Fly Rasta is the fifth solo studio album by Jamaican reggae artist Ziggy Marley. It was released on 15 April 2014, via Tuff Gong Worldwide. Produced by Ziggy Marley himself with Dave Cooley's additional production, it features guest appearances from Cedella Marley, Ian "Beezy" Coleman and U-Roy.
The album debuted at number 129 on the Billboard 200, number 22 on the Independent Albums and atop the Reggae Albums charts in the United States. It won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards held on February 8, 2015.
It was supported with singles "Fly Rasta" and "Lighthouse". AOL released a music video for "I Don't Wanna Live on Mars" exclusively on their web-page. The video features his real-life wife and kids in a dream sequence where their family traverses an unhealthy planet Earth. The song and video's imagery convey a unified message from Marley that we should treat the earth well so we do not all have to leave to live on Mars.
Critical reception
Fly Rasta was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 63 based on six reviews.
AllMusic's David Jeffries praised the album, stating: "right-sized, organized in a sensible manner, and an alluring balance of cool and calm, Fly Rasta lives up to its title as it sits on Ziggy's top shelf". Erin MacLeod of Exclaim! found "throughout the record, Marley demonstrates that reggae can grow and adapt without losing sight of its roots".
In his negative review for The Guardian, Jon Dennis wrote: "the only risk Marley takes is on "You're My Yoko", where he attempts to woo a lucky lady by likening her to the avant-garde artist, while casting himself as John Lennon. Julian Lennon would have been nearer the mark".
Track listing
Personnel
David "Ziggy" Marley – lead vocals, guitar, producer Cedella Marley – background vocals, background vocal arrangements Ian "Beezy" Coleman – background vocals, guitars Sharon Marley – background vocals Rica Newell – background vocals Tracy Hazzard – background vocals Vincent Brantley – background vocals Sean Dancy – background vocals Tim Fowlles – background vocals Rock Deadrick – drums, percussion Steve Ferrone – drums Brian MacLeod – drums James Gadson – drums Dave Wilder – bass Abraham Laboriel – bass Guy Erez – bass Paul Stennett – bass Zac Rae – keyboards Mike Hyde – keyboards George Hughes – keyboards Dave Palmer – keyboards Brian LeBarton – keyboards Lyle Workman – guitars Takeshi Akimoto – guitars Randy Gloss – percussion Taku Hirano – taiko drums Ronobir Lahiri – sitar Todd Simon – horns Geoff Gallegoi – horns Fabio Santana – horns Tracy Wannomae – horns Liam McCormick – string arrangements Owen Sutter – string arrangements Dave Cooley – additional producer, mastering Andrew Scheps – mixing Isha Erskine – engineering Jared Hirshland – additional engineering Orly Marley – executive producer Neville Garrick – art direction, layout Souther Salazar – cover artwork and imagery Rory Wilson – layout Michelle Rodriguez – production assistant Matt Solodky – production manager
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2014) Peak position
Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position US Reggae Albums (Billboard) 4 Chart (2015) Position US Reggae Albums (Billboard) 15
References
External links