YG Marley’s breakout single, “Praise Jah in the Moonlight,” hits No. 8 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart as of Feb. 3, 2024, debuting Marley’s reggae career.
YG Marley, born Joshua Omaru, is the grandson of Bob Marley and the son of Lauryn Hill. He has had musical potential all his life especially due to his Marley lineage. Marley first became viral when he was invited onto the stage of his mother’s recent The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 25th Anniversary Tour, where he sang part of his single “Praise Jah in the Moonlight”.
The whole internet went wild and were astounded by the resemblance between him and Bob Marley’s style of music. Facing great pressure on the internet, Marley partnered up with Rocko Ballin to make “Praise Jah in the Moonlight”, which was released on Dec. 27, 2023. Within just the first few weeks, the single racked up over 100 million streams.
The single was co-written by Lauryn Hill and YG Marley with some parts of Bob Marley & the Wailers’ “Crisis” in the song. Fans praised Marley’s lineage going back to his grandfather, Bob Marley. The song having Bob Marley in it made me enjoy and like the song even more.
The song starts off with a sample of “Crisis” which led YG Marley to easily come into the song and show off his vocals. His vocals and style of singing is similar to Bob Marley which made the song feel like Marley picked up where Bob Marley & the Wailers left off. This made fans love the song even more. Although the song has similarities with Bob Marley, YG Marley puts his own twist and style into the song, including many terms used today making it more appealing towards the younger audience as well.
The term, “Jah,”used in the song is a shortened version of “Jehova” which is the name for God in English translations of the Old Testament. Jah is used a lot in reggae music because Jamaica, the origin of Reggae, is mostly Protestant Christians. Because of this, Marley, in his title, hints at praying towards God under the moonlight.
The end of the song is made up of three choruses started by YG Marley, then Lauryn Hill and YG Marley, which then ends with a chorus made between both Lauryn Hill and Bob Marley. Because of this, YG Marley credits both Lauryn Hill and specifically Bob Marley in his songs to show appreciation to his family lineage of being a Marley. The Marley generations going back from one to another is a reason why the song is really great and awesome to listen to. It brings in a sense of calmness throughout the whole song.
YG Marley, if he keeps up the same style of music and songwriting he did with his first song, is destined to be yet another legend of the Marley family. YG Marley’s music will continue to be loved by his listeners. YG Marley’s music has been really great and fun to listen to so far and I think he will always be just as entertaining
