Particularly with the blues, it's not just about bad times. It's about the healing spirit.
My mother was American, and my father was from the Caribbean, and there was a big open door into the world of humanity and music.
My parents grew up during the Harlem renaissance.
American music is a powerful ingredient in international music, and as much as it comes from within, it also comes from without.
It's just like heirloom tomatoes; this is heirloom music. We used to have all kinds of diversity in our poultry, in our vegetables, in our fruits, and slowly but surely the monoculture beast comes in. I'm saying that's not a good idea. And if it means that I gotta do it on my own, then I do it on my own.
No matter what went down, music was always going to be a part of my life. What ultimately happened is that, over a period of time, I just kind of looked around and when like, 'Wow! I'm actually making a living doing this.'
I don't care if it's somebody else's song. Most of the time, you'll find that I'll put my own stamp on it. But I started writing more because, you know, it's easy to regurgitate what somebody else is doing, but it's exciting to be able to come up with your own writing.
I'm old enough to chew my peas and corn without choking.
I wanted to explore the connections between different kinds of music.
The blues is played everywhere. There's no place I've been where they don't have blues or aren't interested in blues.
The one thing I've always demanded of the records I've made is that they be danceable.
I've only been on MTV once as one of their 'Closet Classics,' with some bootleg footage of a 1970 tour I did in Holland. They didn't know what to make of my music, but they finally invented a name for it - world beat music.
My perspective is cultural and world-based. It's always been a global perspective.
Ziggy Marley is the third generation of Marleys I know. I knew his grandmother and his dad - I did a children's album with his grandmother. They're like family.
I just worked my own personal thoughts into my music, and just kept at it until I found a way in.
It's very interesting, the dynamics of popularity. When you do something all the time, you don't worry about whether it's trendy or not.
It's pretty exciting. An honorary doctorate of the arts. It doesn't get any better.
As a youngster, my parents made me aware that all that was from the African Diaspora belonged to me. So I came in with Caribbean music, African music, Latin music, gospel music and blues.
The song of the blues, the song of the music, was something a lot of people missed out on. They thought they had to swagger a certain way or bark at the mic, and you don't have to do that.
I enjoy music wherever it's coming from.
