The Man The Myth The Legend

The Hon. Robert Nesta Marley (February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981) better known as Bob Marley, was a Jamaican singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the most widely known reggae musician of all time, famous for popularising the genre outside of Jamaica. Much of his work deals with the struggles of the impoverished and/or powerless. Bob Marley is also renowned for the way in which he spread faith through his music.

He was the husband of Rita Anderson Marley, who regularly performed with Bob Marley as a member of his back-up singers the I Threes. She had 4 of his 9 acknowledged children, including David Ziggy Marley and Stephen Marley who together continue their father's musical legacy in their band the Melody Makers. Another of his sons, Damian Marley (aka "Jr Gong"), has also started a career in music.

His Great Style

Living close to and as a part of nature is seen as African. This African approach to "naturality" is seen in the dreadlocks (a custom not common anywhere in Africa, itself), ganja, ital food, and in all aspects of Rasta life. They disdain the modern (non) approach to life for being unnatural and excessively objective and rejecting of subjectivity. Rastas say that scientists try to discover how the world is by looking from the outside in, whereas the Rasta approach is to see life from the inside, looking out. The individual is given tremendous importance in Rastafari, and every Rasta has to figure out the truth for himself or herself.

Another important Afrocentric identification is with the colours red, gold, and green, from the Ethiopian flag. They are a symbol of the Rastafari movement, and of the loyalty Rastas feel towards Haile Selassie, Ethiopia, and Africa rather than for any other modern state where they happen to live. These colours are frequently seen on clothing and other decorations. Red stands for the blood of martyrs, green stands for the vegetation of Africa, while gold stands for the wealth and prosperity Africa has to offer. (On the other hand, many actual Ethiopian scholars state that the colours originate from an old saying that the Virgin Mary's belt is the rainbow, and that the Red, Gold, and Green are an abbreviation of this.)

Many Rastafari attempt to learn Amharic, that they consider to be the original language, because this is the language Haile Selassie I spoke, and in order to emphasise themselves as African people - though in practice, most Rastas continue to speak either English or their native languages. There are reggae songs written in Amharic.