- 4 minutes ago
Ziggy Marley is keeping the good vibes going! The nine-time Grammy Award winner joined us on Joann Butler In Studio With... as he celebrates the release of Brightside, his first full-length album in eight years, and his new children's book, True to Myself. Inspired by his hit song of the same name, the picture book delivers an empowering message of self-esteem, kindness, and community to a younger generation. The reggae superstar is taking a fresh approach to music with his ninth solo studio album, experimenting with a different recording frequency and joining forces with Sheila E., Trombone Shorty, and Jake Shimabukuro. Music and family have always gone hand in hand for Marley, who grew up surrounded by the legendary sounds of Bob Marley and The Wailers. In fact, he says he was visiting recording studios practically from birth! But behind the music icon the world knew was a father Ziggy remembers as “tough on the outside, soft on the inside.” Now a father of seven himself, Marley is carrying those early life lessons into his own music, parenting, and passion for spreading positivity. This is a LifeMinute with Ziggy Marley.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00The only reason why I do music is because I'm inspired to say something.
00:05You did a tribute to your dad.
00:06He was really deep in my consciousness.
00:08I see him as my father, but I never really looked at him on my life.
00:12I'm much older than him now.
00:13Why he was so young?
00:14He was a young kid when he passed away.
00:16It was the first time I kind of realized that.
00:19This album is a great representation of where I am now.
00:22I've matured into it.
00:24I feel like I have a deeper relationship with the songs.
00:26I spent more time with the songs.
00:28Sitting in on the Wailers recordings at just 10 years old.
00:31Younger than that.
00:32Wow.
00:33When I was born, I was born into it, you know.
00:35We've been through many experiences.
00:37My father gets shot, my mother gets shot, ups and downs.
00:40Even when we didn't have a lot, we were happy.
00:44I don't believe in that name thing.
00:45It's not about the morality.
00:47It's about who you are as a human being.
00:49We always learned humility.
00:50We learned that from the example that my mother and my father said.
00:53Just the basic foundation of how to be a good person.
00:56Hey, what's up?
00:58You're watching Joan Butler in the studio with me, Ziggy Marley.
01:02Nine time Grammy award winning musician, Emmy winner, producer, humanitarian, Ziggy Marley
01:08in the house.
01:09Woo hoo.
01:10Yeah.
01:10Welcome to Life Minute.
01:11Good to be here.
01:12So honored to have you.
01:14How are you doing?
01:15Doing good.
01:16Doing good.
01:16Feeling good.
01:17Happy.
01:18Good.
01:19Aw, you lookit.
01:20So tell us what you got going on.
01:22A new book.
01:23Start with that.
01:23Yeah, we have a new book, yeah.
01:25We have a new kids book for children called True To Myself.
01:28It's kind of based upon one of my songs, which is called True To Myself.
01:32Twenty years ago I did an album called Love Is My Religion.
01:35It's a fan favorite, that song.
01:37We kind of put a kids book together with that idea of being true to who you are.
01:41I feel like the message within the book is like, there's goodness within us.
01:46That is who you truly are.
01:47That goodness that's in you, that's who you truly are.
01:50And you must be true to that.
01:52So, you know, there's a good message for the kids then, you know, for, don't be afraid
01:56to be good, you know.
01:58I love that.
01:58To be loving, you know.
01:59That's who you truly are, you know.
02:01Yep.
02:01I love it.
02:02How do you stay true to yourself in everyday life?
02:05Well, you know, I mean, for me personally, my experience with my consciousness, you know,
02:10we have a voice inside of us that speaks, I have a voice inside of me that speaks truth
02:15to me.
02:17Even if I try to lie to myself, that voice will be like, no, that's not the truth, you
02:21know.
02:22So I try to follow that voice and I've developed that voice throughout the years.
02:25And I trust that voice.
02:27It's just being natural, not putting up a wall, you know.
02:33The wall comes up if necessary.
02:35But I don't start with a wall.
02:37I start with an open door.
02:39You know what I mean?
02:39That is, that is who I am.
02:41And so that is how I be true to myself is by just starting with an open door for everyone.
02:46You know what I mean?
02:47If I build a wall, I build a wall because that's also being true to myself too.
02:50Every day I do it.
02:51Every day I wake up, all right, yo, you have to exercise today, bro.
02:55Come on, come on, you know.
02:56Like, that's, you know that's true.
02:58Let's go, you know.
02:59Even if I don't feel like it, I'm like, yo, that voice is saying, bro, it's been two
03:03days if you come on and get something going.
03:05So it's that inner voice that I have developed that speaks truth to me, you know.
03:11And even like sometimes, like if I do something wrong, you know, and if I do something wrong
03:16in my day, or maybe how I react to somebody or how I interact with somebody and I don't
03:22feel good about that, then I realize, you know, I did something wrong.
03:26You know, I didn't treat that movement properly within myself.
03:29I know that.
03:30And I correct myself going forward, you know what I'm saying?
03:34So it's about, it's about understanding that we're not perfect too and we'll make mistakes,
03:39but realizing that we make mistakes and be responsible for those mistakes and try to
03:44better yourself.
03:45That's that true voice within me that speaks those things also, you know.
03:48It's a gift because so many people struggle with finding that voice, you know, and remembering
03:53it.
03:53True.
03:54Especially now.
03:55How has being a father of seven helped you write this book?
03:59The book comes from a song.
04:01It comes from a life.
04:02Most of my songs I feel like it's for all ages, my music.
04:06But it's just the experiences of having kids at a young age and, you know, as I said,
04:10I made mistakes and learning from them and then understanding that the original idea for this song,
04:16which is now the book, came from me having to make decisions and a decision that would affect
04:22not just myself but others.
