Eve gives Damian Marley thumbs up
AMERICAN rapper and talk show host Eve has included Jamaican artiste Damian Marley in a list of artistes that African-American youth should listen to.
Eve was speaking on her show The Talk, aired on CBS, last Wednesday. She was making reference to comments made by Kanye West that slavery was a “choice”.
“At the end of the day, we all got lucky and got plucked out of our hoods and live these amazing lives, but you cannot be so far in your bubble to think that you are not a part of what this history is. It hurts my feelings, it hurts my actual feelings,” she said. “Any young brothers looking at me, listening to me today, pick up some Nas, pick up some Damian Marley, pick up some J Cole, pick up some Kendrick Lamar — listen to these artistes. I am done with Kanye.”
A day earlier, West appeared on TMZ Live where the controversial statement was made.
“When you hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years??? That sounds like a choice. Like, you were there for 400 years and it was all of y’all? It’s like we’re mentally imprisoned,” he said.
West has since clarified his statement via Twitter, saying “To make myself clear. Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will…My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side, means that we were mentally enslaved… the reason why I brought up the 400 years point is because we can’t be mentally imprisoned for another 400 years. We need free thought now,” the tweets stated.
Damian Marley is known for voicing his views on poverty, corruption and crime in Jamaica through conscious lyrics in tracks like Welcome to Jamrock, Move, It Was Written, Is It Worth It (Gunman World) and Speak Life.
Marley collaborated with Nas in 2010 to release the album Distant Relatives. The project featured 13 tracks and explores a vision for an affluent Africa, as the two revisit their African ancestry and reason about topics like politics, humanity and spirituality. Tracks include Patience, Strong Will Continue and Count Your Blessings. The album proceeds went towards Africa.
— Sade Gardner
