Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley

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i kind of like his recent single. here's the video:

http://www.ghettoyouths.com/jamrock.mov

what does people here think of him?

― Ô¿Ô (eman), Sunday, 3 July 2005 18:29 (nineteen years ago)

oops, does = do

― Ô¿Ô (eman), Sunday, 3 July 2005 18:43 (nineteen years ago)

I saw this video on MTV the other day and loved it. I am still not sure why I thought it was so good but I really liked it nonetheless.

― jmeister (jmeister), Sunday, 3 July 2005 18:45 (nineteen years ago)

it's an amazing single. when i first heard it on the second wasteland mix, however, i thought it was from the mid-late 80s at latest.

― strng hlkngtn, Sunday, 3 July 2005 19:18 (nineteen years ago)

i kind of like it, but i wish his voice wasn't so monotone. i think i like the chorus more than the verses.

― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Sunday, 3 July 2005 19:32 (nineteen years ago)

after all the digital bleepy dancehall rhythm shit, it's kind of refreshing to hear a roots-throwback type thing. i know sizzle and capleton and others do it too but it usually comes out overproduced, too clean-sounding. like strng said, this has an older feel to it, partly due to the sample in the chorus

― Ô¿Ô (eman), Sunday, 3 July 2005 19:41 (nineteen years ago)

gotta be my fave single of the year by far!!! my favorite part is the vocal-- in the first verse he croons just a bit after 3 or 4 lines and it sounds amazing. it fits perfect on the new saul williams mixtape that nick catchdubs did last week-- real niggery. theres also a biggie remix, but its not as good. ...and there was even a great, straightforward yet still interesting, pitchfork review (anyone else like the singles reviews WAY better than the album reviews) aite i can get of daim's nuts now....

--------------------------
Damian Marley: "Welcome to Jamrock"
genre: reggae

For the last few years, dancehall has been an embarrassment of riches. Lightspeed handclaps, ravey lazer-bleep synths, digital Bollywood sitars, the Cure's "Close to Me"-- dancehall has absorbed all this stuff and turned it into irresistible, joyous, beautiful pop music. So when old-school one-drop beats came back into vogue in the past year, it seemed like the end of a ridiculously fertile period.

But "Welcome to Jamrock" is everything we loved about reggae in the first place: an obliteratingly huge, spacey bass, echoes of chopped-up guitars floating ominously, drums slamming through chest cavities, airhorns and sirens all over the track, a lonely ghost piano moaning over the outro. The song's lyrics take an old conceit (you will get fucked up in my neighborhood) and then give it an edge of despair and fury by turning it political on the second verse: "To see the sufferation sicken me/ Them suit no fit me, to win an election they trick me/ And they don't do nothing at all." And then there's that vocal. Damien Marley sounds like he eats white-hot gravel for breakfast every morning and brushes his teeth with lava, but occasionally he lets it turn into a gorgeous coo for just a few syllables at the end of a few lines before turning back into fire and brimstone. I hope I don't go to hell for saying it, but I like "Welcome to Jamrock" as much as anything Marley's father ever did. [Tom Breihan]

― supertwerp (supertwerp), Sunday, 3 July 2005 20:00 (nineteen years ago)

So does anyone know what the sample on this is from ("Out in the streets we call it. . . MURDERR")? It's also on Rude Boy Monty's "Out in the Streets".

It's quite good although I don't buy it as an antidote to "all the digital bleepy dancehall rhythm shit".

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Sunday, 3 July 2005 20:09 (nineteen years ago)

ini kamoze - world a reggae

― hold tight the private caller (mwah), Sunday, 3 July 2005 21:15 (nineteen years ago)

possibly

― hold tight the private caller (mwah), Sunday, 3 July 2005 21:17 (nineteen years ago)

i think you're right about the ini kamoze.

It's quite good although I don't buy it as an antidote to "all the digital bleepy dancehall rhythm shit".

i didn't mean that, as i like quite a bit of that stuff. however i do get tired of the pristine digitalness of alot of it though, [wuss] it can be ear-fatiguing [/wuss].

― Ô¿Ô (eman), Sunday, 3 July 2005 22:53 (nineteen years ago)

(cross out "however" or "though" as needed, my grammar is extra-shitty today)

― Ô¿Ô (eman), Sunday, 3 July 2005 22:55 (nineteen years ago)

It is Ini Kamoze's "World A Reggae" btw.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 4 July 2005 00:55 (nineteen years ago)

two months pass...