04:25But it's either I chose to stay in a situation where it hurts everyone, but then you're not
04:33hurt anymore going forward.
04:34You know what I mean?
04:36Learn from it.
04:36Yeah.
04:37That's how it is.
04:38My whole life is a teaching experience.
04:41And so it's all a part of that having kids.
04:43Everything is a part of, everything that I express is all a part of my experiences in
04:48life.
04:48Yeah.
04:49Obviously you're carrying the torch for your dad.
04:51Yeah.
04:51The legacy is the same way.
04:53What did you learn from him?
04:54Yeah.
04:55I mean, he was true to himself, but specifically I learned from him that hard work, discipline,
05:02being of service to others, using the gift that we get as a tool, not just for ourselves.
05:07My family grew up like that.
05:09We always learned humility.
05:11We learned that from the example that my mother and my father said, my grand aunt.
05:15We grew up learning to have manners, respect your elders.
05:20Just the basic foundation of how to be a good person was set by my parents.
05:25Not even by speaking, but just by how they lived their life and what we saw as kids growing
05:31up and that we emulate today.
05:34I love it.
05:35Let's talk about the tour a little bit.
05:37Yeah.
05:38Sixteen dates.
05:39I don't even know.
05:40I don't count the dates.
05:40You don't even know where you're going.
05:41You're just going.
05:43It doesn't really matter to me.
05:45People ask me, where are you going next?
05:46I don't know.
05:47Because I don't really care.
05:49I'm just doing it.
05:50It doesn't really matter to me.
05:52Just doing it and loving it.
05:53Yeah.
05:53I'm just doing it, man.
05:54Because it's a part of who we are.
05:56We have to do it.
05:58We have a purpose.
05:59We have a purpose.
06:01It's not just to come and make some money.
06:05Yeah.
06:05But we have a bigger purpose.
06:08The music that we bring to the audience, it carries a message in it.
06:13It carries different ideas, different consciousness.
06:15What I've been experiencing recently on the tours is that people need it.
06:21We need it.
06:22I need it.
06:24And it's something that is missing within the musical experience now.
06:28A lot of things are just entertainment, which is good.
06:32But a lot of things are not feeding the consciousness or expressing what we're going through in the world today
06:39in a way that is beneficial.
06:42You know, so I feel like we have a real purpose behind what we're doing.
06:48I'm happy to fulfill my purpose in life, you know.
06:51We're happy too.
06:52Yeah.
06:53What's the difference for you between recording in a studio and playing live?
06:57Yeah, two different experiences.
06:58Because recording in a studio is like, I like recording.
07:03I mean, creating the songs, I like that.
07:05I like the creative process.
07:06It's a spiritual process for me.
07:07It puts me in touch with something beyond the material world.
07:11When I write songs and create, it's like, it's magical.
07:14And I'm always fascinated by it because I don't know how it works.
07:18You know what I mean?
07:18I know I can't make a word or come up with some stuff, but it's fascinating how it works to
07:23me.
07:24I don't know how I do it.
07:26Me either.
07:28You know, but I mean, some of it is practical, but a lot of it is unexplainable to me.
07:33Maybe if somebody watches me, they can't explain it to me, but I can't explain it to myself.
07:39So I like the creative process.
07:40I like going in the studio, you know, experiment.
07:42I like experimenting like a scientist and trying different things.
07:46And I love that because it keeps my mind active.
07:49It keeps me fresh.
07:50It just, I love creating.
07:52Yeah, yeah.
07:53But once you create that, it is what it is.
07:56I tell my band members that we're not just playing music.
07:59You know, I know I did an album and we're playing the songs from that album that I made.
08:02But I'm not just playing that music.
08:04We're still making music.
08:06And so I'm still creating even the songs that I did before, I already made.
08:10I'm still like developing them and changing them and like fine tuning them for the live show.
08:18Yeah.
08:18Because it's a different experience that.
08:20It's not the same as the album.
08:21Yeah.
08:21So I like tinkering and like just changing stuff.
08:26And the live shows, I mean the interaction with people and speaking to people directly
08:30and looking at people and feeling the energy between us and people.
08:35I really love that too, you know.
08:37So that's the difference, you know.
08:38The studio is like you're kind of isolated.
08:41The live shows you're a part of the people, you know.
08:44Yeah.
08:45That's so cool.
08:45I love it.
08:46I love it.
08:46And besides giving us great music, which is the most healing of all, you're a humanitarian.
08:51You want to tell us a little bit about that, some of the things you do?
08:53Humanitarian?
08:54Yeah, we just try to be good people, man.
08:56Just try helping people.
08:57You know, that's all.
08:58It's not that complicated.
08:59If you have the ability to help someone, you help someone.
09:02And we have the ability to help someone.
09:04So we have a charity called Urge.
09:07And before we had a charity, we was doing charitable work, you know.
09:10We have kids, mainly children, education, some, you know, hungry kids.
09:17We adopt schools.
09:18We have one in Jamaica.
09:19We adopted more.
09:20Trying to help kids have a better education, have a better life, and set a good foundation.
09:26And we work with other charities as well.
09:29Because for me, you know, sometimes people ask me, how can I help you?
09:34I say, don't worry.
09:36Like, the first thing you can do is help your community.
09:39Who you are around, even before you come to me.
09:42That's what I want you to do.
09:43That's how you can help me.
09:44You can help me by helping your community where you are.
09:46And that's where charity starts, you know.
09:49A lot of our shows, we donate like a certain, like a dollar from each ticket goes to the charity.
