Damian Marley's "Road to Zion"

Many people recognize Bob Marley as the most influential and successful reggae artist of all time, and he certainly deserves this honor.  However, reggae music is certainly not a genre that is defined or even inspired by one singular artist; there were many influential reggae bands before Bob Marley and the Wailers, and reggae itself changed throughout the course of history as a reflection of the cultural and social conditions that fostered its emergence.  Much like many religions, reggae music has continued to change in response to the environment it interprets.  I recently had a chance to hear a song by Damian Marley, one of Bob Marley’s children, that nicely encapsulates this peculiar aspect of reggae music.  The song is called “Road to Zion”, and the music video for the song can be found by clicking here.

The first thing that struck me about this song was Damian Marley’s lyrics and the overall structure/backing beat of this song.  Unlike much of Bob Marley’s work, this song seemed to have a straight four-count beat with none of the off-beat rhythms that one traditionally associates with reggae music.  Furthermore, the “melody” for this song is comprised of a piano riff that is much more characteristic of Nas’s earlier work on Illmatic than Bob Marley’s distorted guitar, smooth basslines, and pulsating keyboards.  These differences didn’t really make sense until I looked at the lyrics; much of Damian’s lyrics are based on traditional Rastafarian ideas and conflicts (Clean and pure meditation without a doubt/Don't mek dem take you like who dem took out/Jah will be waiting there we a shout/Jah will be waiting there!), but a significant portion of his verses seem to comment more on current issues (Media clowns weh nuh know bout variety/Single parents weh need some charity/Instead of broken dreams and tragedy/By any plan and any means and strategy).  There were certainly elements of both rap and reggae music in this song, but it wasn’t until I watched the music video that I really understood the meaning of this crossover.

In the music video for Damian Marley’s “Road to Zion” there is plethora of Rastafarian symbols, ranging from the Ethiopian colors to the bible.  However, there is also a strong element of inter-city living/rap aesthetic found in this video.  This is primarily brought out by Nas, who has a verse in this song and plays a role in the music video.  However, two of Damian’s lines really struck me as un-Rastafarian: (Bust of trigger finger, trigger hand and trigger toe/A two gun mi have mi bust dem inna stereo).  These lines are really a step over into the gangster rap genre that I had certainly not anticipated.  There are definitely aspects of Rastafarian culture and music in this video (after Nas is captured and put in “prison”, Damian “frees” him by giving him a postcard with the lion of Judah on it, and he has a cart of books that he distributes to other prisoners), but these are often muddle with elements of rap that are sometimes in conflict with the original Rastafarian ideals.  However, for individuals living in America and dealing with different forms of oppression, perhaps this music and imagery is a more fitting interpretation of their experiences.  Damian Marley is certainly catering to a different audience with this style of music, but I find it interesting to see all the various aspects of Rastafarianism and reggae that have been reworked  to fit another style of music geared at a radically different demographic- modern American consumers of rap culture.  Much like religions reinterpret themselves as time progresses, the music of reggae has seemingly found a way to reinvent itself and establish a niche in the popular music market of today.