Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley- Welcome To Jamrock

Mon 28th Nov, 2005 in Music Reviews

If it’s not already apparent from the military pose on the record cover Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley opens his third record with undeniable hawkish intent. The battle drums roll to announce a stately anthem of strings and a brief intro from Bunny Wailer playing the voice of God.

Since the beginning of modern civilisation
generations have witnessed and inherited
only the conflicts of world wars

Junior lifts up this battle cry for another generation of the Marley family, and for music fans. While there are a range of styles in the artillery, Dancehall, hip-hop, modern r&b, there is one clear message on this album. Junior Gong has arrived and he’s gonna show us how to live and love right. The message is just, well, camouflaged in its variety of sounds.

Confrontation opens the attack, the slow march of drums disappearing under a direct lyrical attack, called to action by sampled snippets of Marcus Garvey.

Can we do it?
We can do it,
We shall do it!

In the heat of battle Junior holds the troops back, with a deceptive retreat into ballad territory on the next track.

You’ve always been good to me
even when I’m not good to my self

But then, when you’ve been lulled into false security he attacks with the albums lead single and title track. A steely warning against judging anything on surface value. A warning that surely could include the album itself where unexpected barbs of morality hide between the pop hooks. Jamrock is a place that the casual listener can enjoy; it’s fun, it’s clean and welcoming to the nodding head and skanking foot. But there’s a lot more below the surface that those tourists may miss. Junior’s bluntly delivered lyrics act as the tour guide.

come round like tourist
on the beach with a few club sodas…
and pose like dem name Chuck Norris
and don’t know the real hardcore

That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of light hearted moments among the lion hearted stances. We’re Gonna Make It rolls on a clavinet creak as Marley and his backing singers sway through with a grin worthy of Stevie Wonder’s Master Blaster. Jamrock also boasts cameo verses from hip-hoppers Black Thought, from The Roots, and Nas that will do little to hurt the album’s sales. Marley clearly knows hip-hop and The Master has Come Back fires a shot for Marley to be considered something of a Jamaican Kanye West. Kanye has fused pop and hip-hop and taken conscious lyrics to the top of the charts and here Marley borrows a few of his tricks- such as the chipmunk female vocals and soul loops. It’s a fair bet that Marley, co-producer/brother Stephen, have lent an ear to Kanye’s work. Kanye himself displayed the power of blending hip-hop beats with reggae influence in his work on the ‘final’ Jay-Z album, with the Max Romeo sampling track Lucifer.

Marley also makes use of some classic reggae samples working the Skatalites and some of his old man’s work into the mix. Far from an insult to dead musicians and living ears (such as the current Elton and 2Pac insult) this grave sampling is not a half-hearted lunge at credibility, but an acknowledgment of an obvious and, probably unavoidable, debt of influence. Yet Jr. Gong is not simply relying his fathers reputation to carry his music. The gospel chorus of Bob’s classic Exodus acts as a powerful exclamation between the racing lyrical barrage on Move.

The heavily vocoded vocals on For the Babies may cause a little squeamishness. The vocoder stretches out his voice till it’s a thin trill, yet the lyrics may still cause a few double takes. Essentially song tackles familiar ground for Marley; respect, commitment, love- noble sentiments to be sure, but it’s difficult not to cringe over some of his rhymes.

Fathers do the brave thing…
a new life is awaking
from his ejaculating
it’s in the oven baking
takes two for the making.

The only other time the skip button becomes tempting is during the soft-focus ballad collaboration with Bobby Brown, Beautiful. It’s a challenge to get past a saxophone that so effectively references ‘romantic’ scenes from early ‘90s movies. You can actually hear the pastel colour scheme.

Marley is far more successful when he blends styles and sentiments, disarming with unexpected shifts. The Master Has Come Back is all bravado till Marley pleads somebody please believe me. While on Hey Girl he boasts

Jr. you’re a genius
you think with your mind
and not your peanuts
Try saying it quickly, eh?

The closest the record veers towards a straight reggae offering, comes when Marley shares the mic on Khaki Suit with Bounty Killer and Eek-A-Mouse to round out the record with fine electro tinged reggae. It serves as a fitting close on the stay in Jamrock, an album well worth visiting.