Bob Marley- how a poor boy from Jamaica became a global icon

Bob Marley with Kate Simon, photographer, 1977

Kevin McDonald’s new film, Marley, about Bob Marley’s life highlights the incredible journey of this unlikely global icon. He started off life in a shack without electricity, one outfit and pair of shoes. If we look at it through a branding lens we see his move from ska music, which was about fun and dancing, to creating reggae, which was more spiritual. Chris Blackwell from Island Records then launched him worldwide under the guise of  ‘black rock’ in the early ’70s- 'Catch A Fire' album. This built on the following Jimi Hendrix and others had. Marley’s music, once at Island, had to become less political and certain members of the Wailers left, like Pete Tosh, because he didn’t like Blackwell. It must’ve been hard to surrender to the White Man given their Rasta politics, although Marley was half- White (English) and wanted all races to live in harmony through music. Blackwell, incidentally is also Exec Producer of the film.

The Rastas have a belief that a certain type of music will be listened to around the word because all people can tap into its spirituality. And they see this as Bob Marley’s music today.

Marley’s music, surprisingly, didn’t break into African American audiences in the US in his lifetime, though he had a huge following amongst White audiences there. The last performance of his life was supporting the Commodores in an attempt to get to exactly those audiences, though in reality he should’ve been the main act rather than the support. In parts of Africa, they loved him. The film shows an incredible performance in ‘Rhodesia’ on the night of their independence with Mugabe being sworn in and also in Gabon, where the dictator’s daughter fell in love with him.

The way Marley’s music has traveled now is almost a cliché of itself- every beach hang out plays it, but does it still have a revolutionary aspect to it? Listeners of reggae are full of peace and love which certainly can change the world on a local level. It’s unfortunate that the spliff smokers ‘brand’ is that of a lay-about and non-doer. But as with most clichés it’s important to remember why they became so- Marley was crucially important in Jamaica as someone who discussed politics and gave money to those who would queue outside his home in Kingston every day. He was brought back from exile in London by the Jamaican government specifically to unite the races in Jamaica. And all this before he was 36 years old, when he died of cancer. He was definitely a doer.

How his anti-capitalist brand lives on

Marley now ranks in the top five dead celebrities in terms of dollar earnings, according to Sanjay Sood, a UCLA marketing professor. The others being Michael Jackson, Elvis, Marlyn Monroe, Andy Warhol. Marley's family including his legendary number of children from different mothers, manage his brand cleverly, which stands for positive nature. The brand values are reggae music, hope, redemption and social justice. Some new merchandising include headphones made of recycled plastic and sustainable wood and 'Mellow Mood' herbal drinks to chill out, to counter the Red Bull energy phenomenon. "There were too many hyper people running around in the world", says Marley's daughter Cedella.

Source: The Billion Dollar Rasta by Reed Tucker.

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