The Royal Family of Reggae

The Royal Family of Reggae is none other than the Marley Family. With Ziggy, Damian, Stephen, Julian, Sharon and Kimani. The most recent album from the family is from none other than Stephen. To me the greatest anticipated album from the Royal Family, Mind Control.

Is not publicized enough that Stephen is the Man Behind the Thrown who has been in the production studios perfecting the great sounds of his siblings. Steven's outstanding production work has helped his brother Damian in claiming the Grammy for Welcome to Jamrock in 2001/2005. His production work has also helped his older brother Ziggy pick-up the Grammy for Best Reggae Album for 2006. Steven has also produced 'Chant Down Babylon', an album that fused Hip-Hop and R&B with Reggae perfectly. Though the album was said to be blasphemous by hard core Bob Marley/Reggae fans, to the rest of the world who understands the genres thought of it as a work of art.

Now the Man Behind the Thrown has released his debut album at age 34, Mind Control. Mind Control is simply an album that will stand the test of time. With contributions by Mos Def, Damian Marley, Mr. Cheeks, Spragga Benz, Ben Harper and Maya Azuncena - Mind Control blew my mind away. The single, The Traffic Jam featuring Damian Marley demonstrates what exactly Stephen's music is all about, unpredictably wonderful.

Other songs on Mind Control that are Mind Controlling are:

• Chase Them This song features great reggae guitar rifts and a wonderful classical tail of survival.
• Let Her Dance Great repetitive hook that gets you hooked on the beat that makes you want to get up and dance. The vocals by Maya Azuncena are what has been expected of an unclassifiable R&B/Jazz singer as her. The the music for Let Her Dance is a combination of Urban-Asian and reggae. This type of production is becoming ever more popular recently but Let Her Dance has the mixture on the right levels. Not allowing any type to over power the other but a subtle mix that makes it captivating and inviting.
• Let Me Out Another great chune that will be on every Hip-Hop, Dancehall and Reggae listeners IPOD in the next 6months.
• Hey Baby The Mos Def track. I adore Mos Def's music, his west coast rap ethic with an ever conscious vibe makes him perfect to rap on any Marley Album. Hey Baby is a definite single release. Though this track was released in 2002 when Stevens album was due for release this refined version is better.
  
• In The Red What a song. This song is for the persons like myself who loves the aesthetic feel that conga drums add to a song.

This is a great album. Stephen's voice has a striking similarity to the past King's (Bob Marley). When people speak of Steven's voice the comments that follow are usually along the lines of; "Him sound too much like him Faada" or "Him a try too hard fi bi like Bob". I am sorry to all those skeptics, Stephen Marley along with his brothers are all sons of Bob Marley. I don't know about you but I have traits associated with my parents. Instead of criticizing these traits we should appreciate them as they help to define who we are along with our individuality. Stephen's debut has traits of his father but essentially I can see his talent as a primal part of Mind Control's brilliants as an album.