[SYN-018 874757001821]
So many words have been written about Robert Nesta Marley and his legacy to world culture that it sometimes seems all the angles have been covered: The musical pioneer. The mystic Rastafarian. The seeker of justice. The reggae icon. Et cetera, ad infinitum. But listening once more, what stands out most is the way Marley and his colleagues acted as cultural interpreters, taking American ideas, recasting them in a Jamaican style, and sending them out again in a form that would eventually win over the planet. On these early tracks, Marley’s one-world appeal is encapsulated perfectly and forever. — Mac Randall