09:55And that helps us keep it going.
09:58And, you know, yeah.
09:59So just being helpful people, you know.
10:01That's great.
10:02So nice.
10:03Bright Side, let's talk a little bit about that.
10:05Your latest record.
10:07Even the title is Bright and Sunny.
10:09Yeah.
10:10The album centered on healing and optimism, everything you stand for.
10:14Yeah.
10:14Bright Side is a milestone for me.
10:16A few milestones in my life, musically speaking.
10:20Love is my religion 20 years ago was one.
10:23Because that was the time I kind of, my consciousness, I walk into the idea of love is my religion.
10:28That's my answer to the question.
10:30Love is my religion.
10:32And then with Bright Side now, it is part of my growth.
10:38Part of my understanding of myself, really.
10:42Understanding myself more.
10:44And being more open to expressing myself, my internal self more.
10:50Just in the musical sense, it's for me personally, nobody else might know this,
10:55but for my journey that I know of myself, musically and lyrically and just how I feel about this album.
11:04I took a leap ahead.
11:07One of the things I did on the record was we recorded at a different frequency.
11:11Yes.
11:13432 hertz.
11:14Yeah.
11:15Which most music you hear is 4.5 hertz, right?
11:18And 432 hertz is a thing that I've heard about.
11:21What I heard about it kind of piqued my interest in like, let me find out what this is all
11:27about.
11:27I heard this 432 hertz.
11:29The frequency vibrates more closer to the frequency that we vibrate at as human beings.
11:35I like that.
11:36I like that, you know.
11:39And it is a meditative frequency.
11:42It's a healing frequency.
11:44And so I experiment with it and I like it personally.
11:47And so this record, I, you know, made an effort to do the songs in 432 hertz.
11:54Yeah.
11:54And I like to be different too.
11:57Like I've been doing music so long, it's always fun to like try something new.
12:00Yes.
12:01And it keep me just excited about what I'm doing, you know.
12:04Because I don't like being repetitive or just doing music just to do it.
12:10I like creating.
12:11I like creating.
12:13And so, yeah, this album is a great representation of where I am now.
12:17And for me, it's a big step forward in my own journey.
12:22How so exactly?
12:23That's a good question.
12:25I couldn't say how so exactly, but I tell the difference in this record and how I feel
12:29that I've matured into it.
12:32I feel like I have a deeper relationship with the songs.
12:35I spent more time with the songs.
12:36So before, alright, this is an example.
12:39So previous records, previous recent records, I would like write some of the songs
12:46and then be excited to get in the studio and, you know, work on the stuff and do the creative
12:50stuff that I like doing and finish the songs then while I'm doing other stuff.
12:56This time I said I don't want to do it that way.
12:58I've been doing it that way.
12:59I'm used to doing it that way.
13:00I want to do it differently.
13:01So I wrote the songs.
13:03I made sure, like, I had the songs then finished before I go into the studio.
13:07And I spent, as I said, I had a longer relationship with the songs before they came out.
13:15Usually I have a shorter relationship and then put them out.
13:18This time I spent, you know, I nurtured the relationship, you know, spent time and got
13:27a great relationship with the song before I went into the studio to do all that fun stuff.
13:32Alright.
13:32So that is one of the differences.
13:34That's one of the differences.
13:35I really like that.
13:36I really like that I took the time to do that.
13:39Yeah, that's cool.
13:40Because usually I get excited and like, let's go into the studio and start.
13:44Yeah, you know.
13:45But I did spend a lot of time with the songs, having a more intimate relationship with them
13:51before thinking about, like, you know, let me write and go into the studio and hurry up
13:55and do this thing.
13:56So it was a great experience, you know.
13:59Heck, with you, when you get on tour and play them live, they'll probably change again.
14:03Yeah.
14:03It'll keep growing, that experience.
14:06Let's talk about a couple of the songs.
14:07Oh, you collabed with Trombone Shorty, Sheila E.
14:10Jake Tsumabukuro, who's been here a couple of times, actually, he's cool.
14:14Jake, yeah.
14:14What did those partnerships bring out?
14:16Oh, yes, right, right, right.
14:17No, those are all my friends, you know.
14:19That's how you make music with your friends then.
14:21Because sometimes people say, oh, you know, do some collabs, but it's hard for me to do
14:25collabs with people who I don't know or have some kind of connection to.
14:31Yeah.
14:32Because sometimes collabs are just done for, you know, the publicity of it, you know.
14:37Yeah.
14:37Let me do a collab with the biggest star in the world.
14:40That's going to help me, you know.
14:42But it's hard for me to do that because as an artist and someone, I want to be true to
14:48myself.
14:49You know, it goes back to that, really, everything.
14:52Just to be true to who you are.
14:54And I'm not like that.
14:55So the collabs on the album are really true collabs.
14:58These are people who are new and, you know, we have a vibe together, you know.
15:02Yeah.
15:03A cool vibe.
15:04Let's talk about them a little.
15:05Sheila E., such a great drummer.
15:06Sheila E.
15:07Sheila, yeah, Sheila's a great artist, you know.
15:10Sheila E.
15:10It's funny, the story with that.
15:12I was doing, we were at Stevie's Wonder Birthday party, you know.
15:17And Sheila was coming up and saying, hey, we said hi and we exchanged the numbers.
15:21And I was doing the, I was working on the album.
15:24So I was posting up, like, hey, I'm doing precautions on my album.
15:27And she texted the writer, she was like, yo, you look like you need a good percussionist
15:32on this record.
15:33I was like, yeah, come on over.