So the album has leaked and it's pretty okay (the Bounty Killer track at the end is quite good) but definitely not the mind-blowing masterpiece some folks have been selling it as.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 7 September 2005 16:30 (nineteen years ago)

strongo OTM

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 7 September 2005 16:52 (nineteen years ago)

Agreed, though I'm finding it gets better every time I listen to it.

― PeopleFunnyBoy (PeopleFunnyBoy), Wednesday, 7 September 2005 23:48 (nineteen years ago)

at first i was put off by the clean production, and ultra shiny stuff like the bobby brown-chorus track, but it's actually really, really solid. it explores a whole lotta styles in a wyclef way, and does it really well.

― paulhw (paulhw), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:46 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, I have to say, this record gets better with each listen. With the exception of the song Bobby Brown guests on, and the one where he calls abortion "murder", i basically love it.

― PeopleFunnyBoy (PeopleFunnyBoy), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 23:25 (nineteen years ago)

the album is very very strong

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 23:28 (nineteen years ago)

yeah i think this album is ridiculously solid. easily one of my faves of the year so far.

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 23:56 (nineteen years ago)

i wish it tried to get up in my face a bit more; 'strong' and 'solid' kinda sound like well-meaning euphemisms for it sitting there stoic until u have to get up and cross the room to give it a firm respectful handshake... i spose d marley knows jamrock's strength ws in its lack of faddishness.

(its weird hearing jamrock as like a track 3 in clean cd quality and not on some imagined grainy radio slumming)

thing is, also, if u listen to it top to toe, bounty killer on 'khaki suit' is such a sudden breath of ahhh charismatic realness that u kinda forget what u've been doing the past hour

― hold tight the private caller (mwah), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 00:01 (nineteen years ago)

this is fantastic. Pretty much the only dud that stands out is the track with Black Thought, even that's pretty good when Marley's on.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Tuesday, 20 September 2005 03:14 (nineteen years ago)

ihttp://zbands.com/images/sea28074.jpg
"Welcome to Jam Rock"

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 20 September 2005 03:25 (nineteen years ago)

Failed images aside, I dig the single

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 20 September 2005 03:27 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah "Khaki Suit" makes me wish the record was more Jamaica and less hip-hop cross-over attempts.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 20 September 2005 04:37 (nineteen years ago)

Alex, I dig this a lot -- what recent/new album should I buy?

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 05:57 (nineteen years ago)

"This" meaning the album as a whole; I'd love to get your suggestions.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 08:23 (nineteen years ago)

I'm not sure I'm the person to ask as I don't know a tremendous amount about the new one-drop guys and I've mostly been buying riddim albums this year (Sleepy Dog, Bionic Ras and Drop Leaf are the best of that crop.) Sizzla's Soul Deep album is good (although if you own a bunch of Sizzla albums I don't know how necessary a purchase it is) as is T.O.K.'s album (although it could definitely have been better) and I now have high hopes for the new Sean Paul out next week. Anyone got any comment on the I-Wayne (which I've not heard much good about) or the Jah Cure (which I've heard is quite good, but which I have certain moral problems purchasing myself--unless I find it for under $5 which I haven't. I can deal with giving convicted rapists $5, more than that guilts me.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 14:22 (nineteen years ago)

Cool. I'll hunt for these. Thanks much!

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 18:24 (nineteen years ago)

whenever I see "jr. gong" I always want it to say "jr. dong"

JUNIOR DONG!

― jb, Wednesday, 21 September 2005 19:41 (nineteen years ago)

definitely in my top ten so far...

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 19:43 (nineteen years ago)

I don't understand what's so remarkable about "Welcome to Jamrock" -- can someone let me know? It just sounds like an old-school reggae song.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 19:48 (nineteen years ago)

(I mean, as far as I'm concerned, the most remarkable thing is that it's being played on MTV in 2005 -- but the song itself? Meh.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 19:48 (nineteen years ago)

do you dislike old school reggae? or is this some weirdo modernism argument?

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 19:49 (nineteen years ago)

JUNIOR DONG!

― jb, Wednesday, 21 September 2005 19:52 (nineteen years ago)

Well, I've never been especially crazy about old-school reggae, but I'm also having trouble figuring out what is especially awesome about this version of it.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 19:58 (nineteen years ago)

the groove sounds very good played loud, the lyrics are actually pretty good, i think marley has a good voice though he sounds better on other tracks than this one, some of us actually value having something "righteous" to get behind after all the po pimpin (or instrumental dance) (or unintelligble metal) (or whatever) music we listen to, and the sample pwns.

