Stephen Marley Recruits Black Thought for Soulful ‘Thorn Or a Rose’
Today would’ve been Bob Marley‘s 69th birthday and to mark the occassion, his son Stephen Marley shares a track off his new album called “Thorn Or a Rose.” He hopes it will demonstrate the massive influence his father had on genres outside of reggae. Here he recruits the Roots’ Black Thought, where they weigh in on 21st century race relations and staying true to yourself amidst a laconic, jazzy backdrop. The song comes from Marley’s forthcoming album Revelation Part 2: The Fruit of Life, the follow-up to his Grammy-award winning 2011 album Revelation Part 1: The Root of Life.
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“The concept of the [new] album means merging my music with hip-hop and anything else I feel like,” he tells Rolling Stone. “Every aspect from the songwriting to the production, even the way I sing certain parts of a song, has to return to that concept.”
Revelation Part 2: Fruit of Life will arrive this summer and will feature contributions from Rick Ross, Ky-Mani Marley, Busta Rhymes, Wyclef Jean, Shaggy, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Rakim and many others.
Stream “Thorn Or a Rose” below: