Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - ZIGGY MARLEY Took A “Trip To The Moon” To Zimbabwe
Episode Date: May 26, 2026This week on the pod, Seth and Josh welcome Ziggy Marley! Ziggy talks all about growing up in Kingston as the son of Bob Marley, what his father’s fame felt like during his childhood, and the family... trips that shaped him: from modest weekends in the Jamaican countryside to traveling to Zimbabwe for the country’s 1980 independence celebration. He also shares stories about moving to Delaware for a year, experiencing snow for the first time, visiting Miami, and meeting half-siblings during rides in the family’s yellow VW. Plus, Ziggy also chats about his upcoming studio album "Brightside," out now! Watch more Family Trips episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlqYOfxU_jQem4_NRJPM8_wLBrEEQ17B6 ------------------------- Support our sponsors: Shopify Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at https://SHOPIFY.COM/trips Rula Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/trips #rulapod First Leaf Stop settling for wines that don't quite hit the mark. Head to https://TryFirstleaf.com/trips to sign up and you'll get fifty percent off your first box PLUS free shipping for an entire year. ------------------------- Family Trips is produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Theme song written and performed by Jeff Tweedy. ------------------------- About the Show: Lifelong brothers Seth Meyers and Josh Meyers ask guests to relive childhood memories, unforgettable family trips, and other disasters! New Episodes of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers are available every Tuesday. ------------------------- Executive Producers: Rob Holysz, Jeph Porter, Natalie Holysz Creative Producer: Sam Skelton Coordinating Producer: Derek Johnson Video Editor: Josh Windisch Mix & Master: Josh Windisch Episode Artwork: Analise Jorgensen #familytrips #sethmeyers #joshmeyers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hey, tripsters, Pashi here.
Solo intro today because Sufi is traveling.
His brother-in-law actually just made this documentary, I think, series about Rafa Nadal.
So he has gone to the premiere of that, which is very cool.
Zach Heiserling, is that dude's name?
Who's a great documentary filmmaker.
I'm going to try to be less grumpy because the last time I did one of these solo intros,
I got pegged as being a Karen about a couple of times.
things. So I'm just trying to keep it a bit lighter. Although I will say, last night,
245 in the morning, we have a smoke detector in our bedroom. And it started chirping. And it would
beep three times. And then it would say, clean the alarm. And then it would be quiet for about 30 seconds.
And then it would beep again and go, clean the alarm. And it was very frustrating. I had to go get this
little stool out of the closet stand up. I do have compressed air. I'm proud of myself for that because
McKenzie, my wife was looking online at how does one clean this alarm. So I sprayed it with that,
no luck, kept chirping the dogs. We have a very old dog who was starting to shake. There's a button
that said test and I felt like if I hit that, it was going to just set off the full on alarm. So I was
afraid of that. Eventually, the solution was I had to go all the way down to the garage, get a
full-on ladder, come back up, kill the power, and physically remove the smoke detector from the wall,
and then I put it under a bunch of pillows on the couch. And I'm just seeing this morning,
I was trying to see what was going on when I was up on that ladder and trying to see if there
was anything else I could try. And because it was the middle of the night in 245 and I was a bit
rocked, totally out of a dead sleep, I put my phone in my mouth to hold it and I cracked my phone
screen with my teeth and I'm just seeing that right now. So I'm frustrated by that. And I've
already called the smoke detector people and they're sending me a new one, but it doesn't,
no one's going to give me my 245 back.
I just had a great trip back east.
It was a belated 50th birthday trip that some of my friends threw for me.
It was really wonderful.
A little time in New Jersey, a little time in upstate New York.
Finished off with a couple days going to visit my parents.
Got to see Seth for a night in upstate New York.
He showed up.
His wife offered to sort of handle all of the kids.
and getting them situated on a Friday afternoon
so that he could come up and spend a night
with me and some of these fellas.
And Seth met us on the golf course.
He played the last two holes with us,
but he and another friend of ours just like jogged out.
And when you see Seth, when he's just completely unencumbered,
like there is no more work for the week,
he is going to see his kids the next day, any stress that he might typically have in his life,
and he handles that stress all very well, I should say.
