Bob marley's legacy in France

The 'Roots' of French Reggae

11/05/2001 - 

Paris, May 11th 2001- French reggae has taken a long time to come to fruition. In fact, almost two decades separate the death of Bob Marley and the moment of French reggae coming into its prime. But take a quick look around the French reggae scene today and there's barely a single musician who has not been inspired by Marley's legacy in one way or another.

Ask French reggae stars how Bob Marley has influenced their careers and what the Jamaican prophet's legend means to them in 2001 and you'll get a surprisingly diverse array of answers. The reggae king's legacy has inspired different things in different musicians and everyone has their own personal take on the story of Robert Nesta Marley. Tonton David, whose success on the French reggae scene saved him from a life of delinquency and petty offences, hails the late Marley as his role model, respecting him "as much as a person as a songwriter."
Fellow French reggae star Pierpoljak, who like Tonton David spent years straying in the wilderness, claims Marley "opened our minds and made us really want to work to improve ourselves." For K2R Riddim, Marley remains "one of the most potent symbols of the 'Third World's' awakening" and, besides changing the lives of the group Sinsémilia, Marley's music also gave Brahim the strength to survive the daily struggles of life on a run-down housing estate.
As varied as these answers may at first appear, they all have one essential thing in common - and that is that Marley and his music provoked a radical awakening in people, spinning them round to see the world from a different angle which they had never dreamt existed. This phenomenon was not limited to France, of course. The reggae seeds sown by the Jamaican superstar took root and flourished all over the world. But in France Marley's popularity appears to have been founded on his ideals and his ongoing struggle for peace, tolerance and justice, not to mention his advocacy of ganja (marijuana).

The majority of groups thriving on the current French reggae scene have preserved and promoted the social aspect of Rasta rebellion. And, whereas in the French Antilles, it was the religious side of reggae that caught on, Marley's mysticism and spirituality has left few traces on the French mainland. When Haile Selassie was crowned emperor of Ethiopia in 1930, Rastafarians acknowledged him as the Messiah, the incarnation of God (Jah). But this aspect of Rastafarianism is not one that appears to matter to any of the French groups playing on the current reggae scene. However, Brahim (a practising Muslim) does acknowledge that as far as he is concerned "when I hear the word Jah, I interpret it as God".
Like most singers and musicians who have established themselves at the forefront of the French reggae scene over the past few years, Brahim discovered Marley posthumously. In fact, barely a handful of artists working on the current French reggae scene today saw Marley live on stage during his lifetime or listened to his songs at the time they were recorded! What these younger 'sons' of Marley acknowledge and admire is an image, or rather an icon, which has survived intact over two decades. But Marley is not simply an idol to be worshipped like a god. The reggae superstar's French fans and spiritual heirs recognise him as a man with human qualities and faults.
A handful of French reggae stars have made a pilgrimage to Kingston, Baobab, for example, recording his next album there (which fans can find in record stores as from June). But even fewer of them have actually spent any length of time in Jamaica. Pierpoljak is one of the rare French reggae stars to have based himself in Kingston for the past three years, making frequent trips to record his albums in the legendary Tuff Gong studios owned by the Marley family. The remainder of the artists working on the current French reggae scene, however, appear to view Jamaica as some kind of 'dream promised land' which no-one seems in a particular hurry to get to.

While almost all the artists on the current French reggae scene borrowed from the Wailers' repertoire in the early days of their career, very few of them have actually covered Marley classics on their albums (the notable exceptions to this rule being Daddy Nuttea, Pierpoljak, Niominka-Bi and Brahim). In fact, most French groups seem to prefer to pay tribute to Marley on stage, playing his hits live as part of their concerts. And you only have to listen to the musical style of Mister Gang, Rasta Bigoud, Baobab or Pierpoljak to detect the ongoing influence of the Wailers' charismatic frontman!
In fact, there are several genres of Jamaican music and the style that has really caught on with French reggae artists and audiences today is "roots". (This style, characterised by its slow, heavy bass-line and its flamboyant brass section was invented and elaborated during the 70s, and is a million miles from the minimalist digital compositions which have been coming out of Kingston studios over the past 15 years or so). There are literally dozens of French reggae artists working within the "roots" field today, but each singer and musician has created their own distinctive musical identity, mixing the original Jamaican beats with French or Antillais influences. Tryo are one of the most outstanding examples on the current French reggae scene, playing an inventive mix of "roots" and "chanson" which they describe as "reggae akoustik".
While French reggae diva Princess Erika warns that we should not forget the Jamaican singers overshadowed by Marley's legend, the 20th anniversary of the reggae king's death is a fitting time to pay tribute to the man who continues to inject his electric energy into the French reggae circuit years after his death.

Bertrand Lavaine