Welcome to Jamrock: Jr Gong vs Brand Jamaica (Transcript)
Content Warning: This episode contains profranties.
In 2004, Jamaican musician, Damian ‘Jr Gong’ Marley released the lead track of his upcoming third studio album, "Welcome to Jamrock”. Propelled by its music video, it would go to be an international hit. But although it was celebrated abroad, back home in Jamaica, sections of society had a different opinion.The Making of a Star
Damian Marley was born in 1978 to Jamaican reggae superstar, Bob Marley, and the 1976 Miss World pageant winner, Cindy Breakspeare. Damian was raised by his mother and his step father, Tom Tavares-Finson, in Stony Hill, Jamaica and in 1996, while just a teenager, released his debut album, “Mr. Marley”. The album was arranged and produced by his older brother, Stephen Marley and would spawn hits such as “Me Name Jr. Gong” where Damian declared himself “the youngest veteran”. The moniker Jr. Gong, as his father was nicknamed Gong, would stick. To note, Gong, which influence Bob Marley’s label Tuff Gong, draws on the Hindu influence of Rastafari. To learn more about Hindu contributions to Rastafari, checkout out our episode, “Coolie Gang, Ghettos and Rastafari: A Story of Four Continents and A Couple Black Markets.”Still, it was not until 2001, that Jr. Gong would release new music - this in the form of the album “Halfway Tree” and like Mr. Marley, was arranged and produced by Stephen. The best-selling album was one of the first genre blending albums by a Jamaican musician where Jr. Gong became one of the first persons to remove the invisible line of what constitutes a reggae and a dancehall artist. In 2005, when the musical publication Pitchfork, asked why he made the decisions to genre blend with elements of American rap and R&B, Jr. Gong said:“I experiment in a lot of different genres. We’re fans of different genres of music that reflect in our thing. We make music that we like to listen to”
In 2017, he elaborated on this with the Independent Philly:“My father is an inspiration… the 80’s dancehall music was a big influence on me, namely people like Shabba Ranks, Tiger, and Super Cat. I’m also influenced heavily by people like Nat King Cole and Ray Charles. Of course a ton of hip-hop, especially 90’s hip-hop music and that whole movement, like Tupac and Biggie, and just popular music in general. I’m a big fan of music so I listen to all kinds of music. Sometimes it’s not so much about a particular artist, than a sound, you know? I’m influenced by individual sounds sometimes”.
And it is this limitless music taste why Halfway Tree, which included an interlude from a scene from Jamaican first ever feature film, The Harder They Come (1972), had elements of hip-hop, jazz, soul and R&B, where it had songs with features from Capleton, Eve, Bounty Killer and others. The album would spawn hits such as “More Justice”, “It Was Written” and “Still Searching”. For his efforts, Jr. Gong received a Grammy for Best Reggae Album at the 2002 ceremony. In that same year, the film Shottas was released. Written and directed by Cess Silvera, the film is described as “two young men from Jamaica climb to the top of the criminal world in Miami, with a constant presence of drugs, extortion, and deceit”. The soon to be cult classic starred Spragga Benz, Paul Campbell, Louie Rankin and in the lead role was Jr. Gong’s older brother, Ky-Mani Marley. More significant to this story however is that Stephen Marley did the music for the film. And it’s in the opening scene of Shottas, an aariel view depicting the inner city of Kingston, that the world first heard a snippet of “Welcome To Jamrock”. Two years later, the song was officially released and thrusted Jr. Gong to international stardom. Welcome To Jamrock
Welcome to Jamrock was released as the lead song for Jr. Gong’s third album of the same name. In creating the songs on the albums, Jr Gong explained his then creative mindset in a 2015: “My album prior to Welcome to Jamrock had been on Motown, and that relationship didn't really work out for me and had just come to an end. So at that point in time, I was saying to myself, "I'm going to just make the music I love. I'm not going to make music to try to appease a record company and try to make international singles. I'm just going to try to make some music I want to listen to and my friends can listen to."
