Ziggy Marley brought his band to the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” stage to perform “Racism Is A Killa,” a track that opens with one of the more quietly cutting metaphors you’ll hear in a reggae song right now. “Hard to detect in early stages / Until the symptoms are seen / The only way to get rid of it / Inject equality,” he sings, framing racism like a disease that spreads before anyone notices it.
The song comes from “Brightside,” Marley’s first studio album in eight years, and it’s a record that sounds like he built it entirely on his own terms.
He told Billboard flat out that he made the album for himself, adding, “I listen to this album as if I didn’t make it myself,” which is a pretty telling sign of how disconnected he felt from the pressure of making music for an audience.
The album pulls from reggae, rock, funk, and blues, and the guest list alone makes it worth paying attention to. Trombone Shorty, Sheila E., Nikka Costa, and Jake Shimabukuro all appear on the record, which gives it a range that most albums in this space don’t bother attempting.
One of the more unusual production choices Marley made was recording the entire album in 432 Hz, rather than the standard 440 Hz tuning most music is made in.
He’s been experimenting with it since before the album, testing it on tour first, and his take is straightforward: “If I didn’t feel how I feel, then I wouldn’t use it.
This is the only frequency I’m using from now on.” Whether or not the science around 432 Hz holds up to scrutiny, Marley clearly isn’t interested in the debate.
The timing of the Kimmel performance also lands alongside a separate piece of news that’s going to matter to a different corner of his fanbase. Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers’ 1988 album “Conscious Party” is getting a vinyl reissue, its first since the original release.
The album, which featured Bob Marley’s sons and daughter, was produced by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club fame, and it won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 1989.
The reissue comes in a few formats, including a 180g emerald green vinyl pressing, standard black vinyl, CD, and a deluxe digital edition. It also includes “We A Guh Some Sum Weh,” a track that was previously only available on CD, so collectors who only ever had the vinyl have never actually heard the full picture of that record.
“Conscious Party” carried hits like “Tomorrow People” and “Tumblin’ Down,” songs that still carry real weight in reggae circles.
Bringing it back while Marley is actively pushing new music creates an interesting double frame around where he’s been and where he’s going.
Between a new album built on personal frequency experiments and a Grammy-winning catalog getting fresh physical releases, Marley is clearly in a moment where both his past and present are demanding attention at the same time.