15:35So, you know, some real, some real stuff like that, you know.
15:39I was like, boy, you're so real.
15:40And Sheila, I mean, you know, as a spiritual musician, she's a real musician.
15:47Like, I like working with real musicians who, because you can have people who can play very
15:52well, technical skills.
15:53They could do magic, they could do all, they could read music, they could do all that stuff.
15:58But without the soul, I can't feel it.
16:02So you can be very technical, but if you're not, the attitude and the soul that you put into
16:07it is what connects it to the human being.
16:10It's not the technical skills.
16:13So she has the technical skills, but she also has the soul that she puts into the music that
16:18you can feel.
16:19And that's, I mean, it was such an honor for work with her on the record, a great privilege,
16:24you know.
16:25Cool.
16:25I love that.
16:27And you did a tribute to your dad, Many Morm for Bob.
16:30What made Now the Right Time to write that song?
16:33I don't know.
16:34As I said, something like that, I don't know how to explain that.
16:37But when I look back at it and try to analyze it, what I see is that I think it's
16:42been a
16:42few years coming because I've been working on some stuff for my father.
16:46We did a book.
16:46I did a book where I had to go through a lot of pictures and we did a picture book.
16:51And then I worked on the movie.
16:52He was really deep in my consciousness in a different way.
16:55And I had to explore him in a different way too.
16:57I had to explore him in a more emotional, human way, as a man.
17:02Because I see him as my father, but I never really looked at him on my level.
17:07You know, on my level.
17:09I'm much older than him now.
17:11And to understand the stuff that he went through and to take a deeper look into the humanity
17:16of him.
17:17Not just my father as a legend, but just as a person, what he went through.
17:21I think that was a part of why this song came out.
17:26Because I kind of went deeper into him than I did before, you know.
17:30So I think that's what kind of made the song come out, you know.
17:35All my hairs are sticking out.
17:38How did you dig?
17:39Like how did you learn about him?
17:41You were only, were you 12 when he passed?
17:43Yeah, 12, yeah.
17:44How did you really learn about him?
17:46And like how did it change the way you saw him then as a little kid and the way you
17:50see
17:50him now?
17:51Well, we had so much experience with him because I was always around him.
17:54Because, you know, I was always, we had a life full experience with him, being around
17:59him, you know, traveling with him, being around him and his friends.
18:02We have a strong connection.
18:03And even spiritually speaking, we have a strong connection beyond the physical.
18:08We, from my experience, I acknowledge the existence beyond physical.
18:13And that's from my personal experience.
18:15I only can tell you that from my, from what I've been through.
18:19That I acknowledge and accept the universe is more than just what we see here.
18:26It's more than this physical realm.
18:28There's another realm that, that I know of, you know.
18:32And so in that realm, the connection is strong also.
18:35But as my experience grew and as my life went on and as I became more conscious of myself,
18:46it even made me closer to him because we are, we are alike in a, in a, in a lot
18:51of ways.
18:51We are alike in a lot of ways.
18:53Um, but it, it run deep.
18:55It run, it run really deep.
18:58But, I mean, I remember when I was doing the picture book, I was like, why he was so young?
19:03He was a young kid when he passed away.
19:05Like, it was the first time I kind of like realized that.
19:07And that was like, maybe seven, eight years ago, maybe.
19:10It was like, yo, he was so young.
19:12I never really said that to myself.
19:15When I was 12, 13, in my teenage years, even my early twenties, I never really connect that.
19:20Yeah, yeah.
19:20But when I passed his age, I was like, he was so young, you know.
19:25So that, that, that kind of strike me.
19:27The connection that I talk about is like correlating my experiences with his life.
19:33And his life with my life, the experiences of what we got through.
19:37You know, he's, yeah, I mean, I can't explain all of that stuff.
19:40It's hard.
19:41Well, it's pretty clear.
19:42I mean, you're, you're living like legacy of him, like a mini, mini version.
19:47Yeah.
19:47Our older version now.
19:49Yeah.
19:49You kind of told me, but what does it feel like?
19:51Did it ever feel like a lot of pressure for you at times?
19:54Because you obviously carried the torch, like.
19:56Yeah, I mean, it only became, it only feel like pressure when people start asking about pressure.
20:01Because it's not something that we grew up with.
20:03Good.
20:04We never really accept that, that thing that people are trying to put on us.
20:09Yeah, yeah.
20:10The pressure, like, what are you talking about?
20:12It's my father, I mean.
20:13Good.
20:13I knew, I knew my father before he was famous.
20:16Like, we went through life.
20:17There was a whole life that you never know him.
20:20Yeah.
20:20That I knew him.
20:21Yeah.
20:21You know what I mean?
20:22There was a whole thing that you don't even understand.
20:24Yeah.
20:25Tell us something.
20:26What don't we know?
20:28It's a whole thing.
20:29It's a small, ordinary memory of him that we would never know.
20:33Besides the icon that we know.
20:34Besides the icon.
20:36Yeah.
20:36Well, we're getting the vibe now.
20:38Yeah.
20:39Everything, because certain things you still keep personal, you know.
20:42Not everything is a public consumption.
20:45But, you know, my father was tough on the outside, soft on the inside.
20:51Went through a lot, but hit a lot.
20:54Was strong, but weak.
20:55I think he had a lot of peer pressure, too.
20:58From who?
20:58From his friends.
21:00Peer pressure.
21:01Those are some of the human stuff that people don't see or understand, you know.
21:06Did you always know you wanted to be a musician and follow in the footsteps?
21:10I mean, a musician isn't the only part of who I am.
21:13I'm not just a musician, you know.