Then on the technical accept of the album, the engineer, James "Bonzai" Caruso who is credited on all 14 songs on the album stated that it took almost two years for the album to be finished. Recording took place at Lion’s Den Studios in Miami and in Kingston at Tuff Gong Studios. At Tuff Gong, Bonzai recalled the following in an interview with musical gear marketplace, Reverb: “They had a 2-inch, 24 track analog machine. Little drum booth to the back of the control room that is all wood with natural light coming in from the skylight. Old SSL desk is in there and it's pretty well equipped… Back then, they had a Sony MCI console… They have a nice, really good-sized tracking room with a drum kit I love and an old piano in there I love. They also have a Hammond B3 organ. They have the classic instruments and sounds."
According to Bonzai, Julian Marley, another of Damian's brother, played the organ on many of the songs on the album while Stephen, who also arranged and produced the album, played percussions and synthesizers with the intention of “mixing the past with the present, the digital with the physical”. As Bonzai stated: “Most of the percussions are the real deal. They're not from a keyboard. They're real tambourines, shakers, djembe, cabasas, and such. Keyboard-wise, we had a Fantom, which is a beast of a keyboard… We even used old analog synths from way back in conjunction with digital synths in order to stack them to get a unique sound between analog and digital together. As far as mixing, there was some LA-2A and API compression, probably some Massenburg EQ or SSL EQ, with an analog hall or chamber reverb and a sprinkle of delay”
In the finishing touches of songs, Bonzai further elaborated: “A lot of those little elements you hear on the record were added in the eleventh hour right at the end. All that backward sound was done on the last day of the mix. Same with the jungle beat repeats and delays on the drums at the end of the record—I did that the last day as well… If you listen closely to that record, you're going to hear vinyl scratch noise when you drop the needle on the record.”
Specifically to the titular track of the album, its sampled Ini Kamoze’s World a Reggae, a 1984 track produced by super duo, Sly & Robbie. It’s Ini Kamoze voice that you hear on the opening seconds of the song - “Out in the street, they call it murder”. Playing on the phrase that usually greets tourist on their arrival to the island, ‘Welcome to Jamrock’ painted a picture of the ugliness of Jamaica’s society. Lyrics such as, “Two pound a weed inna van back/It inna yuh hand bag, yuh nap sack/ It inna yuh back pack” examined the inner workings of the country’s drug trade while those such “Di thugs dem wi' do weh' dem got to/And won't think twice to shot you” gave commentary on the island’s spiralling crime rate. And even on how the nation’s crime and violence rate have been so out of control that it overwhelmed law enforcement, Jr Gong sang:“When Trenchtown man stop laugh and block off traffic
Den dem wheel and pop-off and dem start clap it
With the pin file down and it a beat rapid
Police come inna jeep an' dem can't stop it”.
Jr Gong even commented on the island history of political violence and its political machinery in exploiting its most vulnerable population for votes: “Welcome to Jamdown
Poor people a dead at random
Political violence, cah done
Bare ghost an phantom
The youth dem get blind by stardom
Now the king of kings ah call
Old man to pickney, so wave unno hand if you with me
To see the sufferation sick me
Dem suit nuh fit me/ To win election dem trick we
Den dem don't do noting at all”
As the film studies academic, Dr. Rachel Moseley-Wood would sum up in her paper, “The Other Jamaica: Music and the City in Jamaican Film”: “in the song Jamaica is envisioned as a site for violent crime, the drug trade, poverty, civil unrest, thuggery and political violence”.