But he was bounding across this golf course with a smile that just made me so happy.
And then we just had such a fun night, you know, just being stupid, just sitting around,
making each other laugh, telling stories.
It was really great.
So my thanks to Mike Lazaro, to Fresh, to Stradley, to Stanch.
It was great.
And, yeah, then see, my parents was great, but you're going to hear more about that on Thursday of this week,
because as Seth is traveling, my father, Larry Myers, is going to be the guest host on the listener episode.
But for this episode, this was very exciting.
Sometimes when guests are pitched to us, it is another level of excitement.
And when Ziggy Marley crossed the email wires, both Seth and I were very excited about the possibility.
And he certainly delivers.
Obviously, you know him as a musician.
He is also a philanthropist.
He is on tour right now with his new album Bright Side.
So if you're so inclined, go check him out.
I can't imagine it is anything less than a fun, feel-good night out.
A lot of outdoor venues for him as well, which feels right for the summer.
I saw Florence in the Machine a couple nights ago, and she's so good.
It was so fun.
That was at the forum in L.A.
And something about live music.
You can listen to it at home.
You know, you can stream it, but going to see it really gives you that sense of community.
And it was a blast.
So go out, see Ziggy.
But before that, have a listen to this episode.
Hello.
Hey, hey, no, I know, I know.
How are you?
Yeah, I'm good, all you guys.
You guys good?
We're fantastic.
We're so happy to be talking to you.
No, I'm glad for talk to you.
A closer look is one of my, like, I watch the closer look all the time, bro.
You made my day, Ziggi.
He distills it down.
He boils it down to the essence.
I was wondering what happened to you.
I was looking at whatever.
You was off, so he just came back.
I know.
Well, you know, it didn't seem like much was happening in the world, Ziggy, so I thought I would just take a break.
It's lovely to see you.
Where are you joining us from, Ziggi?
In L.A. I'm in L.A.
That's great. That's great. How long have you lived in L.A. now?
20 years now since my daughter is 21 today.
Yeah, 21 years.
Congratulations.
Yeah, thank you.
How often do you go back to Jamaica, Zeggi?
Two often.
When I feel like it, I usually go back to do charity work or, you know,
do some kind of community service.
that's what I usually
The last time I was there
I think it was for the premiere
The Bob Marley movie
And we did a lot of community service
While I was there
So I usually go back to do stuff like that
That's fantastic
You now obviously you grew up
You know
Unlike I think a lot of us grow up
You know
You had a very
A famous musician
As a father
Did you guys
Travel a lot with your dad?
Yeah but let me get
Let me put that statement
In that context kind of
Because, so we grew up in a Jamaica, right?
So the way we know Bob Marley today is not the way he was when I was growing up.
It's not the same level of fame and, you know, like, you know, love and all of that.
In fact, some people never love Bob Marley, you know, some people, yeah,
because it was a revolutionary, you know, so it's not everyone liked him.
So, yeah, when we were growing up, it wasn't anything.
I mean, it wasn't, we never really.
feel in a special way or acting a special way,
especially in Jamaica.
I know we never feel special,
I don't like that.
After he passed away and the film kind of grew
and, you know, he's adored by so many people.
You know, that's when you kind of see that type of thing
start taking place, you know?
But he was his, obviously, he was making music
all your upbringing.
It seems like, is it safe to say,
you spent a lot of time in the recording studio
with your father as a very young person?
Recording studio, driving to pick up manufactured records.
He was hustling.
He was hustling.
He was trying to make ends meet.
He was trying to take care of his kids, you know?
So he was always like trying to like open business and record shop.
But it was all based on music.
But he was trying to like get ahead, you know what I say?
Yeah.
Would you ever sort of travel as a family?
Would you take vacations that weren't around his performing or music?
Would you ever just have a quiet weekend somewhere?
Or was it always music focused?
No, no, I mean, vacation is a stretch.
Because we never usually really take vacay.
So we live in Kingston, and a lot of the stuff happening in Kingston.
And we would travel to where he, in the countryside where he was born sometimes.
You know, on the weekends or whatever.
