There is widespread disappointment that the new JA$5,000 bill issued in Jamaica does not feature Bob Marley as many had expected. Instead, the new currency note (equivalent to US$70) bears the likeness of former Prime Minister Hugh Shearer, whose impact, critics claim, “wanes in comparison to that of the reggae legend.” Marley had been the popular frontrunner to be featured in the bill, followed by Louise Bennett-Coverty (“Miss Lou,” the famous folklorist). “I can’t understand why someone who has done so much for his country has been side-tracked,” Cleveland Brownie, chairman of the Recording Industry Association of Jamaica said in reference to Marley. “If we were to measure the impact of all politicians and other cultural icons, I think that Bob Marley would exceed all the others,” Brownie said. “The BBC declared ‘One Love’ the song of the century and Time magazine called Exodus the album of the millennium. I need not say more,” he said.
