May 11th marks the 25th anniversary of Bob Marley’s death. He died of cancer in 1981 at the age of 36. He is already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He deserves to be considered a Hip Hop Hall of Famer as well.
right Why should the King of Reggae be ranked alongside the Princes of Hip Hop? Because rap was born in the Bronx, but it was conceived in Kingston, and Bob Marley played a part in its conception.
Turntablism has its roots on the streets of Jamaican cities. Starting in the 1950s, sound systems - traveling contraptions of speakers and turntables - competed for listeners around the island. The sound systems would have selectors or deejays who would employ witty patter over the songs they played to energize the crowd. This patter was called “toasting,” and it was considered an early version of rap.
Bob Marley came up in the sound system era. The Wailers were the greatest band to come out of the period. One of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ early songs, “Put It On,” helped popularize the use of the term “toasting.”
In fact, many of the early hip hop pioneers hail from Jamaica and the Caribbean. DJ Kool Herc was born in Jamaica, Grandmaster Flash was born in Barbados and Afrika Bambaataa has roots in Jamaica and Barbados. Voletta Wallace, mother of the Notorious B.I.G., was born on Jamaica’s North Coast. One of RUN-D.M.C.’s early tunes was titled “Roots, Rap, Reggae” - a play off of a song by Bob Marley - and pays tribute to the shared history of rap and reggae.
Today, there’s not much socially conscious mainstream hip hop. Much of top-40 rap celebrates materialism, banality or itself. Not that there’s anything wrong with that sometimes. There are days and nights where you just want to dance.
But Marley had bigger vision. His music addressed the sexual, the spiritual and the social. You can groove to his music, protest to his music and make romance to his music.
Some of today’s performers get it. Damian Marley, one of Bob’s sons, scored a hit album, Welcome to Jamrock, in part by drawing on his father’s music. During the recording of her last album, Caribbean teen queen Rihanna and dancehall star Sean Paul paid a visit to the Bob Marley museum for inspiration. Bono of U2 - whose group also mixes the social and spiritual - inducted Marley into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hasidic reggae-rapper, Matisyahu, aspires to the same sort of spiritual seriousness as Marley. Wyclef and Lauryn Hill have re-recorded Marley’s songs.
May 11th marks the 25th anniversary of Bob Marley’s death. Hip hop could move forward by looking back at Bob Marley’s example.
Christopher John Farley is the author of “Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley.” (Amistad/HarperCollins) (Click Here to purchase) Have a news tip? Email us.
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