But soon after its release, it quickly climb to the top of multiple charts on the island. And in true fashion, a music video was summoned to visualise the song. To oversee this, Jr Gong would tapped one of his most frequent collaborators - Ras Kassa. It’s Like A Movie
Born Gerald Haynes, Rassa came to music video production by accident. As he told us in a video interview in December 2024,“Okay so music was my first love. So I have a bunch a bredrin and we seh we a go dung a dis go go club go DJ. Dem av a open mic or sumn. I think it is down on Constant Spring Road - one go go club. So we seh yeah we a go dis go go club. It’s a night for new talent. So wi reach a di go go club. All I know is di guard, di security, wasn’t letting us in. I mean wi dress out inna bush zeen! Ready fi guh shell di place and they didn’t let us in. Suh dis guy name Trevor Bailey now, my guru is coming out and I tink one a di guys knew him an a like Trevor seh ‘yow wah gwaan an ting’. And he must seh yow it look like maybe it done an’ ting suh, weh unuh a dealid? Him seh alright, well I have a studio, come down dere tomorrow an him start telling us what di rules are an we seh alright cool an wi go down dere.
So we went to the studio an wi start mekking music an Trevor Bailey make music videos. And down dere, going down dere for months now and den dey have a video for Papa Son… Suh den now dey decide to mek di music video an Trevor’s going on set an he said come… So den I start going on more sets I start doing dat. An Kevin Lee was di director in di crew, cuz I was, yeah I make music I’ just helping you out so I’ll write di concept but I’ll go on set and I’ll go yow do dis, do dat. So Kevin leave Jamaica, boom! And den TOK came an said we want to do a music video, I said, well Kevin is not here. And dem seh well you do it. I was like I’m not a director, I make music. So dey said no but you were on set you are di man. I said alright I’m gonna do dis one music video, so dey said alright cool. So I mek it. I made dat video on a Saturday and den after dat when it drop maybe a month later every Saturday I’m making a music video”
As his star rise, he continue to gather traction in the video music industry. It was during this period, in 2001 while being a P.A. on the music video for “It Was Written”, that Kassa meant Jr Gong for the first time. According to him, the creative connection was instant. As he told us: “Di first time we go connected was on Half way Tree” album. I didn’t do any music video for dat, I was on set. So in di concept, somewhere it said, di spirit come out of mussi Damion dem or Capelton and guh chu di dis an’ dat. Suh Capelton was like ‘Steve a wah kinda spirit ting dis?’ Den Steve look pon me, Kassa! Wah dis inna di farin people dem good good video? Me? I’m jus a PA, wah kinda spirit ting dis now? Suh mi seh, dis is di chance to be a bullshitter. Suh I said let me talk to di director… I went right here and turn and come back and I said okay, ‘it’s not di spirit…we as human beings but our emotions’ sumn like dat, sumn like dat'. An dem seh den nuh dat dem fi seh man! Yow wi need rasta pon di ting enuh”.
Soon after he became Jr. Gong’s video director of choice and as such, he was tapped to do the video for the “Welcome to Jamrock” where Kassa chose Trenchtown as the setting. He explained to The Yaad how reason for this: "Nuances are very important for, in life… Suh what I’m saying now to you is, Bob is from Trench Town, I’m gonna use this video, make it, for Damion, give him a new look and den I’m gonna pay homage to Bob and the Wailers at the same time”.
Even more so, residents of the community had cameos in the video: there’s a woman washing her hair; another hanging out clothes; men gambling, bystanders in their yard, young children playing marbles etc. In recalling the day of the shoot, Ras Kassa told us: "Okay, suh, when we did di scout di location. I did a walk through. Suh a bredrin walking me and showing me everything an… I’m making visual notes like, ‘okay, dere, alright dere, boom dere’ and den I was seeing some kids for real playing marble and ting… I said I want dem doing di same ting tomorrow in di same spot.. I want dat, and dey need to wear di same clothes, don’t change anything. Di lady was actually washing her hair, hair, di day when I did di walk through and I said everyting you’re wearing put it back on. Put back di shampoo, everything. Boom! There was no art department, di community was already di art department. An I just tell dem but di ting wid Jamaica now is we’re proud. When you come now di man bling out! Hair do up and I was like, what di fuck? I did not want dat. Alright den, okay, suh come dance inna di video fi mi. You now do dat, alright, good, fine, great! Can you jus put on back di clothes you had on yesterday?”