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:01 (nineteen years ago)

otm!!

it also pretty much sounds loud at any volume

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:02 (nineteen years ago)

i love the album quite a bit but the thing is that's basically just a right thinkin pop album not some "jamaican fear of a black planet" people had been expecting.

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:04 (nineteen years ago)

I love the part where he gets into his BMW and drives out of the ghetto. Seriously, does nobody have a problem with the carpetbagging?

― jb, Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:05 (nineteen years ago)

i guess i should hear this album huh?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:06 (nineteen years ago)

I just listened to it again, and it is good. Perhaps I will play at loud when I get home.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:20 (nineteen years ago)

slocki, users.stargate.net/~logik/mp3/black/

also, to repeat what i said on the ska/rocksteady/reggae thread, when i went to the local Reggae/dancehall store sorta recently and complained that dancehall sucked this year, the guy told me that it's been a super hot and super violent summer in Jamaica and people need something more mellow to listen to, so roots has been what's really hawt lately and this "Welcome to Jamrock" song is one of the most popular songs like ever down there.

― Jaxon (jaxon), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:24 (nineteen years ago)

yeah in doing research for the piece, apparently the murder rate is up 25% from 2004

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:29 (nineteen years ago)

tho obv due to police corruption, murder rates in JA are not exactly 100% accurate

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:30 (nineteen years ago)

I have to hear this as well.

xpost, thanks Jaxon.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:31 (nineteen years ago)

Y'all have got me convinced. Hoping I don't have to go to

― k/l (Ken L), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:33 (nineteen years ago)

this thread after I get it.

― k/l (Ken L), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:34 (nineteen years ago)

dude, there's alink to a download, don't "buy" it

also, there's a new sean paul? didn't even know anything about it.

― Jaxon (jaxon), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 20:48 (nineteen years ago)

It's been oft-delayed. I just realized it was ACTUALLY coming out next week a couple of days ago.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 22:11 (nineteen years ago)

It took "We Be Burnin" awhile to hit pop radio 'round here. Didnt it drop last year?

― deej.., Wednesday, 21 September 2005 22:23 (nineteen years ago)

The original 7" did on the Stepz riddim did (the Bubble Up version was early this year, I think.) Either way neither one was released as a single by Atlantic until just this month.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 22:27 (nineteen years ago)

Anyone who hasn't heard this or is not finding it as amazing as people are describing, LISTEN TO IT AGAIN.... took me a couple weeks to appreciate the album as a whole aside from "road to zion" and "jamrock," but its turning out to be a really solid repeated listen... at first it seemed way too clean and polished for me, especially within the context of the lyrical content, but its straight fire nearly all the way through... and the lack of a lotta grit does make it sound really great LOUD(even though that might sound like a backwards ass statement)

― capnkickass (gloriagaynor), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 23:14 (nineteen years ago)

jaxon thx!#!!#!

― amon (eman), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 23:54 (nineteen years ago)

alex, re the i-wayne and jah cure albums, you were correctly informed... the i-wayne is pretty atrocious, feels like its 4 hours long... extremely grating, just by being "on a good vibe" in a ridiculously maudlin way, on some richard simmons shit or somethin....
jah cure is pretty damn good... still "on a good vibe," more than you'd think from that guy, but much more tuneful... its not as good as jamrock, and probably not worth more than 5 bux even if he wasnt convicted as such... email me if you want to check it out...

― capnkickass (gloriagaynor), Thursday, 22 September 2005 00:45 (nineteen years ago)

i had forgotten about starting this thread, so i never had checked out the album...

there are some keepers here, "master has come back", "khaki suit", "move." and i can see "all night" becoming a pop hit. the rest is sort of ehh. and what the fuck was he thinking using autotuned vocals, and in two songs in a row?! autotune = cher ffs

― amon (eman), Thursday, 22 September 2005 00:59 (nineteen years ago)

autotune shows up quite a bit in dancehall tho, doesnt it? mostly as a "ooh listen to me" sound effect tho.

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 22 September 2005 01:02 (nineteen years ago)

The autotuned tracks ("Hey Girl," "For the Babies") are great. It's used as an audio effect, like a voicebox (whatever that thing where you sing into a tube is called), not as a way to stay in tune (ala Cher).

