The youngest of the Marley family, whose deep routes in music need not be explained to anyone, Damien “Jr. Gong” Marley drops second major label album with Welcome To Jamrock, and incredibly honest, intelligent effort with unparalleled production genius. Bringing together many different genres like Reggae, Hip Hop, R&B, and Dancehall in excellent fashion, this young Marley has already made a huge impact of bringing a brilliant new sound to the airwaves.
The first single is the title track that caught on quickly, and surprisingly on the radio. Not many people would have predicted the success of “Welcome To Jamrock,” simply because of it’s brutal honesty and political statement, but this formula seems to have gained the ear of many commercial listeners, which is incredibly welcome in this day of mindless entertainment. Marley flows nicely over a hard-hitting, bass heavy production ensemble, and provides a catchy hook that engulfs the listener throughout the song.
The most intriguing track on the album is the opener, “Confrontation” which takes the brutal honesty of the lead single a little further, and sounds like he’s declaring war, but through his music, with emotionally charged samples of speeches, as well as a beautiful production effort, which he worked on with his brother Stephen Marley. Combining symphonic strings, live drums, with a many other instruments, the production put together portrays an immediacy through the sound, and makes the listener picture the serious setting of a revolution in incredible fashion. Jr. Gong delivers the conscious and revolutionary lyrics with ease, and this song in itself would be worth the price of the album.
Damien Marley also recruited an A-list of talent to help him out on this effort, such as rappers Nas and Black Thought of The Roots, and R&B legend Bobby Brown. These guest appearances, as well as Marley’s incredible production and incredible lyrics in tackling many different subjects, make this album an incredible effort from yet another piece of this musically talented family. |