Bob Marley: An American Icon
In 1975, "Bob Marley and the Wailers"" made their first and everlasting appearance at the Lyceum in London. Marley and "the Wailers" sung their way into the hearts of many people, with their peaceful, fun-loving messages. Bob Marley promoted a peaceful Utopia, where people weren't separated by differing demographics. In contrast to African-America Artists of today, Marley used more feminine overtones to spread his reggae music style and left a legacy of social activism. His fame and the subculture that follows his life and music is completely opposite of the business minded African American Icons of today. Some details of Marley's lifestyle and the Rastafarian social culture reflect the roots of the Rastafarian religion. Through his music he displayed ideals of how life should be lived and how the world could be. The connotations of the culture hairstyle, dreadlocks, show an interesting representation of the feminine overtones of the religion. The dreadlocks themselves are dirty and grungy which has multiple meaning. It can be a reference to the dirt of the earth and "back to naturalism" message. However it can also be a message to those inner city dwellers who mush push through the dirt and grunge of the cities. They hairstyles
Marley's clothing and accessories such as dashiki's, hats, and necklaces were generally made from natural materials, such as hemp, and represented a non-materialistic lifestyle. That's exactly what Marley's belief system was based on and he thusly embraced the connotations that came with he use of marijuana. Marley didn't have an extremely masculine body; in fact he had a rather feminine body. Poor because they are consumed with attaining wealth and in turn degrading, segregating, and pushing away all others. Some critics in the past have called him a social rebel or revolutionist, but were his ideas of world peace so new and original? Not especially, but his music and fame gave people a figurehead to stand behind. The name itself brings to mind negative connotations of living conditions reminiscent of World War I army trenches. It's completely adverse to the social messages that Marley tried to steer clear of because of the influences on the youth, which listens to the music. Many rap and hip-hop artists promote of how they fought their way out of the ghettos to become the famous rich people they are today. One of the two more recent popular African American styles of music, Rap, focus on gangbangs, drive-by's, robbing, and hating their families. Bob Marley was very much like many of the African American male artists in America today. His message here was that instead of leaving the poor community where he grew up and forgetting about that life he stuck with it, helping to improve his community and the people in it. His lyrics, rhythms, and stage presence urged audiences to fight racial oppression, strive for self-determination, and promote interracial harmony over victimization and violence. His message however was against the materialistic drives of materialist nations. Some might say his clothing was representative of poor peoples clothing, perhaps clothing generally found in the third world. The populace of Americans at the time usually associated marijuana use with the "stoner" or "hippie" culture.
Common topics in this essay:
American Icons,
African American,
Trench Town,
Bob Marley,
Artists Marley,
Hip-Hop Rap,
World War,
Kingston Jamaica,
Marley Wailers,
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,
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rastafarian religion,
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