All In The Same Boat, Rockin’ On The Same Rock
“All in the same boat, rockin’ on the same rock,” Bob Marley sang on the Wailers’ 1971 classic “Don’t Rock My Boat.” Produced by the late great Lee “Scratch” Perry, the song is a plea for unity in keeping with the time-honored values of reggae music. “Got to get together,” Bob sang, “loving each other.” Some forty years after its release “Don’t Rock My Boat” became a sort of unofficial theme song for the Welcome To Jamrock Reggae Cruise, an yearly musical excursion created by Bob’s youngest son Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and his longtime manager Dan Dalton. Of course the official cruise anthem would be Jr. Gong’s Grammy-winning smash hit “Welcome to Jamrock.”
“How blessed we are to have the opportunity to be doing this,” Jr. Gong said back in 2014 when the first Jamrock cruise set off from Miami to Jamaica, with an all-star lineup of the greatest Jamaican reggae and dancehall stars on board, as well as many of the world’s top reggae sound systems. “All of us who are on the cruise are part of a historic moment,” Jr. Gong predicted. “Both for ourselves and on behalf of the genre of reggae music.” Or as the world-famous recording artist and selector Shinehead put it that first year, “I only fantasized about shit like this. It’s like Rub-A-Dub Disneyland!”
Over the next six years, the Jamrock Cruise emerged as one of reggae’s premier annual events, hosting historic performances year after year and selling out so quickly the organizers expanded to a larger vessel. As the sixth cruise wrapped up in 2019 with powerful performances by the likes of Koffee, Popcaan, Buju Banton, and Skip Marley, the Jamrock team was looking forward to smooth sailing ahead. But then as the new decade began, the whole world changed.
A worldwide viral outbreak shut down the cruise industry and many other aspects of life as we once knew it. Since then two Jamrock Cruises had to be postponed, and cruisers were invited to refund their deposit. “But many of our loyal supporters have held on to their reservations,” says Dalton. “I think people have been yearning for Jamrock more than ever. The community vibe on the ship has always been love and unity and diversity, celebrated under the umbrella of reggae music and Jamaican culture. This cruise is more than a festival to be honest. It’s not just a good time. Jamrock is more like a food for the soul kinda thing. Jamrock brings people together. That’s what reggae music always did.”
Today VIBE and Boomshots are announcing the official lineup for the seventh Welcome to Jamrock Reggae Cruise, which includes two legendary first-time performers: Burning Spear and Shabba Ranks. Video After The Jump… (more…)
