Ky-Mani Marley, second youngest child of the late reggae star Bob Marley, has given an interview to www.lonokenews.net in which he speaks of his memories of his late father, who died when he was five. Ky-Mani, who bears an uncanny resemblance to his father, speaks of his memories of his dad and what it was like growing up as a Marley. Here are some excerpts. The link to the full interview is below.
Q: You were so young when your father died. What are your memories of him?
A: It was when I lost a slingshot. He was standing in the doorway. We had an old wooden house, the steps were brick. I walked up to him and said, “Daddy, I lost my slingshot.” And I just remember him laughing. He looked down on me and he laughed, and I realized I wasn’t in trouble then and I walked away. For some reason, I guess God knows, I held onto that one memory.
Q: You were mostly raised in the United States. What was your childhood like here?
A: People hear the last name Marley and they assume we had it nice, but I was raised in the inner city of Miami, nine people in a small two-bedroom house, not a nice two-bedroom house. I got really bitter. I knew what my father meant to the world, and still when others are living nice and lovely, I was living like a pauper. Kids come around, like, “Oh, your father’s Bob Marley. Why you living in this raggedy-ass house?”
But when I look back on it, I so appreciate that I went through that. It humbled me. I’m able to deal with all walks of life, from the gutter to the palace, and deal with them as humans. I didn’t have my head in the wrong place.
Answer: When I started, it did pose an issue. But if I repeated what my dad did, people wouldn’t appreciate me as an individual. They’d say, “He’s just trying to be like his father.” I’m an artist that likes variety. I make all kinds of music. My root is reggae, and funny enough, I don’t make a lot of reggae music. I have some acoustic, some soft rock, some hip-hop influences. And I pay tribute to my father. I always play a few of his songs.
I’ve been at it so long that I think (audiences) finally are starting to accept me for me.
For the full interview go to http://www.lonokenews.net/articles/2009/06/25/entertainment/ent02.txt
Thanks for the link, an interesting interview. I was checking some of his tunes at his myspace site, good stuff. I wonder if it is a blessing or not having such a famous father. Ziggy and Damien both seem to have good careers so I guess it does no harm but at the end of the day it will come to the music vibes.
By: Kratom on June 26, 2009
at 11:05 pm