21:15I'm a human being.
21:16A musician, the musician part of me is, it's a gift.
21:21I didn't want, I don't think I want it to be.
21:25I think I grew up in it.
21:27What do you call it?
21:28Like a calling.
21:30Symbiosis.
21:31Symbiosis.
21:32Symbiosis.
21:33I think that's the word I was looking for before.
21:36You know, that symbiosis.
21:38But the only reason why I do music is because I'm inspired to say something.
21:44Like, if I wasn't writing songs, I wouldn't be like, hey, I want to be a musician.
21:48Write me a song, John.
21:50Send me a song.
21:50I want to sing it, because I want to be a musician.
21:52No.
21:53I'm only a musician because I'm inspired to write songs and express them.
21:58That's the only reason.
22:00Otherwise, I wouldn't be a musician.
22:01I wouldn't be a farmer or a doctor or a pilot.
22:04I like planes.
22:05I think I'd be a pilot.
22:06Really?
22:06Yeah.
22:07Do you fly?
22:07Only on the computer.
22:11Is it true you started sitting in on the Whalers recordings at just 10 years old?
22:16Younger than that.
22:17Wow.
22:18From birth, I was, from birth.
22:21I remember going around my father to different record manufacturing to get records, going to
22:25the studio with him.
22:26Yeah, it was a whole experience.
22:27From when I was born, I was born into it, you know?
22:31What about, did he teach you drums, guitar, did you teach yourself?
22:35No, I'm going to teach myself.
22:37You taught yourself.
22:38But then, but that is the question because teaching is not talking.
22:44Teaching is living.
22:47Teaching is how the lion teach the cub.
22:50Not by saying, yeah, but by, look what I do.
22:54Look how I hunt.
22:55Look how I do this.
22:55That's how you teach.
22:57By your example.
22:59So yeah, he teach me a lot by example.
23:01Not by like, hey, this is how you do this, this is how you do that.
23:04But then I had to pick up a book and learn to play guitar.
23:06I took a few lessons and, you know, learn to play piano.
23:10Self-taught mostly.
23:11Yeah.
23:12Yeah.
23:13Yeah.
23:14Amazing.
23:14Do you have a favorite instrument that you play?
23:17Most of the guitar I'm going to play, most of the guitar, yeah.
23:20Amazing.
23:21Okay.
23:21Everything's going to be all right.
23:23I have a painting of that in my kitchen.
23:24It's like the mantra for everything.
23:26Yeah.
23:27That obviously was instilled in you too, just that mentality of positive mentality.
23:33Yeah, man.
23:33Our vibration positive.
23:35It couldn't be anything.
23:36We don't have a child.
23:36We have to be positive.
23:37I mean, that's what we use, our positive vibration.
23:41Another gift.
23:42Yeah.
23:42A whole separate gift.
23:43True.
23:44You have to do more.
23:45You have to get out there more because the whole world needs it.
23:48Right?
23:49Yeah, man.
23:49And it's just like everything right now.
23:50And finally people are starting to get into more self-care and self-awareness and this
23:54whole thing.
23:55True, true, true.
23:55You know, more than ever.
23:56True.
23:57What do you think fuels that positive mental being in a world that's not so nice?
24:02Like, what keeps you?
24:04This is who we are.
24:05I mean, you can't, you have to be true to yourself.
24:07It goes back to that.
24:08This is who we are.
24:09We cannot be nothing else than that because this is just how I know myself to be.
24:14I wasn't taught it.
24:16Nobody didn't teach me how to be positive.
24:18You know, we've been through many experiences.
24:19My father get shot.
24:20My mother get shot.
24:22You know, ups and downs, start out poor, live, move life, get rich, whatever.
24:27I feel like one thing that I saw was that even when we didn't have a lot, we were happy.
24:33And so our happiness never depends upon material things.
24:38We make our own happiness.
24:40And the world becomes so materialistic.
24:43And that causes a lot of sadness because people depend upon material things to be happy.
24:48But I think that is one of our gifts is that my parents, my grand aunt, when we never have
24:56anything in the fridge, we were still happy.
24:58We were still like, we were fine.
25:01Like we never knew any difference.
25:03And we never have internet or a lot of TV.
25:05Hey, look what that is.
25:07This was our life and we live in it.
25:09And we were positive.
25:11It was, that was it.
25:12If he was hungry, yeah, I'm hungry, but I'm still happy.
25:16You know what I mean?
25:16So we're privileged in, in a lot of ways, in that mental state.
25:21And now after a while, you know, you have more material things.
25:25It's another privilege.
25:25But the first privilege is our state of mind.
25:29That's the way we were rich.
25:31You know, in our happiness.
25:33Cause my father said it too.
25:35One of his famous quote was like, money make you rich?
25:39Cause the guy asked him, you have a lot of money?
25:44You're a rich man.
25:46And Baba's like, money make you rich?
25:48I said, no, my riches is life.
25:50So the riches that we have, that we grew up with, don't depend upon materiality.
25:56And I think that's a part of the foundation for that positive mentality.
26:00You know what I mean?
26:01I said, for whatever we're going through, we're always trying for, we always see a bright side to things.
26:07Because, well, faith, you know, our spirituality too.
26:12And, you know, you know, example like the COVID thing, right?
26:16When the whole world went through this COVID thing, was sad and all of that, the loss of life.
26:22But we had to, we had to turn it into a positive.
26:25You know, we spent more family time.
26:27You know, we started a little class where kids would come over to my house and we would have a
26:33teacher teach them like outside.
26:35And so we're always trying to counteract whatever negativity is going on with positivity for balancing.
