10. Jo Mersa Marley
As the second generation of Marleys have firmly established themselves in the reggae pantheon, more attention is beginning to be paid to the third generation currently coming of age. We featured Ziggy’s eldest son, Daniel Bambaata Marley, in our Artists to Watch countdown in 2013 and, this year, the spotlight is on his cousin, and the eldest son of Stephen, Jo Mersa Marley.
The young raggamuffin released his debut Comfortable EP last year, following an impressive showing on his Jr. Gong-produced dancehall single “Bad So.” On the EP’s title track, Jo Mersa showed his ease with contemporary sounds that have crossover pop appeal, as he does on another track off the EP, “Sunshine,” also featured on the just-released Ghetto Youths International compilation Set Up Shop Vol. 2. His second song off the compilation, “Rock & Swing” is set to be the next single off that LP, which recently topped the reggae albums chart. 2015 looks bright for the young artist as he is currently recording his first full-length and again has plans to tour with the Ghetto Youths Int’l crew this summer. (And if you’re in the Miami-area, catch him performing Feb. 15th alongside his pops Stephen Marley, and Kabaka Pyramid.) —Kieran Meadows