Why the resentment against Damian Marley for winning his third Grammy Award?

According to an 18 Karat Reggae poll, almost 90% of Reggae fans thought that Chronixx with his album Chronology should have won the 2018 Grammy award for best reggae album.  Instead the Grammy went to Damian “Junior Gong” Marley for his album Stony Hill.

Needless to say, a lot of reggae fans are not too happy about the award going to Junior Gong.  This has caused others to ask the question, why is there a resentment against Junior Gong.

The truth is there is actually no resentment against Damian Marley.  A lot of people are just tired and fed up of the constant white washing and destruction of great Black accomplishments that is happening right before their eyes.  The fact that Damian has released only 4 studio albums and won 3 best album Grammy awards while an artist like Sizzla with numerous classic albums has never won a Grammy, is a travesty.

Giving the Marleys undeserved credit and award is nothing new, it actually stated with the father.  How and why did Bob Marley become the face of Rasta?

When Rasta was already rooted and grounded and had already been through many tribulations fighting against the Babylon system, Bob Marley was just an aspiring R&B singer.  In fact, when the emperor of Ethiopia, H.I.M Emperor Haile Selassie, visited Jamaica on April 21, 1966, Bob Marley was a bald head living in Wilmington, Delaware in the United States.

It was after his return from the United States to Jamaica that Bob converted to Rasta.  It is alleged that Bob denied Rasta before his death, the same way Peter denied Jesus Christ.  Yet, even today, Bob remains the face of Rasta.

So Marcus Garvey and Leonard Howell, who are the founders of Rasta, are not the face of Rasta but a man, who supposedly switched back to Christianity before his death, is the face?  Why is that?  It is because of the same reason why even though we know Jesus Christ is not white, he is depicted as white on pictures that are posted in many living rooms across the world.  For Jesus Christ to be widely accepted, even by Blacks, he had to be white.  It is no different in Reggae and with Rasta.  Chris Blackwell, the man main responsible for Bob Marley’s meteoric rise, believed that in order to gain maximum exposure for reggae, he needed a white face.  Because there were not many whites in reggae at that time, a half white one would have to suffice and sadly the madness continues even today.

So it is not Damian Marley or any of the Marley’s that people are showing resentment to.  The resentment is toward a system that is hell bent on stifling and suppressing Black accomplishments.  Unfortunately, the Marleys, starting with Bob have been one of the favorite tools used by the system.

 

10 thoughts on “Why the resentment against Damian Marley for winning his third Grammy Award?

  1. who wrote this article
    JAH and an hierchy of angels made Bob who is to bring all people to love. Damian marleys work stands on its own as masterpieces just like his Dad

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  2. So are we saying that we should have given the award to Chronixxx because he is wholly black and not to Jr. Gong because he’s of mixed heritage? The Grammy is about music and if any, I hardly hear a comparison of the two bodies of work. 18 tracks from Damian and 16 tracks from Chronixxx, which So and more than two year collectively. How impactful are the songs and how are they relevant today in Reggae, Rebel music? Who toured and interviewed and visited the radios and touched the people more? I fear that like I find some of the most intolerant people are those who ask for tolerance, So it is also that the people who ask for equality are some of the most unfair.

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  3. While I prefer chronology, I think Damian Marley has been judged on his own merit. His music and message has been received by a panel who thinks he deserves it. Well done Damian, Chronix there is always tomorrow. Continue to hone your craft and spread your message of positivity.

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  4. I bet the people who is complaining never bought a chronixx album lol for you to bad mouth bob marley like that your going to hell. Bob did more for black people than any of these so call reggae artist. Look at sizzla who got raided by police and how much high powered weapon was discovered what kinda example was he setting and why is he not in prison? Maybe marley is his last name lol I think your a family or friend of one of those bitter ex wailers that hate bob marley. He stand us to racism , injustice on a world stage he didn’t just got rich and ran. After all that his own jamaican tried to kill him . Marley will forever striving while your just going to continue to be a salty cunt.

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  5. The whole stonyhill album is 🔥
    Don’t hate appreciate fam… Chronixx’s time will come…just a little patience from him and more hardwork…

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  6. Reply to Zion Train- You are in a SATANIC Dirty Pit! You Supporter of that WHORE Bob Marley, who did NOTHING for REGGAE or any RACE, He is a NOTHING. BLACK MAN CREATED REGGAE for his Own RACE, and BLACK Artist like PETER TOSH, BIG YOUTH, JIMMY CLIFF, LEE PERRY, DESMOND DEKKER, are the SUPREME Figures who GLOBALISED this BLACK ART Form. Bob Marley was just a Talentless BI-RACIAL PROSTITUTE and a Total EMBARRASSMENT. DONT Mention MARCUS GARVEY in your MINDLESS CRAP! He’s INTEGRAL to RASTA and BLACK INTELLIGENTSIA. So You Take your BI-RACIAL Crawling INADEQUACY to the TOILET they come From.UP YOURS! You FxxxING CRUSTY SHIT HOLE

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