After a six-year hiatus, Julian "JuJu" Marley is back with his third album, "Awake."
The Ghetto Youths/Universal release, which he co-produced with his
brothers Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley and Stephen Marley, drew inspiration
from the spirit of Cedella Marley Booker, their grandmother (and Bob
Marley's mother), who died in 2008.
Marley spoke to Billboard about maturing as an artist, youth-on-youth crime and the family legacy that inspires his music.
Billboard: "Awake" is your first album since 2003. Have you been working on it this whole time?
Julian Marley: Overall it took me two years to really start and
complete it. Before that I was helping out with different Marley family
projects, like the Roots Rock Reggae Fest and Africa Unite, and working
on Stephen's and Damian's albums. I wrote and recorded "Awake" during
the months in between and had input on everything, from the riddims on
down. On my first two albums, I was still growing and still unsure
about music. I ran into problems where I'd even written songs in a key
that wasn't right for me. This time I found my own comfort zone, and
the songs are tailor-made.
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