Reggae artist Jo Mersa Marley, grandson of Bob Marley, dead at 31 - Yahoo Entertainment

Joseph Marley, the eldest lad of eight-time Grammy-winner Stephen Marley and 2nd grandchild of reggae fable Bob Marley, has died astatine property 31. The Jamaican-American signaling creator and DJ, known professionally arsenic Jo Mersa, was recovered unresponsive successful a conveyance connected Tuesday, Dec. 27, according to Kingston, Jamaica-based writer Abka Fitz-Henley, who was the archetypal to report the news. A typical for Jo Mersa aboriginal confirmed the quality to Rolling Stone. A origin of decease has not been revealed, though South Florida vigor presumption WZPP has reported that the creator died of an asthma attack.

Joseph Marley was calved connected March 12, 1991, successful Kingston, and the third-generation Marley grew up surrounded by music, performing onstage astatine property 4 with Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers — his father, his uncle Ziggy, and his aunts Cedella and Sharon — during that group’s performance finales. He moved to Florida astatine property 11, wherever helium studied workplace engineering and observed his begetter and uncle Damian Marley moving successful Stephen’s Lion’s Den studio. Joseph made his authoritative philharmonic debut successful 2010 with “My Girl,” a collaboration with his older relative Daniel Bambaata Marley, released connected the Marley family’s imprint grounds statement Ghetto Youths International and produced by his father. This was followed by the breakthrough way “Bad So” successful 2012, with his debut EP, Comfortable, coming retired successful 2014.

Joseph besides worked with Jesse Royal, Alborosie, Farruko, Jemere Morgan, Barbara Fialho, the Grandpickneys, and Morgan Heritage, appearing connected the latter’s Grammy-winning medium Strictly Roots successful 2015. But of course, helium often recorded with his ample and talented family. Comfortable featured accumulation by some Stephen and Damian Marley, and Joseph appeared connected his father’s album, Revelation, Pt. 2: The Fruit of Life, successful 2016. That aforesaid year, helium teamed with his younger brother, Yohan Marley, for the azygous “Burn It Down,” and the brothers joined forces again successful 2020 for “Brickell (When Tears Fall),” inspired by their adopted location metropolis of Miami. In outpouring 2022, Joseph appeared with his uncles Ky-Mani and Julian Marley connected Dominican euphony shaper Maffio’s reggaeton track, “Blessings.”

Joseph often spoke of his consciousness of work to transportation connected his family's legacy, telling The Pier in 2014, “That’s a batch of power, influence, it’s magic, but I don’t fto it get to my head. [Bob Marley] made a large measurement for Jamaican euphony and it is clip for maine to adhd my works to it, to physique connected it.” In a 2021 interrogation with Reggaeville, helium reflected connected his grandfather’s influence, saying: “Family-wise, you would perceive memories from my begetter oregon from our uncles, you would spot them posting pictures oregon adjacent conscionable speaking to america successful an situation talking astir ‘I retrieve erstwhile Daddy did this oregon erstwhile helium came from Africa oregon erstwhile Daddy did this interrogation oregon erstwhile helium was successful Italy.’ So, we ever perceive those reflections, speaking astir those things, astir the relation that [Bob] played not lone arsenic household subordinate and father, but besides successful the satellite and the interaction helium had connected the reggae assemblage and the reggae culture, the roots, bringing guardant the connection of Rastafari and love, implicit each love. ... It's household to us, it's mean to me, but it's inactive special.”

Joseph’s astir caller merchandise nether his Jo Mersa moniker was 2021’s Eternal EP, which featured collaborations with Kabaka Pyramid, Black I Am, Melii, and Busy Signal, and was critically heralded arsenic his biggest measurement yet towards coming into his ain arsenic an artist. A press release for the EP conceded that “the presumption of the Marley bloodline comes with its just stock of expectations,” and said Joseph was “eager to bring grant to his household portion maintaining his unsocial dependable and style… mounting Jo Mersa Marley's enactment isolated arsenic a unit to beryllium reckoned with successful the modern reggae scene.” In an interrogation with Jamaican work The Gleaner, the self-admitted perfectionist described the experimental Eternal project, which incorporated dubstep, dancehall, EDM, hip-hop, and reggae-roots influences, arsenic being “out of my comfortableness zone,” specifically saying of the way “That Dream,” which was produced by his relative Soul Marley: “Whereas galore times, I would person done the chorus, it took a infinitesimal to dependable similar what it sounds like. I would usually deejay and sing connected immoderate debased keys. I conjecture listeners volition perceive maine bash falsetto oregon precocious notes astatine the extremity of the words, truthful erstwhile I sing, ‘All I cognize I would slumber astatine night, erstwhile I imagination that imagination it’s each a nightmare,’ I had to support connected doing it implicit and implicit conscionable to get it right.”

Aside from his galore Marley relatives, Jo Mersa is survived by his woman and daughter. In 2020, helium recorded the azygous “Nothing’s Gonna Harm You!” for his daughter, with his begetter Stephen erstwhile again producing, explaining successful a statement: “The inspiration for this opus was chiefly a connection to my girl letting her cognize that she’ll beryllium well-protected due to the fact that that’s my occupation arsenic her father.”

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