Word: rasta
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...reggae in Rockers (which features Peter Tosh and Burning Spear, among others) seems noticeably contemporary. It slowly unveils a political awareness less violent than Bob Marley's recent activist songs; and it feels more polished, more heavily produced than traditional Rasta music. A guitar, a bongo, and smooth, taffy-flavored voices don't appear to be enough anymore. One introduction sounds remarkably similar to several measures on Elvis Costello's recent album. And a tuxedoed concert performer carries himself like Barry Manilow onstage. These isolated moments don't detract, however, from the music's mirthful, sensuous beauty...
Marley has always been a revolutionary but Survival indicates he now is committed fully to the use of violence to achieve his revolutionary aims. This breaks with his religious ideology--Rastafarianism--which usually extolls pacifism. Marley is a Rasta, a sect whose members believe they are the real lost tribes of Israel, and who revere Haile Selassie, former Ethiopian emporer, as their God. They smoke ganja ritually as a key part of their religion. Rastafarians have always been a peaceful folk. Marley's decision to endorse violence despite his Rastafarian commitment indicates how desperate he thinks the situation has grown...
...most popular reggae performer in both Jamaica and the U.S. is Bob Marley, 30, a dreadlocked singer who dispenses a back-to-the-roots philosophy with electric-rock intensity. A lean, imperious Rasta, Marley is deeply distrustful of politics. "Never make a politician grant you a favor, they will always want to control you forever," he sings in the song Revolution. The current hit single in Jamaica is his song about the island's upcoming parliamentary campaign. Its title: Rat Race...