Family Affair

What Lance-O says is true; there hasn't been a popular roots reggae artist who has stayed consistent and lyrically true to the Rastafarian faith since, well, Bob Marley. And outside of pirate radio stations and a few late-night radio programs, classic reggae music doesn't get much, if any, local radio airplay. Fans are more likely to hear Eric Clapton's cover of "I Shot the Sheriff" on the classic rock station than to hear Marley himself. Last year the family released "Slogans," the first previously unreleased Bob Marley track to be heard in more than a decade. The accompanying video was incendiary and poignant, splicing dynamic concert footage of Bob in his prime with images of suffering Hurricane Katrina victims. Although his message remains strong as ever, this important video hasn't made it into rotation on any popular music video channel. When Damian Marley is asked about "Slogans" and the lack of airplay for authentic reggae, he bristles at the suggestion his music isn't of his father's caliber.

"You don't think that my music is real reggae music?" he retorts gruffly. When he is reassured that this, of course, is not the case, his voice softens. "Look, of course you have people like Burning Spear, Bunny Wailer, those of my father's generation.... But look, 50 Cent sampled Bob Marley's music and got a lot of airplay. The remix with Biggie is getting a lot of love in the urban community. There's different ways of helping the music to grow and branch out," he explains. Young Marley is continuing the trend of making roots reggae more radio-friendly. His next single will be a duet with Bobby Brown, titled "Beautiful."

This weekend Damian will pay homage to his father before an eager audience. The festival's admission price has even decreased a little, down to $23 plus four cans of food. Marley is planning on giving a stellar performance. "I'll bring the energy as usual. You can look forward to all of the brothers to come through and give you the same standard that you know the family always bring. It's a show we do for years now, so the people know what they come to see."