Damian “Jr Gong” Marley

("A Grammy in reggae is good," he observes. "But it will be great to see reggae win Album Of The Year…it's not about one man shut off from the rest of the crabs in the barrel." So while slow-burners like "It was Written" and "Educated Fools" became club classics, Jr Gong was laying the groundwork for the tracks that would become Welcome To Jamrock—an album that was ultimately several years in the making. Hear the album and you instantly understand it to be the work of a perfectionist; Jr Gong is not focused on overnight success.

"Some songs just come. 'Jamrock' was like that," he explains. "But other songs take a lot longer. This is street music, and the streets have to feel it."

He can be sure the streets will. Following the path blazed by its title track, Welcome To Jamrock opens with the devastating attack of "Confrontation"—this is Jr Gong at his best, rhyming with the conviction of a street preacher and the intellect of a university economist. That essence is spread throughout the album, even when he switches pace and explores different riddims.
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