"Hey Girl" has the chorus of the year.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Thursday, 22 September 2005 04:05 (nineteen years ago)

ummmm....
id agree theyre obv used as effects, and its all over the place, but on "for the babies" especially it sounds exactly like fuckin cher...
either way, shits awesome

― capnkickass (gloriagaynor), Thursday, 22 September 2005 04:40 (nineteen years ago)

"Road to Zion" up on Said the Gramophone. The album's great.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Thursday, 22 September 2005 07:45 (nineteen years ago)

I kind of like the single, but not loads. They played a live radio 1 session version of the single on the radio yesterday, though, and it was fucking great!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 22 September 2005 08:03 (nineteen years ago)

I think Cher was using it as an effect! Try the last couple of Backstreet Boys as an 'in tune' example.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Thursday, 22 September 2005 12:31 (nineteen years ago)

I wasn't blown away by the single (it's not even a one-drop beat, just 2 & 4!), but some of the other tracks I've bounced around to are pretty fucking good. There's some $$$ production on this album for sure.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 22 September 2005 13:12 (nineteen years ago)

what's a "one drop beat"?

― Jaxon (jaxon), Thursday, 22 September 2005 15:29 (nineteen years ago)

I understand it as the reggae beat with no bass drum on the downbeats (1 & 3), and bass or bass + rimclick/snare on the upbeats (2 & 4). Or, if you're counting in doubletime, there's just one accented beat per bar (on 3).

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 22 September 2005 15:34 (nineteen years ago)

I like this album a lot, but would like it 7% more if it were not for the jazz-lite sax that arrives at the intro of the Bobby Brown song. Also, thr Black Thought lost-girl song is cliched and dull, but apart from that, love it.

― paulhw (paulhw), Thursday, 22 September 2005 16:27 (nineteen years ago)

the jazz-lite sax solo does kinda fit bobby brown's appearance tho in a way

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 22 September 2005 16:28 (nineteen years ago)

"Beautiful" is the Bobby song, right? It's pretty corny, yeah, but in kind of a fun way?

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 22 September 2005 16:38 (nineteen years ago)

what's a "one drop beat"?

Example: "There For You" off this record is what I think of as a one-drop beat, and a hot one at that.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 22 September 2005 16:39 (nineteen years ago)

The sax solo on "Beautiful" is the first sax solo that hasn't completely ruined whatever song was playing.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Thursday, 22 September 2005 17:17 (nineteen years ago)

I think we have a winner on our hands.

― k/l (Ken L), Friday, 23 September 2005 19:43 (nineteen years ago)

I reaaallly like at least five or six tunes on here.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 23 September 2005 19:58 (nineteen years ago)

Just heard a clip of (presumably) the single on the MOBO awards.

It's been quite a while ('Til Shiloh? Black Woman & Child?) since I heard any new reggae that's grabbed me like that.... OK, possibly 'cos I haven't been looking (and frankly a hitherto unheard-of son of Bob Marley would have been one of the last places I'd have looked for it!).... so I was really glad to find this thread:

Is this really as good as it sounded or am I just more pissed and nostalgic than I realised?

Have I missed anything else this good in the last 10 years?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Friday, 23 September 2005 22:44 (nineteen years ago)

Re-reading the thread, the references to Sean Paul are starting to make me nervous: I bought Dutty Rock 2-3 years ago expecting great things based on similar sort of evidence (an appearance on Jonatrhon Woss's show iirc) that's just led me to order Welcome To Jamrock - and that turned out to be disappointingly mediocre.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Friday, 23 September 2005 22:59 (nineteen years ago)

Stewart, I am an old geezer like you and I'm liking it a lot.

― k/l (Ken L), Friday, 23 September 2005 23:18 (nineteen years ago)

The only Sean Paul song that I've heard that sounds like anything on Jamrock is "I'm Still In Love With You."

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Friday, 23 September 2005 23:20 (nineteen years ago)

i'll be happy if sean paul and his "dutty yeah" never grace my eardrums ever again.

― amon (eman), Friday, 23 September 2005 23:39 (nineteen years ago)

Is there any older reggae as uptempo as "All Night" (even "Welcome to Jamrock"), or do I have to start looking to ragga/dancehall?

I could never get into Junior Marvin or most older reggae because it's just a little too slow for me, but I love this sound sped up a bit.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Saturday, 24 September 2005 03:01 (nineteen years ago)

what's a "one drop beat"?
Thanks for the explanation, Jordan. I knew the term and knew the beat, but never put two and two together. Another example: "Police and Thieves."

