| "Welcome to Jamrock" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Damian Marley | ||||
| from the album Welcome to Jamrock | ||||
| Released | Summer 2005 | |||
| Format | CD single, 12" single | |||
| Recorded | 2005 | |||
| Genre | Dancehall | |||
| Length | 3:33 | |||
| Label | Tuff Gong/Universal/Ghetto Youths | |||
| Writer(s) | Damian Marley | |||
| Producer | Stephen Marley | |||
| Damian Marley singles chronology | ||||
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"Welcome to Jamrock" is the first single from Damian Marley's album of the same name.
The song was listed at #270 on Pitchfork Media's "Top 500 songs of the 2000's".
Contents |
Welcome to Jamrock covers issues such as crime, poverty and political corruption as part of the harsh reality of "Jamrock", Marley's personification of Jamaica, as opposed to the Jamaica advertised as a popular tourist destination. Marley laments Jamaica's high crime rate and unceasing violence, demanding that those in charge do something about it. In this sense he carries on the legacy of his father before him, in inspiring Jamaicans to stand together.
Both the rhythm (known as World Jam) and the hook are sampled from the 1984 track "World-A-Music" by Ini Kamoze - the original rhythm from the Ini Kamoze album was provided by Sly and Robbie.
An edited version of "Welcome to Jamrock" was featured on the popular video game franchise FIFA 06.
The song was also on the playlist of the video game Midnight Club 3, but on the remix version.
There are many remixes to this song. One features G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo in a diss towards the rap group D-Block. Another features The Notorious B.I.G. Finally, a remix called "Welcome to My Block" features 2Pac, Nas, and Scarface. The Game released a diss song towards Tony Yayo and 50 Cent called "Body Bags" which samples the chorus, while a remix featuring 2Pac, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre is also available on the mixtape circuit. It is also sampled in the Papoose song Let the Jamrock.
The originally-released recording contains the lyrics Funnyman a get dropped like a bad habit. A 'funny man' has in Jamaican English the same meaning like 'batty bwoy' or 'chi chi man', both pejorative designations for homosexual men. Since the widely-spread homonegativity in Jamaica and its reflections in popular Jamaican music has been a subject of heavy criticisms and protests outside of Jamaica, the word "Funnyman" has been edited out on following releases and remixes of the song, and when performing the song live Marley uses the word 'Babylonians' instead.
UK - CD: 1
UK - CD: 2
Damian Marley won the Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance at the 48th Grammy Awards (Grammy Awards of 2006) for the song Welcome To Jamrock.[1]
The single made the summer rotation in 2005 and became a top 15 hit in the rap/hip hop charts. The song reached the Top 20 in the UK, peaking at #13 and made #55 on the Billboard Hot 100.
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 13 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 55 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 18 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks | 12 |