That's a little vacation.
My biggest trip that I went with him on was actually...
for the independent celebration of Zimbabwe in 1981,
1980, yeah, 1980.
That was a great trip for me as a kid.
I think I was, what, 11, 11 year old,
and going to Africa for the first time,
and it was a whole, like, it was a whole revolution.
It was so much, like, change happening in energies.
Like, it was weird for me,
because it was like a revolutionary trip, you know,
and I saw how the gorilla fighters came to the hotel to meet Bob and they were talking.
It was just amazing for me as a kid, you know.
It's such an amazing thing to think of through a kid's eyes.
Like, you know, obviously, you know, he was, you know, that was such a thrust of who he was.
So, like, were you, was that idea of revolution and what it was?
Like, was that a big part of your upbringing?
Yeah, yeah.
So as an 11-year-old, like, you know, if we'd go on, I mean,
In vacation with our dad and guerrilla fighters had shown up,
we would have assumed he defended someone at the airport.
But was it just normal to you?
They're not normal because even in Jamaica,
them all their talk about,
it's like, I don't know,
my father and his group of friends,
you know, people around him,
they're like,
they're rebels, they're rebels, you know,
they're rebels.
Not with guns are not like that,
but with ideas, you know,
and like,
philosophy and how they want, you know,
especially during those days when Jamaica was in a lot of turmoil
because of political violence,
or they want to unify the people.
And because of the politics, the politics don't want the people to unify.
So it was a whole, yeah, we hear about this art.
It was life.
It was great, though.
It was great.
Do you remember being excited about,
and did any of your other siblings go on the Zimbabwe trip?
Or was it just you?
My brother.
My brother.
My younger brother.
Stephen, yeah.
And were you, do you remember the time being excited about it and saying, oh, my God,
I can't believe we get to go on this?
Yeah, I remember I was on the plane and I said, my father, this is the biggest joke from the trip.
Like my father, they always make, you know, back in the note, they would make fun of me
because I said, I said to him, boy, this is coming like a trip to the moon.
You know?
What's a trip to the moon?
I don't know.
Have I been there before?
I've never been there.
So I'm not sure.
But that was my comparison.
to like this long flight.
Yeah?
Oh my God.
It's like a trip to the moon.
And then when we got there, so the first, the concert, he did a concert for,
it was like dignitaries were there.
So Prince Charles was there and the British, you know,
because it was getting independent from the British monarch.
Yeah.
So Prince Charles, it was the whole thing.
So he was performing there and then there were people outside of the stadium,
outside of the ceremony, the official ceremony.
And they started to break down the fence.
They wanted to get in.
to hear the music.
And so the security forces, the tear gas.
Now, I'm on stage, I'm a brother,
and my father's performing, and tear gas go off.
And it's burning my eyes,
and my father come and pick me up.
He wet a towel and put it over my face and my nose,
and we were kind of had to run out of there.
And all of that stuff,
in retrospect,
was so exciting.
But, you know, as a kid,
you know,
but got through that, it's an adventure.
You say he wasn't what he is then what he is now.
But like you obviously were aware that when he played music, people were incredibly affected by it.
I would imagine seeing him through a kid's eyes, you must have been like, wow, my dad is beloved.
I tell you the first time I kind of realized that, right?
He put out an album called Babland by Bus.
And it's a live album.
so I've like I've never experienced him being on stage with like thousands of people screaming
or I've never so when I was at home I went that album and I listened to that album and I hear like
the big roar I feel so proud I was like yeah that that is killing them
I think that was a moment I realized that it was more than just like in Jamaica and it was like
a big world thing, you know?
Because of that album, because of hearing the crowd responded to him on that record, you know?
I'm so glad, because I feel like if my kids heard people cheer for me, they'd be like,
oh, my God.
I like that you're proud.
I like that you're proud.
Yeah, it felt good, yeah.
Do you, have your children been, obviously they've been on the road with you?
Do you feel like your children feel that way when they watch you perform music?
No.
These kids today, you know, they're different, you know.
They've seen it all.
They've done it all.
Yeah.
No experience is like, oh, it's, yeah, you know, it's like.
