Someone once said to me that Bob Marley is the only reggae you need. While I agree the Bob Marley is the best of the best when it comes to reggae, I disagree that his music is all there is to the genre. SOJA are a great modern reggae group from Virginia (shockingly...). The reggae genre is too new to make it mutually exclusive to only one artist's sound. Bob Marley was a pioneer in the early stages when reggae was transitioning from ska to what it is today and it responsible for making it a worldwide phenomenon, but I like where reggae is going now with modern groups like this one. SOJA stay close to the roots and teachings of rasta in their music unlike modern groups that just mimic the sound and sing about whatever- and for a few guys from Virginia, USA, that is pretty commendable.
I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Snoop Lion (formerly Snoop Dogg) to the world of reggae. Obviously he did some serious soul-searching in Jamaica and was inspired by rasta, so good for him. Let's all just be thankful for the time we had with him as Snoop Dogg and see how this reggae thing goes for him.
I dig it. Do you?
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