Damian ‘Jr Gong’ Marley on producing ‘Kontraband’

Grammy winner Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley is known for his fine vocals, but what many persons are unaware of is his passion for producing and that he has co-produced on his albums.

In speaking with Colin Hines at the launch of Kabaka Pyramid's Kontraband, Marley explained that he has co-produced on his albums, and has been involved in production "fi ah little while, even my most recent album (Stony Hill). It is something that I really have a love for."

"He wanted to do more work on the production side of things." Kabaka shared with The Gleaner, so he reached out to Kabaka. The collaboration between the two Jamaicans began when the Grammy winner produced a rhythm called On the Corner. Well Done, one of the songs on the album was recorded on that rhythm. "So that was the first time working with him." Kabaka stated.

The chemistry was so good that both wanted to work on more music together.

Damian concurred, "I am a big fan of lyrics, and Kabaka lyrics are excellent, and also because I had the opportunity to work with him on a project before. I enjoyed the energy of working with him, so I expanded on that energy and as I am fan of his lyricism."

Most of the tracks were done at Marley's studio Verizon. His role was to give ideas, but also called on older brother Stephen Marley for ideas.

He believed that "It's important for artistes to come with ideas, and that is one of the things with Kabaka. He comes to the table with a lot of his own ideas so all the weight is not on you the producer to come up with everything. That was what was really great about working with him."

Going forward, Marley has some collaborations coming up with other artistes. He is also producing an album with Third World.

"The tentative title is, 'More Work to be Done', that may change." The reason for the title is there is a song of the same title and although Third World as a legendary group has done so much work there is still more work to be done. The album will be the first album to be released since the passing of the legendary Bunny Rugs.