If you’ve been spinning Damian Marley’s new “No Better Rhythm” juggling rhythm, you’ve already heard the next Marley on record. The drums on that release belong to Elijah Marley, Jr. Gong’s 17-year-old son.
Damian, 48, dropped that detail almost as an aside in an exclusive interview with People. “As a matter of fact, too, I just released a juggling rhythm by the name of the ‘No Better Rhythm,’ where it’s my son playing the drums,” he said.
Don’t expect Elijah to skip school for a world tour, though. “So, he’s growing, but education first. He’s still in school, and he’s finishing up his education,” Damian said, adding that he’s “looking forward to the future for him.”
According to his dad, Elijah has been soaking up music since he was small, mostly by watching the family at work. “Ever since he was a little child, he’s just always been around us and always been in tune and interested in what we’re doing,” Damian said, crediting the boy’s admiration for “his uncles and his dad.”
Elijah has already performed alongside his Grammy-winning father, but he’s still early in finding his own voice. Damian says his son plays piano “pretty well,” is “pretty good on the drums,” and is slowly starting to write material of his own.
The youngest son of Bob Marley isn’t handing out shortcuts either. “Practice makes perfect. You have to keep at it,” he told People, adding that the greats spend years on their craft even though fans only see “the end result.”
That advice comes from experience. Damian started writing songs around 13 with help from his brother Stephen, and his own heroes weren’t only his father.
The first music I really started to purchase for myself was like ‘80s dancehall music, Peter Metro and Shabba Ranks, Papa San, Ninjaman,” he said, which explains why his catalogue leans harder into dancehall than Bob’s ever did.
His mother sang jazz publicly, and the house was full of Nat King Cole, Sade and David Bowie alongside the family records. That mix shows up in a career built on hits like “Welcome to Jamrock” and “Beautiful,” plus collaborations with Nas, Bruno Mars, Mick Jagger and Wizkid.
Being Bob Marley’s son, he says, wasn’t something he felt growing up. You kind of just grow up free, doing what you love to do,” he said, explaining that the comparisons only arrived once he started releasing music professionally and the media began weighing in. Elijah may be about to learn that part for himself.
Damian’s appetite for young talent goes beyond his own household. He recently linked with Masicka, 32, on “1 Psalm,” and says he works with younger artists because “young people are full of new ideas,” while openly admitting it helps him stay “relevant among a younger audience.”
Next up, he’s headlining this year’s Jamrock Reggae Cruise with Stephen, 54, on a lineup that includes Sizzla, Barrington Levy, Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Gyptian and Protoje. Whoever ends up behind the drum kit on future Marley records, the family business is still recruiting.
