Words by Jesse Serwer, Photo By Mariamma Kambon—
Saturday’s 9 Mile Festival in Miami was a coming of age thing for the grandchildren of Bob Marley. Daniel Bambaata Marley, eldest son of Ziggy, helped warm up the crowd with a well-received early performance at the surprisingly cold and wintery event. Jo Mersa Marley, Stephen’s eldest son, joined his father and uncles Damian and Julian onstage to perform his own material during their headlining set later in the evening. The younger Marleys have performed at the annual Marley family-affiliated festival before but this year saw them take a more prominent place at the proceedings, fresh off their appearances on the new Ghetto Youths International album Set Up Shop. Volume 1.
Backstage, Daniel (at bottom right in the above photo) and Jo (third from the left) were surrounded by a small army of siblings and cousins, including KJ (a/k/a Ky-mani Marley, Jr., second from left), Kaspin (third from left), Matthew (aka Biggz General, Sharon Marley’s son, at center) and Yohan (hidden, behind Daniel) as well as family friends and artists Chronixx, Jesse Royal and Curt Qban. Photographer Mariamma Kambon captured the moment, a rare glimpse of the next generation of the family all in one place.
(L to R): Chronixx, Ky-Mani Jr., Jo Mersa, Biggz General, Yohan Marley, Jesse Royal
(L to R): Dax Lion, Biggz General, Young Pow of Damian Marley’s band, Jo Mersa, Yohan Marley)