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 26 September 2005 21:40 (nineteen years ago)

I guess people often oppose "one drop" to "rockers," which has a four-on-the-floor bass drum. Or so they tell me.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 26 September 2005 21:52 (nineteen years ago)

milo I assume you aren't interested in ska?
there's some early reggae that has a frenetic pace. try clancy eccles presents his royal revue. the trojan "tighten up" box has a lot of uptempo numbers. or are you looking for stuff not quite that old, ie late 60s?

― oops (Oops), Monday, 26 September 2005 22:34 (nineteen years ago)

I guess people often oppose "one drop" to "rockers," which has a four-on-the-floor bass drum.

Is that what "rockers" is associated with? I love that beat.

I guess I group that together with one-drop stuff in my head, as opposed to clave-based dancehall beats (basically any pattern with a dotted eighth-note in it).

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 26 September 2005 22:45 (nineteen years ago)

I LOVE DAMIAN JR. GONG MARLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

― *!*Danielle*!* Lumpkin*!*, Sunday, 2 October 2005 18:30 (nineteen years ago)

The new sean paul album is GREAT.

― deej.., Sunday, 2 October 2005 20:48 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

This album still rocks. "Traffic Jam", too. Where's Damian at?

― The Reverend, Monday, 26 May 2008 05:11 (seventeen years ago)

you haven't heard "The Mission"?

― The Brainwasher, Monday, 26 May 2008 05:28 (seventeen years ago)

MASSIVE song this year... also "Shoot Out" w/ Mykal Rose... I think he's coming out with a new album this year sometime.

― The Brainwasher, Monday, 26 May 2008 05:29 (seventeen years ago)

The Mission

for the youths in the struggle
fighting guerilla warfaaaaaaare
AAAAAAAAAAH
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

― The Brainwasher, Monday, 26 May 2008 05:35 (seventeen years ago)

you haven't heard "The Mission"?

-- The Brainwasher, Sunday, May 25, 2008 10:28 PM (Sunday, May 25, 2008 10:28 PM) Bookmark Link

MASSIVE song this year...

-- The Brainwasher, Sunday, May 25, 2008 10:29 PM (Sunday, May 25, 2008 10:29 PM) Bookmark Link

Dude, I live in lolsuburban lolSeattle. You don't hear new reggae out here except for Sean Paul Clear Channel hits. (Nothing against Sean Paul Clear Channel hits, though.) Thanks for putting me up on this.

― The Reverend, Monday, 26 May 2008 05:54 (seventeen years ago)

seven months pass...

OUT IN THE STREETS THEY CALL IT MUUUUUURDAAAAH

― The Reverend, Monday, 5 January 2009 05:26 (sixteen years ago)

and what the fuck was he thinking using autotuned vocals, and in two songs in a row?! autotune = cher ffs

― amon (eman), Wednesday, September 21, 2005 8:59 PM (3 years ago)

lol @ antiquated futile autotune complaint

― eman, Monday, 5 January 2009 05:41 (sixteen years ago)

Just recently learned that his mom was beauty contest winner.

― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 5 January 2009 05:43 (sixteen years ago)

Wasn't that everywhere in dancehall pre-T-Pain? (nb: I have no idea what I'm talking about, but it at least seems like it)

― The Reverend, Monday, 5 January 2009 05:44 (sixteen years ago)

it was there (i didn't know this at the time) but i wouldn't say everywhere, not like it is now

― eman, Monday, 5 January 2009 05:54 (sixteen years ago)

hi welcome to jamrock

― jihad¯\㋡/¯ (ice cr?m), Monday, 5 January 2009 05:56 (sixteen years ago)

six months pass...

WELCOME TO JAMROCK

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 11 July 2009 23:56 (fifteen years ago)

OUT IN THE STREETS THEY CALL IT MUUUUUURDAAAAH

― The Reverend, Sunday, January 4, 2009 9:26 PM Bookmark

― cank sunny ade (The Reverend), Sunday, 12 July 2009 07:32 (fifteen years ago)

It is Ini Kamoze's "World A Reggae" btw.
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 4 July 2005 00:55 (4 years ago) Bookmark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvrYgcsC09k

― Daniel Giraffe, Sunday, 12 July 2009 08:09 (fifteen years ago)

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