Damian Marley, king of the hill
Stony Hill, the fourth studio album from Damian “Junior Gong” Marley, debuts at number one on the Billboard Reggae album chart.
Released on July 21 via Republic Records, the set comes 12 years after his ground-breaking Welcome to Jamrock album.
Stony Hill opened with first week sales of 6,284 copies in the United States.
The two-disc set contains 18 tracks, including Here We Go, Time Travel, Living It Up, Autumn Cross, Nail Pon Cross, R.O.A.R., Medication, and Grown & Sexy.
The set boasts three collabs with brother Stephen Marley and one each with Big Youth, and Bounty Killer’s son, Major Myjah.
Damian Marley’s debut album, Mr Marley, was released in September 1996. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Reggae Album chart. His sophomore set Halfway Tree, which won the Grammy in 2002 for Best Reggae album, also peaked at number two with first week sales of 2,000 copies. The Universal Motown set has sold more than 200,000 copies to date.
Universal Music released Welcome to Jamrock in September 2005. It opened at number one on Billboard Reggae Album chart, number seven on the 200 Albums Chart, and number four on the Top R&B Hip/Hop Albums chart. In the first week of sales it moved 86,000 copies.
Welcome to Jamrock (which was certified gold in the United States) went on to win the 2006 Grammy for Best Reggae Album. The title track won the Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance.
Marley also had a collaborative album, Distant Relatives, with American rapper Nas, which was released in May 2010. It began at number five on the Billboard 200 albums chart and number one on the top R&B hip hop albums listing. It also debuted at number one on the reggae albums chart. The set posted first week sales of 57,000 copies.