And shot by Chris Brownie, Kassa would see his vision come to life. Kassa would also play dual role as one of the video’s editor and even took the photograph that would become the album’s cover art. The video would premier in Jamaica in early 2005 and then internationally on BET prime time top 10 countdown show, “106 & Park” on June 8, 2005. It was soon picked up ran and continusly on other notably music channels like MTV, 4Music and others. Without question, the song, propelled by the video, gave Jr. Gong the biggest hit of his career. As Pitchfork stated: “Welcome to Jamrock is more than a summer jam; it’s the sort of song that fills the air until you’re breathing it, that starts playing itself over in your head when you’re trying to fall asleep, and it’s nothing short of miraculous that a blast of pure gravelly disdain like this has become an honest-to-god hit”
But although it was celebrated abroad, back home in Jamaica, persons saw him as public enemy number one. The Wrong Narrative
Now even before the video premiered to internationally audience, Jamaican would have seen it earlier in the year and from the inception, many persons were not please. Take Donna Goldwin for example who wrote a letter published by Gleaner on February 26, 2005: “I have to express my utter disgust with the latest from the Marley’s halfway golden child, “Welcome To Jamrock”. As the offspring of Jamaica’s most recognised musical icon, Junior Gong has decidedly fashioned Jamaica as an embattled land in which weed smoking, gun-toting teenagers and babies along with righteous and saintly Rastafarians are the only inhabitants. The waiflike, long-locked authority goes on to intimate that the Jamaican people are all uneducated, idiotic marionettes of unscrupulous and lazy politicians. The song and accompanying music video depicts a stark contrast to the multifaceted and beautiful nation that is Jamaica land we love. I find it ironic that after Half-Way-Tree that Rastafarian prince ignores the component of Jamaica that has made the country a stalwart feature of international life. He ignores our athletic, academic, geographic, social and musical victories that have resonated throughout the universe. At a time when Jamaica is riding the high of international recognition, one who is supposedly an ambassador has found the need to debase our image for financial benefit. To this I say, SHAME”
In the weeks that followed, similar utterances like that of Goldwin could be heard in other newspaper articles, radio call-in shows, from social and political commentators as well as those in the upper class on the island. As Dr. Moseley-Wood stated: “The success of the song locally and significantly beyond, Jamaica’s shores - indicated, however, that in the struggle over representation of place, this version of Jamaica, which privileges the perspective of the underclass, those on the margins of society was gaining a high degree of public attention and therefore some measure of dominance”.
Some even took issue that Jr Gong who was raised in Jamaica’s upper class would even dare critique the hierarchy that he benefited from. Then there were those commentators who called out his proximity to the same political machinery hr was criticising in. Now for his formative years, Jr Gong's stepfather was Tom Tavares - Finson. To note, Tom Tavares-Finson is a notable criminal defence attorney on the island and is a member of the Tavares Finson family - one of the most influential political families in Jamaica’s modern history where Tom is the nephew of Clem Tavares-Finson, a former deputy leader of the Jamaica Labour Party. Thus, during his years as Jr Gong’s stepfather, Tom was, and still is, a senator in the JLP. Still despite the hypocrisy allegations thrown at him, Jr Gong himself would explained how growing up in a political household would shaped his music. As he told the Guardian in a July 2012 interview: “I like singing all songs, but I find that writing social commentary come naturally. My father was big on that and then some, but my stepfather is a politician in Jamaica - and one of Jamaica’s leading criminal defence lawyers - so I’ve been exposed to different ways of thinking. He’s defended all kinds”
