Do you want to report "We need to talk about OVERHYPE of "Bob Marley" within Jamaica"
Bob Marley was in the right place in history, and made a outsized impact. We’re you alive in those days? They spoke about Bob Marley all the time. I remember hearing his songs on the radio, as a kid I loved it, and even more today.
I didn’t know him personally. I wasn’t even alive when he was. However it seems that this man’s music and philosophy touched a massive amount of people globally and still does to this day.
Decades after his death he is still outselling all other reggae acts globally ( i think that’s still the case). Isn’t that enough to be hyped up in your country of birth?
Maybe I should ask what do you consider overhyped to mean specifically?
Marley was a great singer, a great performer and one of the best songwriters to come out of JA, and that doesn’t even address his immense popularity and influence worldwide.
There are only a small number of artists who are even in the same league artistically (e.g. Dennis Brown) and a slightly larger number who excel in one or two of those areas. He’s only overhyped in that he might not be “ZOMG THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME” but it’s hard for me to think of too many other candidates. If anything, he’s underhyped by hipsters who feel like they have to pull him down to prove their bonafides.
> There are only a small number of artists who are even in the same league artistically
Agree. The thing is, in Jamaica, he seems to be admired only because he is internationally recognized .And that’s the thing - he is not recognized for any specific musical skill. It’s the people who overhyped that is the problem - not Bob. Remember back in 2003 with Sean Paul? Same thing.
It is the lack of any real standard to measure good from bad that is at the root of much of the aesthetic and intellectual decline in our country. We cannot use “buss a farin” as that standard. Worse still , us the inability to tell good from evil. You have people seriously looking to put this man up as a National Hero. But, what, if anything, did he do that was heroic? His ex-wife said he he raped her. He’s having illegitimate children all over the place. It is only overhype that could make anyone call this man a hero.
If we are talking about Bob as a role model, he was known to be incredibly generous with his wealth and there is a well known quote where he defines “richness” in spiritual rather than financial terms. When you consider the focus on material wealth so prominent in dancehall and hip hop today, you can look back on Bob with enough respect to say he knew money and material wealth are illusory. Not to many “rich” folks have that kind of wisdom then or now. Bob even died without a Will, which is a statement in and of itself considering how much wealth he had accumulated. Sure Bob had many lovers outside of his marriage, but how is it any of our business. Rita was witness to these liaisons and admittedly could have divorced him but did not. Who are we to judge then?!?When you talk about Bob as a musician, what sets him apart is stage presence. He had the kind of charisma that was utterly unmatched at the time and he single handedly popularized reggae music to the world. He is the undisputed king of reggae for this reason and brought a tremendous amount of wealth to the entire nation of Jamaica. This is undisputed. Forget the radio friendly Legend, and listen to Babylon by Bus to get a sense of Bob as the one of a kind, electrifying performer that he was.
Bob Marley is not “over-hyped* and quite deserving of the recognition that he has received. What is of concern however, is that there are too many other artistes of great talent that have not had the recognition equal to their talent. Much of this neglect can be lain mainly at the feet of those within the industry, the media and the wider public.
“Go to bed” U ain’t my mom…don’t EVEN go their. Also BTW i know bob marley can’t change jamaica, but people are putting him on a high pedastool like he did change jamaica.
Strange…isnt it
Andrew holness runs jamaica now, and its not going well.
