place, a detriment when looked at in it’s entirety. It’s only a minor disturbance, though, since Damian confronts the diverse arrangements with ease, never once sounding awkward or unsure.
It’s always nice to come across an artist who can feed the mind and body and Welcome To Jamrock proves that Damian can accomplish both well. A talented artist in his own right, the fact that he’s related to such an inspiring icon makes this album’s impressiveness all the more sweeter.
