In case you weren’t aware, Eddie Murphy is also a reggae artist. His latest offering “Oh Jah Jah,” finds the 54-year-old comedy legend playing a guitar and belting out revolutionary lyrics about police brutality and social injustice in his best Jamaican accent. Needless to say, the nearly four minute music video is a detour from the Eddie Murphy you might be used to.
“Police in street shooting down black babies/ Glory hallelujah for the young and the innocent Run for your life, time to strengthen our defenses” he sings.
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While Murphy also recorded another reggae track with Snoop Lion (remember him?) back in 2013 called “Red Light,” he ensures that he is no Rasta. Noting that the political nature of the song lends itself to the reggae genre, the comedian also divulged that he has a catalog of music that he has yet to release.
“Oh no, no. I’m not a Rasta. I’m doing a reggae track, reggae artists they say Jah, so I said Jah. I can call God Jah and not be a Rasta. The lyrics lent itself to this whole reggae feel,” he told Rolling Stone. “I wrote that track the first week that Ebola jumped off, and Ferguson was going on – it was pulled out of the headlines. To say this stuff, it has to be reggae. You can’t touch on none of this with an R&B track, because people will shut down to it. But do a roots reggae song that feels like Bob Marley type of stuff, you can say it.”
Watch Eddie Murphy’s “Oh Jah Jah” video above.