By the mid-2005, when the song was becoming one of the biggest hits globally and its video was displayed worldwide, the tourism sector now had issues. To note, just three priors, the government would unveiled the “The Jamaica Tourism Master Plan of 2002” which according to them was “taking the country’s image to the next level”. As such, in an era where Jamaica’s crossover hits consisted of Sean Paul, ‘Get Busy’ and ‘I'm Still In Love With You’; Shaggy’s and Rik Rob, “It Wasn’t Me’; Beenie Man’s ‘Dude’ and Wayne Wonder’s, ‘No Letting Go”, “Welcome To Jamrock” was a far cry from these “club bangers”. As Pitchfork told Jr. Gong in 2005, “we have had dancehall hits before, but we haven’t had anything as furious and rough as what you did with that”. As we stated earlier, the song painted a picture of the ugliness of Jamaica’s society thus challenging the carefully curated, island paradise that was being sold to prospective tourists abroad. Big Mountain, a blogger on the website theReggaeBoyz.com wrote: “I was watching MTV yesterday with a group of International friends who came to visit. Damian Marley's video "Welcome to Jamrock" came on. I was in shock and awe. What was this guy thinking? He chooses to dirtiest streets with garbage piling up on both sides, people living in carboard boxes, shattered zinc homes, man eating out of garbage bins. Utterly disgusting to see the image this guy is broadcasting to the world. Not to mention the Jamaican Flag featured in the video was on a wall with paint peeling and filled with gunshot holes. To top it off he named the song "Welcome to Jamrock". As if this is how we live on the rock. I know these things exist in Jamaica and every country in the world for that matter but why make a video depicting Jamaicans living in garbage and extreme poverty and filth. One of the guys asked me who has never visited Jamaica, "does this guy really loves Jamaica?” Luckily, Wayne Wonder's video came up with some beautiful Jamaican girls dancing on the beach and saved the day. What was this guy thinking?”
To these complains from Big Mountain and others, Dr. Moseley-Wood writes:“Marley’s switch directs our attention to the often gaping discrepancies between the image of Jamaica offered by tourism interests to lure visitors, and the realities experienced by those on the ground”
By September 19, Davina Morris in a article published in the Gleaner titled, “The Rising Song: Want Social Justice and Beautiful Tunes? Look No Further, Damian Marley is Here” stated the song was so was so serious that “it supposedly caused quite a frenzy with the Jamaican tourist board.. and rumour had it that the tourist board were far from pleased with his depiction of the country”. On these rumours of the tourist board displeasure with him, Jr Gong told Morris:“Yeah, that was true - but I didn’t care. Yes, I think it’s important to expose both the positive and negative things about the country. But the side that I talk about is true - it exists. Jamaican does have its problems and I think it’s important to shout about their problems. It’s no good putting up a pretence. Jamaica is a violent. The truth is the truth”
Ras Kassa had more direct thoughts. As he told us: “If you don’t wanna see dat, well, get rid of all di gehttos,cause I am here to tell you dis now. Go on google and type in Trench Town di 70’s and den type in Trench Town now, di only difference you will see is the murals on di wall. So, anybody out dere: any politician, whether JLP, PNP, di Mayor of Kingston and you don’t like my work, I’m here to tell you go fuck yourself, okay, Fuck off. Fuck off!”
A few months later, we would learn that some Jamaicans would have some ideas on how to counteract this negative imagery put on display by Gong and Ras Kassa. Speaking to the Kiwanis Club of Kingston on December 13, Robert Bryan, the executive director of Jamaica Cricket 2007, stressed the importance of the country investing in media coverage during the upcoming 2007 Cricket World Cup. In a speech where he spoke on how Jamaica will benefit from an overwhelming media presence and shed it negative reputation as a place of violence, he specially, reference Welcome to Jamrock. As he stated: “In my view, this is the most important part of this event… World Cup 2007 had a lot more to do about Jamaica than it has to do about cricket. The world is going to be watching and there are stories to be told. In Jamaica alone, there are going to be 400 or more journalists for the duration of the tournament and around the time of the opening ceremony that number is expected to swell up to a thousand. So when we say ‘Welcome to Jamrock’, in specific terms I’m inviting you to think about what exactly is the answer to that welcome… Is it the construct of what is taking place in society today, or is something else we want to put out there?”
