"Welcome To Jamrock" is the first single from Damian Marley's album of the same name.
The young Marley talks about Trenchtown, crime, poverty, and political corruption in his first single. Citing that Jamaica is portrayed as a great tourist location, but Jamrock - rife with violent cocaine traffickers - is the harsh reality.
While it may sound to some like Marley is promoting or glorifying Jamaica's high crime rate and violence that he talks about in the song, that is not the case, as he is actually lamenting it. One listen to his whole album and you will hear his many profoundly positive and uplifting messages just like his father before him.
Both the rhythm and the above-mentioned hook are sampled from the 1984 track World-A-Music by Ini Kamoze - the original rhythm on the Ini Kamoze album was provided by Sly and Robbie.
The track also samples the bassline from Zap Pow's hit Reggae Music. An edited version of Welcome to Jamrock was featured on the popular video game franchise FIFA 06.
The song was also on the playlist of the video game Midnight Club 3, but on the Remix version.
Notes
Recording information: Lion's Den, Miami, Florida (2005).
The huge success of "Welcome to Jamrock," released as a single early in the summer of 2005, raised expectations for Damien Marley's same-titled full-length. Fortunately, everything--from the progressive blend of reggae, hip-hop, trip-hop, pop, and roots within, to the crisp production from brother Stephen Marley--lives up to the hype. While it would be an easy commercial move for Damien to replicate the positive roots vibe of his father's reggae, he instead builds on the consciousness of that music and updates the sound for the 21st century.
Tinged with overtones of dancehall ("Khaki Suit") and urban contemporary R&B (the silky smooth "Beautiful," which features a cameo from Bobby Brown), WELCOME TO JAMROCK is a melting pot of an album, one as well suited to the streets of Brooklyn as the neighborhoods of Kingston. The cover image--which depicts Marley in militaristic garb surrounded by corrugated metal fences--indicates that Marley means business, a fact confirmed by this fresh, edgy music.
Review
Spin (p.61) - Ranked #27 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2005" - "[T]he title track, a classic tribal-war lament, is the inescapable one, excoriating murderers with a groove calculated to kill."
Entertainment Weekly (No. 840, p.85) - "...[Marley] has a dazzling command of styles..." - Grade: A-
Mojo (p.104) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[O]n tougher cuts 'In 2 Deep' and 'Confrontation' he's lyrically and musically most adept....He's following in the footsteps of Gil Scott-Heron and Linton Kwesi Johnson."
The Wire (p.72) - "[T]his packs a lot more power, dealing in the now rather than the past."
Track listing
- "Confrontation"
- 'There For You"
- "Welcome to Jamrock"
- "The Master Has Come Back" (2nd int'l single)
- "All Night" (featuring Stephen Marley)
- "Beautiful" (featuring Bobby Brown) (3rd int'l single)
- "Pimpa's Paradise" (featuring Stephen Marley and Black Thought)
- "Move!"
- "For The Babies" (featuring Stephen Marley)
- "Hey Girl" (featuring Stephen Marley and Rovleta Fraser)
- "Road to Zion" (featuring Nas) (2nd US single)
- "We're Gonna Make It"
- "In 2 Deep"
- "Khaki Suit" (featuring Bounty Killer and Eek-a-Mouse)
- (UK-only bonus track) "Carnal Mind" (featuring Chew Stick)
