Stephen Marley: "I will never stop singing Bob's songs!"

'Everybody who wants to meet Stephen Marley, come to the tour bus now!' Never seen or heard anything like this: the artist who invites everybody in the venue to come and greet him personally. In Rotterdam, after another fabulous show (no reggae artist can top this!), people queued for more than two hours and Stephen took some time for everybody. Does he do that every night? 

Stephen: 'Yeah, every night.'

You really want to meet all your fans.

'As much as possible.'

How are you going to do that when you play the really big venues and festivals?

'I don't know. That's why I do it right now.'

On your tour bus it says 'Revelation Part 2'. Does that mean Part 2 is ready to be released as an album?

'No, it's the second part of the tour. Part 2 of the album is coming up in November.'

I think I only heard you play one song of this new album.

'Who will cast the first stone, the duet with Yasmin Karma.'

How or where did you link up with Jasmin Karma (who already recorded in Jamaica 5 years ago)? 

'Well, she's from Australia. And now she's a part of us.'

Like last year, you also have your son on stage, Joseph aka Jo Mersa (one of Stephens 9 children)? Will we hear more from him?

'He's working on his album, and he's got a couple of good tunes. Just taking it organically, you know. Going through the motions, to become a good artist.'

You play some of your father's songs every night. How do you decide which songs?

'I look at my setlist, and we incorporate the songs of my father that feel good with that list, to still make it feel like one show. To make them feel like my songs. There's so many of my father's songs that I can choose from, so I prefer to start from my songs.'

One could say that you don't need to play your father's songs anymore to touch and convince the people. You are as good as your father, and we get your own talent and songs on top of it.

'Well, thank you brother. But I play Bob's songs because Bob's songs are a part of me. I cannot separate myself from Bob. He's in my blood and in my DNA. I don't choose to sing Bob's songs to please the crowd but because they mean a lot to me also. I will never stop singing Bob's songs, regardless what happens.'

There's another reason: having seen your father perform live, I can testify that his music has ever sounded that good on stage, if only for the poorer technical equipment of that time.

'Right.' 

In Rotterdam you sang Jah army, also doing Buju Bantons part. Some people wonder why you support Buju so explicitly, even paying for his bail.

'What do you mean, why? Why should I forsake him? I know a lot of people who sell drugs, where I come from. They're my friends, and you don't turn your back on friends in times of need. God forgive, who am I to judge or forgive? I support Buju in the open, I support him behind closed doors. This is our life, the life we're living. It's the media who make it an explicit thing.'

Maybe because Buju is now associated with a drug most reggae fans don't really appreciate?

'That doesn't make the man. It's just a mistake in this man's journey.'

When you sing (Selassie is) The Chapel, don't you feel like you have to explain the mystic of this spiritual concept to the people?

'To be honest, I would hope that, the way we play it, the people get the gift of this song without me having to explain it. That they would really feel the whole spirit and the gospel of this song. I've never thought about explaining it on stage, but who knows on my journey one day I will? Even with I & I knowledge, I still want to hear of His Majesty. So I guess there's more people who are interested.'

Selassie is the chapel is the only song featured twice in the movie Marley. We don't see you in the movie. Maybe because you were too little to have good memories?

'No man. Yes I was little but I was very close to my father. They talked to me, but very late. That's why it didn't make the movie. But Ziggy had a lot with it so I was quite confident. He made sure the movie shows the best we can offer.'

As I visited the house on Hope Road recently, I noticed it has changed drastically the last few years. It seems like there's a new wind is blowing there.

'It's evolution. I don't really have an explanation for it. The powers that must be have woken up. We grow and we learn and the right things happen. You know, it's not always easy to maintain the integrity and still live your life, to uphold righteousness. We do make mistakes but we also know that we do a lot of things right.'

The atmosphere must be a lot like in your father's days.

'Sometimes it's eerie, so similar. Same thing.'

People tell me you try to do some good work in Trenchtown.

'Trenchtown is where we're from. We were born helping people, it's our life. We were struggling in the ghetto, like so many others. We always try to help and uplift the underprivileged, and give them hope. Especially in Jamaica, where politics is such a plague. People really need the positive energy and vibration as much as they can get it.'

'The only thing that's tricky about it, is politics. Sometimes, dem get involved with something that you don't want dem to get involved with at all. No political motivation please.'

Do you think the Jamaican government still considers the Marleys as a threat?

'Yeah man! We are liberal, we don't answer to anybody, to any government. You will always have to watch us. No government no feed me.'

One more thing: in Belgium we have come to an agreement with the gay activists, the No Hate Reggae Charter, declaring an amnesty for homophobic hate speech in the past but also demanding a stop to it from now on. I know you have never sung that kind of lyrics but could you support such kind of agreement?

'I'm oblivious to that problem. I don't neglect it but it's not my area. But I think it's a good thing, still. Some artists should take lessons from that. You can make great music without having to offend or segregate people.'

To be honest, as a writer I also prefer to reason about His Majesty, like it used to be with the older generation of artistst, than having to answer questions about homophobia in Jamaica all the time. 

'Right, we have to get back on track. Talk 'bout what really matters.'

Stephen Marley staat op Couleur Café, zondag 30 juli.

(Photos: Rik De Blick)