26:42Because you can't just live in the negativity.
26:45It won't, it's not, it won't work.
26:48Like that state of mind is, is a bad state of mind.
26:51So we're always looking, you know, we're always looking for the bright side, you know?
26:56Do you have any like practical strategies for people that really don't, can't do it?
27:02Or struggle?
27:03You know what, you know, what I tell people when I'm doing the shows and I do that song is
27:07that, yeah.
27:08And I had to do too is that the first thing I have to do is remember that there is
27:13a bright side.
27:14It exists.
27:15It's like yin yang, left, right, positive, negative.
27:19Even, even if you're living in darkness, you know that there's light somewhere there or somewhere.
27:24You know what I mean?
27:25So I think that is the first thing I would tell people.
27:29Acknowledge it.
27:30Acknowledge that there is one.
27:32That there is a bright side.
27:34Realize that first.
27:36You know what I mean?
27:37That's the first thing you have to do.
27:38Like, say to yourself, there is a bright side.
27:41You just have to find a way to get to it.
27:43You know what I mean?
27:44So not getting caught up in such a way where you say there's no bright side.
27:50There's no better.
27:51It cannot be better.
27:52You know, the world will never be peaceful.
27:54You know, the world is always going to be like getting caught in that is what keeps us
27:58down.
28:00So just remember there is one.
28:02There is a bright side.
28:03You know?
28:04Even if you can't see it, it's there.
28:06That's good.
28:07That's a good one.
28:08Yeah.
28:08What about your dad's music for a second?
28:10And how has your relationship to his music changed as you've gotten older?
28:14Do you hear it differently now than you did in your 20s?
28:18Yeah, I mean, my dad's music now.
28:20Let's talk about that.
28:21So it's not my dad's music, right?
28:22It's the band.
28:23It's his music.
28:24But it's the guys that are with him too.
28:26So a lot of times people talk about my father alone.
28:28Don't forget family man played the bass.
28:30Carly played the drums.
28:32Tyrone played the keyboards.
28:33Wire played it.
28:34I know all of those guys.
28:35I grew up with all of them.
28:38So that group of guys are special guys.
28:41My father included in that.
28:42Because the way he played the guitar, it's only him playing the guitar like that.
28:46The way the drummer played, he's the only drummer that plays like that.
28:51Same with the bass player.
28:52So that group of guys, I don't know how they got together.
28:54But it's a special group of guys, musician wise.
28:57And so even today when I listen to the music, first thing, first thing, they're my biggest inspiration.
29:05Regardless of my father, this set of musicians are my biggest musical inspiration.
29:11I try to emulate the way Pham's play bass because I dabble in bass too.
29:15And I try to emulate that.
29:17And I try to emulate the drum too because I play a little drums, you know.
29:21Them really have a big role in my musical journey.
29:25And so when I listen to the music today, I'm still hearing stuff I didn't hear 20 years ago.
29:31There's always new stuff to hear and learn.
29:33And I think one of the greatest things is that no matter, there's this one song called Jamming.
29:38And, you know, we know we're so intellectual in music that we hear sh** that wasn't important back in the
29:45day.
29:46Like, oh, that timing is off.
29:48But the thing with them is that the timing was off to me, but they were all off.
29:56Together.
29:58It's not like one guy.
30:00Everybody went off.
30:01So it worked.
30:03Because it wasn't like one thing was off.
30:05It was like everybody went off and everybody came back and it's all done together.
30:09Because they must feel the music together.
30:11They're feeling each other.
30:13So, yeah, man.
30:14They was a great band, man.
30:15Whalers, you know.
30:16You think?
30:18One of the greatest ever.
30:20Amazing.
30:21What else did you take away from that musically?
30:24Anything else?
30:25Yeah, I mean, it's like, what I realized is that, you know, within this reggae genre, right, so they were
30:32revolutionary.
30:34And there's a lot of artists like that.
30:36That's what draws me to music, is those who are unafraid.
30:41Those who are open-minded.
30:43And these guys were willing to act.
30:44That's why they're special, because they were willing to not be held in a box.
30:50Them include jazz.
30:51Them do all type of crazy.
30:52Them do stuff that other reggae artists of that time were not doing.
30:56They were out there.
30:58They were out there mentally, open-minded, just playing music.
31:03Not thinking about, oh, I'm a reggae.
31:06I've got to play whatever reggae.
31:07Whatever reggae is supposed to be, I've got to play that.
31:09Because if I do it, oh, reggae don't do that, I can't do that.
31:13No.
31:13We're playing music with feelings, how we feel.
31:16Not because of any genre.
31:19And I respect that about them.
31:20And like Miles Davis, a lot of artists who I love are the artists that don't put boundaries on themselves.
31:29And my father in that band was one of those type of artists.
31:32They had no boundaries.
31:34They had no rules.
31:34The rules was how them feel about the music.
31:37You know what I'm going to say?
31:38So that's how I work.
31:39I work without boundaries.
31:41I make music with how I feel.
31:43Not within any idea of what I should be doing.
31:46You know what I'm going to say?
31:47Or what the genre should be doing.
31:49I don't believe in that, you know?
31:50Yeah.
31:51What other artists did you grow up listening to that inspired you?
31:54Stevie Wonder.
31:56You know, one of the funny, one of my favorite songs growing up was a Glen Campbell song.
32:01Rhinestone Cowboy.
32:02Like a rhinestone cowboy.
32:06I never forget that song.
32:07I think it's the melody that hooked me.
32:10So all of them things, all of the things I've grown up with still within my subconscious.
