Damian Marley was only two when his father died, but the youngest of the Marley sons must have learned something. At the age of 13, he formed his first band, the Shepherds, which also included the son of Third World’s Cat Coore and the daughter of Freddie McGregor; the group even opened up the 1992 Reggae Sunsplash festival. By 1994, Damian was working on his own solo project, and with the help of his father’s label, Tuff Gong, he recorded Mr. Marley. Also lending a familial air to the sessions was the presence of Stephen Marley, who produced and co-wrote several songs for the LP. Halfway Tree from 2001 earned a Grammy nomination, but the public generally overlooked the ambitious album. Not so for the reggae-meets-hip-hop single “Welcome to Jamrock,” which became an urban phenomenon soon after its summer 2005 release. Street-level mixtapes began featuring it, urban radio couldn’t get enough of it, and remixes — both legal and not so legal — began appearing at a fast pace. The well-rounded album Welcome to Jamrock delivered on the promise of the single that same year, reaching the Top Ten.

At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he won Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for Welcome to Jamrock. He is the only Jamaican reggae artist in history to win two Grammy Awards on the same night. He is also the only reggae artist to win in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance category at the Grammy Awards. At the 2009 Grammy Awards news of a collaborative album between Marley and Nas was announced, when Nas told MTV reporters “Right now, I’ll tell you first, I’m working on an album with Damian Marley. We tryin’ to build some schools in Africa with this one, and trying to build empowerment. We’re tryin’ to show love and stuff with this album. So, the record’s … all about really the ‘hood and Africa also as well.”

On 17 May 2010, Marley released Distant Relatives, a collaborative album with Nas. The album title refers not only to the bond between the artists, but the connection to their African ancestry, which inspired the album both musically and lyrically. They have previously collaborated on “Road to Zion”, on Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock album. The album joins two different flavours of music with Marley’s dub-rock aesthetic and Nas’ flow. Damian and Stephen produced much of the album. The proceeds of this album will go to building schools in the Congo.

The album debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 57,000 copies. It serves as Nas’s tenth top-ten album and Marley’s second top-ten album in the United States. The album also entered at number four on Billboard‍ ’​s Digital Albums, and at number one on its R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Rap Albums, and Reggae Albums charts. Internationally, Distant Relatives attained some chart success. It entered at number 33 on the European Top 100 Albums chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 30 on the UK Albums Chart and at number four on the R&B Albums Chart. The existence of SuperHeavy was secret until May 2011. Mick Jagger, English musician and the lead vocalist of rock band The Rolling Stones, announced its formation on 20 May 2011.

Bio courtesy of allmusic.com & Wikipedia

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