Mind Control

When I saw Stephen Marley perform at the 2008 UCLA Jazz/Reggae festival, I knew I had to buy this album. It has not disappointed. Stephen brings reggae into the "new" millennium. The beats are just fantastic. His lyrics are heartfelt. What's so funny to me is that I'm not even a die-hard reggae fan. Nor do I purchase a lot of reggae. But this album seems to modernize reggae while still maintaining the dancehall/roots flavors without feeling/sounding out-dated. It shouldn't be surprising that in a couple of songs he does sound like his dad, but he has that right. But the rest of the album is just Stephen coming through. He also doesn't overdo it with too many "guests". I was never a Ziggy fan. I think Stephen's style is better than Ziggy. With proper marketing, Stephen could quite possibly introduce another whole generation of people to reggae. If you like a little reggae, you'll love this album. If you like a lot of reggae, you'll certainly appreciate and respect this album.

"MInd Control" by Stephen Marley is surprisingly his 1st solo record, despite the many produced and written tunes amongst his siblings and other reggae artists over the years. Stephen is probably the most talented out of the Marley children (Damian being the most charasmatic). He produced the entire album and wrote some pretty good lyrics to go along with those mind numbing beats. He also played several instruments on the record. Some songs might have been overdone like "Let her Dance" however, his best are "Iron Bars," You're gonna Leave" and "Inna de Red." He has just enough guest appearances from Spragga Benz, Damian Marley, Mr. Cheeks, Mos Def, and a couple of Ghetto Youth artists not known in mainstream music at this time. Stephen unlike Ky-Mani, has produced enough cross-over reggae to leak into the underground hip-hop community without being too hip-hop!! He keeps his father's message alive with "Inna de Red," which is the highlight of this album (being a roots/dub reggae fan myself). Mind Control by no means is a classic or great album, it is a solid debut from a forgotten Marley child. Ziggy never connected with the roots reggae audiences, Ky-Mani doesn't know if he wants to be a rapper or reggae singer. Leading this Marley music drive into the immediate future is clearly Damian and Stephen. Hopefully this propels Stephen to produce more material for himself rather than for others.
(Note: Bonus track "Woman I love You" if purchased from iTunes).

I was amazed at how much Stephen sounds like his father Bob when he sings, they are so close. But one has to be sure to emphasize that although he sounds like his dad, his music does not necessarily sound like his dad's. All in all, a nice mix of rap, reggae and dancehall. Kind of brief, but a nice step and a fine addition to the Marley legacy.

"Mind Control" by Stephen Marley is a pretty good album, although I wouldn't say that it is great. I loved Damian Marley's "Welcome to Jamrock" so I was hoping somewhere in the back of my mind that this album would be as good as that one. The main point against "Mind Control", is that there is not a coherent vision throughout. It seems like Stephen Marley was trying a lot of different things, which is nice in some ways, but the album never reaches the cohesive or well crafted potential that it has. That said it is nice to have some songs that are more concious as well as some that are more dance-hall. I particlualrily liked the somewhat quiet song "You're Gonna Leave" and the more dance-hallish song "Lat Her Dance."

When I saw all the features on this cd I almost didn't buy it; but most of the features help the songs in the chorus or in playing an instrument and don't take over the songs the way I thought they would.
I picked this album up because I liked song#2 on this cd and when I listened to it in the store I was like yeah it's okay; when I got in my car I got to rewinding songs over and over.It took me forever to listen to the whole album cause I was so busy vibing off that jamaican flavor that really don't get played here. The only two reggae albums I own ironically are his father's and this one. Really, this ain't reggae but it's really good jamaican touched music.The closest thing to categorize it is reggae r&b.His voice is similar to his father's and is rich and honest, not just pure mimickery but inherited. I'm really glad I picked this cd up, and I'm thinking "damn, if he came this strong on the first album, I'll definitely get that second." Till then I'm gonna rock this for a while and make sure other people hear it, b/c he didn't get any publicity here in Atlanta for this. Oh,yeah, I think it woulda been cool for him and Ben Harper to have sung together on that last song; it's still my favorite song on the cd anyway though.