Funny enough, Ras Kassa would direct a number of tv commercials for the Cricket World Cup. Still, it seems the higher that “Welcome to Jamrock” claimed on international charts, reaching 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, the louder the complains it got from Jamaicans. And when there were calls from certain circles to censor both the song and the video, it was Ian Boyne, arguably the most prolific social commentator as this time, who came to Jr Gong and Ras Kassa’s defence. In a two page Gleaner spread published on October 2, titled, “Welcome to Jamrock: A Phenomenon” Boyne writes: “Welcome to Jamrock has sparked controversy in some circles because it conflicts crudely and disconcertingly with the sanitised, Madison Avenue-packaged Paradise which has been marketed abroad, and it highlights a Jamaica which the Jamaican power elite would like to ignore. In Welcome to Jamrock, Damian Marley plays the classic role of the prophet who disturbs, afflicts and tortures the comforted with pictures and images not in concert with the vision of the ruling class. It lives up well to its genre of protest music, jolting the complacent who would soon forget the other Jamaica… But this is just the point of cultural prophets like Jr. Gong: They, like the young Jeremiah, burst on the scene to afflict the comforted and to taunt the mainstream with the ugly subterranean realities”.
Continuing further, Mr. Boyne criticise the political establishment who took issues with the song and its video: “Welcome to Jamrock, superbly video-directed by Ras Kassa, the toughest and finest in the business, should be sent to all the contenders for the leadership of the People's National Party. It is all well and good to talk about massive infrastructural developments, fast-lane highways which facilitate easy travel by those who have cars. It's well and good to talk about "the greatest Spanish invasion since Christopher Columbus”… in reference to investments in our tourist industry. It is good and true to talk about record numbers of Jamaicans owning homes, driving cars, having piped water, electricity and cellphones. It is good and true to talk about declining infant mortality rates and improvements in maternal health. It is good, great and true to say though it is counter-intuitive that poverty rates have actually fallen, that significant achievements have been made in the social sector. It is true that we have record foreign exchange amounts in the Net International Reserves, that our exchange rate has been largely stable and that interest rates are going down. Yes, the rating agencies are happy with us and so are the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other representatives of global capital… But, neither is it true that things are rosy for everyone. There are many people who are left behind in this process of neo-liberal capitalist development, and there are not enough voices lobbying for them… Junior Gong is here to crash the party and to bring discordance to the "Don't Stop the Progress" choir.”
Then specifically to those persons who have exploited the Jamaican poor and dispossessed for personal gain, Boyne writes:“The progressive forces in this country have abdicated their responsibility to the poor and marginalised. Some of those now supposedly speaking on behalf of the poor are merely using the poor to come to power to further their own political ambitions. It is artistes like Damian Marley from whom we can expect the sincerity, honesty and deep empathy for the underclass… Welcome to Jamrock is an anthem for the poor and oppressed, the invisible in the society, those left behind by globalisation and the neo-liberal, Washington Consensus policies.”
And to those who spoke on how the young Marley threaten the island’s tourist image, Boyne states: “We can choose to crucify him because his image of Jamrock is not that of the Jamaica Tourist Board. Yes, it is true, the footage in Welcome to Jamrock is not representative of all of Jamaica. There are the lovely, scenic and therapeutic images of Jamaica which the Prime Minister showed the Travel Channel producer. I am cool with that. But just as the Jamaica on the Travel Channel is not all of Jamaica, and no one is accusing the Prime Minister of distortion, so is Junior Gong's portrayal of Jamaica no distortion either”.