32:15And still plays a part in my creativity, you know?
32:18And speaking of kind of that genre, I shouldn't say that word, but government mule you're touring with.
32:23Yeah, government mule.
32:24That's a cool pairing.
32:25Yeah man, government mule.
32:27Yeah man, a good energy that man.
32:29Because with the government mule and film style, again, it's that freestyle, you know?
32:32The freestyle and all that.
32:34And for me, it's a privilege to be able to speak, to bring, that's what music is.
32:40It brings different people together.
32:41So government mule fans, my fans, they may not have met each other before in life.
32:47But now they're going to meet each other.
32:49And they're going to talk and say, hey, what's up?
32:52It's human connectivity.
32:54And I've done that a lot throughout the years.
32:55We've toured a lot of artists who were, you know, with hip hop.
32:58We toured with like, when Lauren was with the Fugees and Busta Ram, we toured with In Excess, the Black
33:06Cross, Blues Travelers.
33:08So we're always bringing people together from different parts of the musical sphere.
33:13And that's a very important thing that I love doing and, you know, hopefully continue doing that.
33:18Just people probably would never have been in the same space.
33:22That's so cool. I love that.
33:24What's something you want to do that you haven't done yet?
33:27Yeah, I want to have some goats and some chickies.
33:31I'm surprised you haven't done that yet.
33:33No, I grew up on a farm though.
33:35But my mother, my mother, that's why I want to do it now.
33:37Because I grew up that way.
33:38I grew up like with goats and chickens and cows, you know, and donkeys, you know.
33:44So my mother, she, she loved the farming thing.
33:46So now it's like, I just built my own studio, you know.
33:50So that was, that was a dream.
33:52Now I want, I want a place where I can have chickens and goats.
33:57And just have a little place I can have a nice garden and grow food.
34:01That's, that's what I want to do next.
34:03That sounds great.
34:04I hope you do it.
34:05Yeah.
34:05I will do it.
34:07Yes, you will do it.
34:08What do you do when you're not working?
34:10Take the kids into soccer games and watch some movies and play some video games.
34:16But music is always with me.
34:19So, I mean, not touring would be the more specific question.
34:22Cause music is not work, you know.
34:25But not touring, that's what I do, you know.
34:27Yeah.
34:27Yeah.
34:28How do you relax?
34:29I'm kind of naturally relaxed.
34:33Like, I don't, you know, I'm kind of just, I'm always kind of relaxed.
34:38I get it.
34:39Yeah.
34:39Our seven kids.
34:41Yeah.
34:41How do you think about passing on the Marley name and the legacy onto your own children?
34:46Well, I'm against that.
34:49Cause I don't believe in passing on name.
34:52Cause name don't mean nothing.
34:55Just like I grew up from an example, I believe in passing on traits.
34:59I don't believe in that name thing.
35:00And I'm not into that name thing that much.
35:03It's not about the Marley.
35:05It's about who you are as a human being.
35:07I want passing on that humanity.
35:10The example that I set, that I saw set, that I know set.
35:14That has nothing to do with the name.
35:16Okay.
35:16Somebody can name Marley and be just not like, you know what I mean, sir?
35:21Yep.
35:22I don't believe in that.
35:23I think everyone should be judged and not judged, but everyone should be accountable
35:27for their actions, regardless of your name, who you are as a person, as an individual,
35:32as a human being.
35:34And that is what I want to pass on that you are responsible.
35:38Your name don't mean nothing, bro.
35:40You're responsible for your actions and who you are.
35:42Be a good person, you know, no matter what your name.
35:44You know what I mean?
35:45So I think that's, that's the thing about me, really.
35:48That's what I'm dealing with, you know?
35:49I don't believe in this name thing.
35:51I don't, I don't really think, yeah.
35:53That's a good answer.
35:54After 40 years in this career, what still surprises you about making music?
35:59For me, making music is new all the time.
36:02And it's like, it surprised me that it's still new to me.
36:09That I'm still like, like discovering.
36:12I'm still like, you know, this is like the first time.
36:16Like, I'm, I still have that excitement, that energy.
36:20I mean, it don't surprise me like, wow.
36:22I mean, but I do think about it like, you know, this is incredible.
36:24Like, I still feel this way.
36:25Like, it's still new.
36:27That's good.
36:28Yeah.
36:29What would your current self tell you younger?
36:31I mean, I would have done some things differently.
36:32Actually, I, you know, you know, in my experience in life,
36:36I regret certain interactions that I had with people.
36:40It's personal, you know, like, it's nothing big.
36:42It's not, not a big deal.
36:43But to me, it's a big deal.
36:44Um, you know, I would have treated somebody different.
36:46I would have spoken differently.
36:48It's stuff like that.
36:49I would tell myself, like, if I could,
36:51yeah, don't, don't talk to the person like that.
36:54And I'm not, I've, I've corrected myself already.
36:56And I think, you know what, for telling the truth,
36:58it's all a learning experience.
37:01And so probably shouldn't change anything.
37:04Because, yeah, I am who I am today because of the things I went through.
37:08But because I have that inner voice that speaks to me,
37:10or speak truth to me, you know,
37:13I always self-correcting and always thinking
37:15how I could be a better person, you know.
37:18So, yeah, I try to be better.
37:20Yeah, I think just, I would just tell myself,
37:24just keep trying to be a better person.
37:26The same, the same way I am now.
37:28What's something about yourself that has nothing to do
37:31with being Bob Marley's son that you wish people had,
37:33asked you more?
37:34Well, it's Bob Marley's son things, I think, too.
37:37Because, like, Bob Marley can't have a child without,
37:39he couldn't have a child by himself.
