Damian Marley continues to honor the Marley legacy in his personal approach as an artist carving his personal path. The Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and producer stays on the forefront of the reggae style for his music, collaborations, producing of different artists, and his very personal reggae cruise.

The Welcome To Jamrock Reggae Cruise set sail final month for its seventh installment, the primary annual voyage because the cruise was placed on hiatus because of the worldwide COVID pandemic.

Upfront of the ship’s departure, we have been capable of meet up with Marley by way of Zoom and be taught extra about his music creation course of, his relationship with hashish—hashish consumption, hashish activism, and hashish reform—and the inspiration behind making a reggae pageant on water.

Excessive Occasions: You’ve been performing music for many of your life. Do you bear in mind the start line?

Damian Marley: We began off doing performances in my aunt’s front room till my aunt determined to take us on the highway. We then began doing issues like Mom’s Day reveals and Valentine’s Day reveals, little women’ birthday events—issues like that in Jamaica.

Excessive Occasions: Did you ever think about you’d someday go from that to headlining your individual pageant cruise?

Damian Marley: We weren’t the primary folks to provide you with a musical cruise however there had by no means actually been a profitable reggae cruise. It’s one thing my supervisor, Dan [Dalton], delivered to my consideration—that there’ve been different genres doing cruises. The entire tradition of a cruise—going to an island, being out within the solar, out on the ocean and all that stuff—lends itself very nicely to the tradition of reggae music. Nonetheless, there was hesitation if our fanbase was financially capable of go on a cruise, and naturally we ended up proving that we do have the market to have the ability to do this.

The thought of the Caribbean sea, solar, and climate, going to Jamaica, the music, and all this stuff—it goes hand in hand [with reggae] and it’s form of shocking that it truly hadn’t been achieved earlier than. However right here we’re, those who truly executed the concept.

Excessive Occasions: When it comes to concepts, what function does hashish play in your artistic course of?

Damian Marley: Hashish performs a extremely massive function in my life typically. I’m burning a spliff as I’m talking to you now, so what function does it not play? It’s form of laborious to say. It’s part of my day-to-day routine. A lot of the issues I’m doing are beneath the affect of hashish [laughs].

Excessive Occasions: Is there a particular technique of consumption or particular pressure you like?

Damian Marley: Ocean Grown OG Kush tends to be certainly one of my favorites, however we nonetheless take pleasure in different strains, too. Selection is the spice of life in that approach.

I additionally often smoke, I don’t actually do many edibles or that form of stuff. It’s largely smoking, though I’d encourage folks not to smoke and as an alternative eat edibles as a result of smoking in itself shouldn’t be a wholesome behavior—however that’s simply what I do.

Excessive Occasions: Do you are feeling that the act of consumption opens you as much as different methods of considering or different non secular exercise?

Damian Marley: It places you in an area the place you have got time on your personal ideas, the place you possibly can hear your ideas a bit extra clearly. It helps you focus much less on the busyness round you and also you get extra unique to your individual ideas.

Excessive Occasions: As in placing your individual ideas beneath your individual form of microscope?

Damian Marley: Extra so that you simply get to listen to your individual voice extra clearly by silencing a number of the different voices round you.

Excessive Occasions: So it’s extra that it helps you block out distractions and different exterior elements and tune you in to you.

Damian Marley: Particularly after I was youthful. Now, after all, [smoking] is a part of my life so I don’t have the form of jolt and impact from whenever you simply begin smoking. However after highschool after I was smoking and studying the bible and studying about my religion as a Rastafari, you actually get to meditate and zone in by yourself voice and sure subjects another way.

Excessive Occasions: From a music standpoint, what can we be looking out for from you within the coming months?

Damian Marley: I’m about to start out making some music for myself proper now, so it’s a bit tough to say particularly what to search for, however you possibly can search for some music from me this 12 months. I’d assume we’ll most likely begin with a couple of singles main up into an album. We additionally not too long ago launched an album I produced for an artist by the identify of Kabaka Pyramid, the place myself and the workforce produced the complete album, and we’re actually happy with that.

Excessive Occasions: Is it the identical artistic enter that you simply present when producing a document for another person that you simply present for your self?

Damian Marley: We give one-hundred p.c when making music, no matter what we’re doing, you recognize what I imply?

Excessive Occasions: Whether or not you’re creating music for your self or another person, is there one thing you hope the viewers takes from it?

Damian Marley: Yeah, one thing that they want. So it’s not for me to say what they need to take, however we would like them to take one thing that they want, one thing that may profit their life in some form of approach.

One thing I at all times discover very attention-grabbing and such a pleasure is in how folks interpret songs and what they take from them. Generally with sure songs and sure lyrics, somebody would possibly discover a fully completely different which means from what I used to be making an attempt to say within the dialog of the lyrics. They interpreted it fully otherwise, and that’s at all times very attention-grabbing to see. So, it’s not for me to say what folks take away from it, however we would like them to take one thing that brings substance to their life and in some way impacts their life in a optimistic approach.

Excessive Occasions: So that you’re creating the substance from which different folks can have an expertise, however you’re not right here to dictate what that have is.

Damian Marley: We’re not telling you the right way to take the dosage, we’re simply making the medication.

Excessive Occasions: When it comes to the medication, what forms of hashish endeavors are you at present concerned in?

Damian Marley: Proper now, the model that we’re engaged on and supporting is known as Proof, however the general model that I and Dan are part of is known as Ocean Grown. The product that Ocean Grown is now presenting is known as Proof, which is clearly herb that you simply purchase and smoke. However the beauty of Proof is the work that we’re doing to assist individuals who have been locked up for herb develop into free.

With Proof, we’re additionally partnered with the group Final Prisoner Undertaking (LPP), and the entire purpose of this group is to assist people who find themselves locked up for marijuana and assist them acquire their freedom now that the hashish legal guidelines have modified. So we now have a better objective aside from making an attempt to simply promote herb and generate income. We wish to do this—don’t get me mistaken—however we’re doing a little nice work inside the group by way of this Proof model and thru LPP and thru what the entire motion stands for. We’re encouraging folks to take a look at that half to completely perceive what the motion is all about, whereas additionally having fun with the hashish.

Excessive Occasions: So the model has that social impression ingredient, which is de facto vital.

Damian Marley: Yeah, actually vital. Hashish customers are typically good individuals who wish to do good, so it goes hand in hand.  

Comply with @damianmarley and take a look at https://damianmarley.com for tickets, tour dates, and the most recent on the Welcome To Jamrock Reggae Cruise.

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