Still, closer to the end of the article, the veteran journalist would predict: “Welcome to Jamrock is another Grammy winner. It deserves every accolade possible”. As life would have it, that prediction was true.The Youngest Veteran
Driven by the song of the same name, “Welcome To Jamrock”, was released on September 15, 2005 where its sold 86,000 copies in its first week of release, becoming one of the best selling first week sales of any Jamaican musician. As such, it peaked at #1 on the Reggae Albums chart and debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 album charts. With these accomplishments and acclamation by notably music critics and outlet, Welcome to Jamrock earned the Grammy for Best Reggae Album at 2006 ceremony. But that was not all. The song, “Welcome to Jamrock”, earned a Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance. And keeping true to his teenage declaration as “the youngest veteran”, these wins made Jr Gong the first and only Jamaican musician to earned two Grammys on the same night and the first and only Jamaican to gain a Grammy as a solo act outside of the Best Reggae Album category. Since its release, the album has being certified Gold in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. While Ras Kassa for his video direction, would gain a number of opportunities from the video. After its initial release, Jr Gong would go on tour and take a brief release hiatus before releasing the Nas’ collaboration album, Distant Relatives, in 2010. As the new decade roll on, Gong would release a handful singles including the smash hit, “Affairs of the Heart”, “Set Up Shop” and “Gunman’s World”. Then in 2017, after an almost 10 years hiatus of a new solo album, Marley released Stony Hill. Propelled by the hit single, Medication featuring Stephen, the album peaked at #65 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart. It is the highest peaking album by a Jamaican act in the last 7 years and the highest-selling album by a Jamaican act that year. In 2018, it won a Grammy for Best Reggae Album, marking his 4th. Since then, the young Marley has not released another project but that does not means he has not been making music. In collaboration with Stephen, he would executive produced Kabaka Pyramid’s, “The Kalling” which took home the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2023. He has also had a series of hits with a number of international acts, the most notably are with his nephew, Skip Marley, on the track “That’s Not True” and with Nigerian music star, WizKid for the song Blessed. They have also been business ventures, the most lauded is the Welcome to Jamrock Reggae Cruise - the renowned musical cruise which is described as “a total immersion in Reggae experience for five days, with destinations in Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, Jamaica.”Still, as 2025 marked the 20th year anniversary of the album’s release, one cannot dispute the immense contributions that Welcome to Jamrock, Jr Gong and Stephen as a producer, has shaped Jamaican music. And despite the numerous backlash thrown at its leading song, the first sign of its legacy was in 2010 when Protoje released “The Seven Year Itch”. In fact, Protoje, who is just 3 years younger than Jr Gong, would acknowledge the influence that Welcome to Jamrock would have his on career. As he sang on “The Seven Year Itch", the intro song to his debut album of the same name:“A watch Gong and Stephen Marley a live out the dream you know
But Welcome to Jamrock did lift my feeling up
I listen it still
I listen it keen you know”
And as Protoje would became the face of a new Jamaican sound categorise in the media as “Reggae Revivalism”, the early sounds of this school of music, can be trace to Jr Gong. And when in 2017, Protoje would release “Blood Money” one of the biggest hits of his career where he gave a biting critique of the island’s corruption network and the elites who facilitate it, the song parallels with ‘Welcome To Jamrock’ of examining the dark corners of the island beyond its tourist marketing. As Adrienne Black of the music platform, Pigeons and Planes, would write in her review of the song: "Many of us only picture the beautiful, carefree side of the tropical island but, 'Blxxd Money' tells the tale of two cities by bringing attention to the darker realities that are swept under the rug.”
And the genre blending that Jr Gong would propel first on ‘Half WayTree’ and then on ‘Welcome To Jamrock’ and even on the EDM hit single “Make It Bun Dem” with Skrillex, laid the blueprint for such acts as Shenseea, Koffee and Chronixx and others, to do the same. Then Stephen production on both albums has aided in him being one of the most acclaimed and lauded 21st century producers in Jamaican music. And Ras Kassa’s legacy as the video director of the leading single could be seen in future works to come. The most recent would be Nigerian star Tems’ music video, “Turn Me Up”, which was shot on the island. Still in looking back at its legacy, Jr Gong, who in recent years also goes by Big Gongzilla (a nickname given to him by a producer who likened Gong to the Japanese fictional creature, Godzilla) told the Grammays in 2015:“This album will forever be my stamp. The previous album, I won a GRAMMY for that album also, but it doesn't compare to the stamp that Welcome To Jamrock made. It hopefully solidified my place in music as perhaps one of the greats of my genre”