37:41So what, my mother, want to my mother?
37:44Well, you know, ask me about my mother.
37:45Because Bob can't have a son without my mother.
37:48You can't have a being without the young.
37:50You know?
37:51My mother good, man. She's all right.
37:53But my mother is an integral part of my father's whole legend.
37:59Without my mother, you wouldn't know about Bob Marley.
38:03So a lot of people don't understand that.
38:05And so, yeah, I wish they would ask me about my mother.
38:08But they don't know her.
38:09Them not their, she's not, you know,
38:13she's not in the limelight or like Bobby's.
38:16So everybody, you're Bob Marley's son.
38:17Yeah, I'm also my mother's son.
38:19Without her, I would not be.
38:20She, she carried me.
38:22And she gave birth to me.
38:24My father was there.
38:25I was born at home.
38:26In Trenchtown.
38:28And so, yeah, my mother, my mother is the one I wish.
38:30I know that I wish.
38:31I really don't care if people ask me that.
38:33But, yeah, everybody say Bob Marley's son.
38:35But I'm also Rita Marley's son.
38:37Bob and Rita Marley's son.
38:39She's, what, 80 right now?
38:40Yeah.
38:40She's doing good?
38:41Yeah, man. She's good.
38:42Good, good.
38:44She, man, she's good.
38:45She's cool.
38:46She did good too.
38:47Hey, I'm going.
38:47I tell you the truth, you know, hey.
38:48Her music, people don't even know yet.
38:52But people, some people know.
38:54But, yo, who feels it, knows it, that album is fair music.
38:58Because I'm a lot, I'm a lot like her too, actually.
39:00Yeah, I'm a good body between my father and my mother.
39:03I have a lot of traits I've heard.
39:05I'm a very quiet force.
39:08I'm not a loud force.
39:10I'm a force.
39:11But I'm not loud.
39:12I'm quiet.
39:13A quiet strength.
39:16That's her, that's her thing.
39:17She's a quiet strength.
39:19As you know, you don't talk about her.
39:22But she's the force behind everything.
39:24Yeah, yeah, yeah.
39:24So I think I get that from her.
39:26I'm like, I'm not, I'm a little quiet, but I'm not, I'm not quiet strength, you know?
39:33Yeah.
39:34What's your favorite comfort food?
39:36Comfort food.
39:37I'm like cinnamon roll.
39:40Cinnamon roll.
39:41That's a good one.
39:43Like, I'm a sweet tooth sometimes.
39:45I see the mother.
39:46God.
39:47What else could I ask this legend here?
39:49What does music do for people?
39:51You kind of said it, but.
39:52No, but you see the thing is, I don't know if people don't understand this.
39:55Music is a tooth, right?
39:57It's a weapon too.
39:58Because music is like the most influential thing on earth.
40:04And if you check, if you check the time, if you check how society, let's look at America.
40:09Let's say 60s, you know, even 50s, 60s music, 70s music, 80s, 90s, now music, right?
40:16Look at the trajectory of America and the type of music that was like popular during certain times, right?
40:26And what the people was going through and what their consciousness was going through
40:30and what their actions were going through.
40:33In my mind, the music, the industry that was music isn't anymore.
40:40And something took over the music industry that made it harder for music with a consciousness
40:49to get to the people, to get to the mass.
40:52It is harder for us to get through with our music than it was in the 60s.
40:56I mean, in 60s music was political and a message.
41:00It was easier, but because of the corporatization of the industry
41:05and the objective being money and not art,
41:10it becomes harder for conscious music to get to the masses.
41:15And I think that might be, in some way, a deliberate way to subjugate the people.
41:24Because music is influential.
41:26Now, if you can put music out that does tell people, hey, party or, hey, let's go buy cars
41:31or, hey, look flashy on your chain or whatever, let's have sex or, you know, whatever, whatever,
41:36you know, whatever, then if that is a music that you're going to put out to the masses
41:42and say that, oh, if I'm doing a song about some kind of like, you know, one love
41:48or, you know, stand up for your rights, eh, that's not going to work.
41:51It's not commercial enough. It's not going to make enough money.
41:56So that's how I see music, you know, music is a powerful tool.
41:59But even with that going on, we're still not going to stop doing what we're doing
42:04because it's essential.
42:06Even the smallest part that we play is essential to the bigger picture.
42:10And because we're not just looking on today, we're looking on the future also.
42:14And so we're not going to stop doing what we're doing.
42:15And we're not going to change to fit the industrial standard.
42:19We're not doing the industrial standard. We're doing our standard.
42:22So I'm doing 432 hertz. The industrial standard is 450 hertz.
42:27I'm not doing the industrial. I'm not going to try and make music
42:33that is just for the commerciality of it.
42:38I'm making music that is true to who I am, you know.
42:41So, yeah, music is powerful though. Music is powerful.
42:45One of the most powerful things. Influential.
42:49If the masses could hear the music of consciousness, the world would be a better place.
42:57You know, the world would be a much better place if the masses...
43:00If the most popular music was the music that said, hey, live together and unite.
43:04If that was what the music was out there, then the world would be more united.
43:10It wouldn't be so divided. You know what I say?
43:12But again, those music get suppressed.
43:16And the other type of music get kind of more like, hey, this is the music you should be listening
43:21to.
43:21So people have to search more, you know.
43:24People have to search more.
43:25Because it's there. The bright side is there.
43:28Yes, tell me.
43:30It's there. Don't forget that, you know.
43:31It's so good. Yeah.
43:33Ziggy, you're awesome.
43:35Thank you, thank you.