Bob Marley Research Paper

-Ian DeanEnglish 9Ms. Smith4/27/12Bob MarleyIn 1945 on February 6th Robert Nesta Marley was born. Raised in the poor Trenchtown area in Kingston Jamaica, his childhood would be one without a father, and steeped in Rastafarianism, a faith that would govern his life. He would grow to be one of the most influential pop culture figures in history, amassing a following still going strong through a generation who could never even see him perform. Bob Marley's charity and concern for the wellbeing of impoverished countries and their citizens is what makes him truly an icon.As the child to a single parent in a Jamaican ghetto, Bob would have a childhood rooted in music and faith. Although he attended a school and received a formal education, most of
At first the boys were too poor to even buy a guitar, so they make one out of bamboo and begun to practice. First calling themselves “the adolescents” and then “the wailing rudeboys”, Marley began practicing with his closest friend, Bunny Livingston, the two boys practically devoted their lives to their music, they worked hard and soon, they had their first single, in 1963 “judge not” was released. Soon after, Marley and Livingston joined a third singer, Peter tosh, and began to play small shows across the island, making The Wailers (formerly the adolescents and then the wailing rudeboys) one of the most popular bands in Jamaica. The Wailers, while seeing enormous popular success, were constantly cheated out of their share of profits by their record label, and even lost the rights to some of their own songs. This pattern continued until Bob Marley and The Wailers were signed to Island Records, releasing their first full length album “Catch a Fire” in 1973 and their second “Burnin’” later the same year. After the releases, the band went on US and British tours to support
He also acted directly, his famous “Smile Jamaica” show was a free admittance event aimed entirely at easing the tensions between warring political factions and rival gangs. His music and message did a lot for the impoverished, from raising awareness to actually taking action, but possibly most importantly he gave them hope. The inspiring message of love and peace was especially important to Jamaican culture because the only ways someone could rise above the slums at the time was through crime or musical success, and most took the “crime” option.Rastafarianism is central to Bob Marley's music, he drew on his faith for inspiration, it is almost impossible to find a song where he doesn't mention “Jah” “Babylon” “dread judgement” or “zion”. The Rastafari faith is afrocentric, specifically Ethiopian,and also Monotheistic, they pray to “Jah” which is their perception of god. Their supreme earthly leader was the emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, who they saw as the second coming of god. Rasta culture includes vegetarianism, letting hair grow in dreads, and smoking