In addition to announcing plans for a tour this August and September, eight-time Grammy Award winning artist Stephen Marley will also be dropping a new single titled “Ghetto Boy” featuring Bounty Killer and Cobra…
“Ghetto Boy” will be featured on Marley’s upcoming Revelation Part II: The Fruit of Life and will be available as a single by itself as early as May 26th via iTunes. There’s no specific release date for the full length album, but sources indicate that it may be this August to coincide with the tour. The song, Ghetto Boy, aims to break the cycle of gun violence starting with the youth. A music video will soon be released to accompany the new single as directed by Shaun Escayg who shot the video in Jamaica.
With regards to gun violence, Marley told Esquire: “Why is gun violence happening on a global scale? When, where, and what age does it start? We see the U.S. media addressing it now to a certain degree, but this is happening all over the world, with or without the cameras rolling. We need to get to the root of the problem, starting from the top down to break the cycle.”
It’s said that in support of Revelation Part II: The Fruit of Life, Marley will kick off his multi-city tour on August 1 to headline California’s annual festival Reggae On The River. He continues to perform along the Cali-Coast before heading to Europe for a short stint of festival and club dates. He heads back to the United States to tour at the end of August and throughout September. Keep checking back as all of those dates will be announced and updated as they’re announced and added.
Those additional dates include whats being called the Catch a Fire tour will that see Stephen Marley sharing the stage alongside Damian Marley, Morgan Heritage, Tarrus Riley a long with special guests Jo Mersa and Black Am I. These dates will span from August 29th to Sept 25th, hitting 17 cities inside 16 states from the east to west coast and in-between.
Marley has already released three tracks thus far that are expected to be on the forthcoming Fruit of Life release. “Rock Stone”, featuring guest appearances from Capleton and Sizzla, “Bongo Nyah” featuring Spragga Benz and Damian Marley, “You & Me Attract” featuring Busy Signal as well as “Thorn Or a Rose” with The Roots’ Black Thought. The record also features collaborations from a ton of artists including Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Wyclef Jean, DJ Khaled, Shaggy, Bounty Killer, Dead Prez, Rakim, Ky-Mani Marley, Jo Mersa and more.
Revelation Part 2: The Fruit of Life is the follow up album to his last studio album, Revelation Pt 1: The Root of Life that was released back on May 24th 2011 and received a Grammy. While the first album focused on the traditional elements of roots reggae, powerful spiritual messages and live instrumentation, the second album will provide listeners with a completely different sound. Part 2 is expected to be released this summer through the Marleys’ Ghetto Youths International.
“Reggae music has influenced hip hop and so many other kinds of music,” Marley reasons, “The Fruit of Life will be more open, eclectic kind of record. There will be songs for the club, dancehall reggae will be there, love songs in there, but it will remain conscious good music that you can always take something positive from.”
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Article By: Mike Patti
Photo By: David Norris
LISTEN: Stephen Marley – “Ghetto Boy” (ft. Bounty Killer & Cobra)
LISTEN: Stephen ‘Ragga’ Marley’s “Rock Stone” off Revelation Part 2: The Fruit of Life.
LISTEN: Stephen ‘Ragga’ Marley’s “You & Me Attract”
LISTEN: Stephen ‘Ragga’ Marley’s“Bongo Nyah”
LISTEN: Stephen ‘Ragga’ Marley’s “Thorn Or a Rose”