What age do you think that the sort of the jadedness kicks in?
Because I imagine a kid who's like eight, you can still sort of see the awe and wonder.
And then is it when they're teenagers, they've seen it all?
Yeah, no, you're right.
My youngest son, he's 10 right.
know. And he's kind of cool, you know. He's like singing my songs and...
And how many is that? How many do you have? How old is your youngest?
I'm seven. I'm seven.
God, see, so that's the thing. I'm only at three. Nobody thinks I'm cool. I got to keep having.
The seventh. They say the seventh is the one.
Yeah. Lucky seven.
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What were weekends, when you would go to the countryside,
like what were those weekends like?
It was nothing.
It's just like just being one of the kids on the countryside.
Yeah.
I mean, we just, yeah, whatever was going on,
we would just hang out there and do nothing really.
Just watch and, you know, it's a different life than in Kingston
because when we go to the country,
we stop at these places that they do, they like they roast.
like, I'm going to call it vegetables
because I don't know what
or you guys.
Yellow yam. Yellow yam.
Okay, got you.
White yam.
Okay.
Salfish.
So that was always
fun first when we're going to the country.
It's like a truck stop, but
without the trucks and the building.
Okay.
It's like some guy on the side
with a fire and he's cooking.
Okay, great.
So on the way to the country
would make that truck stop.
And that was always fun.
for us. And then we get to the country and we just like picking stuff off the trees and just
hanging out, playing with the kids, playing sports or whatever, you know, just normal.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you're from Trench Town's the name of the neighborhood you grew up in,
yeah? I was born in Trench, on the city of Kingston, in Kingston.
Got it. And then at what point of your life, is it true that you went to school in the States
for a while? Yeah, in Delaware, I went for like a year. Come up, parents were trying for
final living, you know, try to make a better living.
Right. So they pick Delaware.
Yeah, because my grandmother,
I'll tell you why. So
his mom, my
grandmom, their family started migrating.
Okay. And I guess the first one of them
migrated to Delaware. So now everybody is
migrating to Delaware because that's where
the family is. Yes.
That's how we end up in there. My grandmother
was living there, and that's how we ended up in Delaware for a year
while my mother was doing nursing
and my father was just trying to say
if there was any possibilities in America.
But he didn't like America.
So we came back to Jamaica.
What was your year of Delaware?
Do you have many memories of it?
Terrible, terrible bullying.
I got bullied.
Really?
Yeah, because guess what?
No, I got bullying in school,
but I had fun in the snow.
I saw snow for the first time.
But I'm a Jamaican kid
going into an American
school, I'm totally a fish out of the water.
Fully.
No, no, no sort of understanding of me to them or them to me.
I'm a total stranger.
So a couple kids picked on me a couple of time, but we had fun.
You know, we had fun.
I had fun.
I had fun trying to chasing them around and running around.
It's very funny to realize that, like, maybe more than anyone, like, your family has,
like, changed perceptions about, like, what Jamaica is.
and yet they just hadn't done it yet.
So you were too early.
Yeah, I was ahead of the times.
So how many brothers and sisters did you have growing up?
Oh, many brothers and sisters had,
but I mean, my mother is one, two, three, four of us.
And then my father had some kids outside, some younger kids.
We are the oldest ones with my mom.
And so we grew up together.
That was our household, basically.
It was him, my mother, my brother, and my two sisters.
And then later on, some other kids came around, and it was cool, you know.
Later on my family were going to take, my father would take us to meet my brother.
That was one of the vacations going to meet the other siblings in some of the country side.
Now, paint a picture for us.
What is the car all the Marley kids are piling into to go meet the other siblings?
Volkswagen.
That's kind of what I wanted it to be.
That's kind of what I wanted it to be.
It's that yellow Volkswagen.
It's that VW that he drives to the countryside all the time.
We don't know.
We just driving.
We stop.
Yo, come meet your brother.
Were you excited about the trip to go meet your brothers?
No, but no, we didn't know we were going on a trip to meet the brother.
And then we meet a brother on the trip.
You know, oh, yeah, this is your brother.
Did you stay close with those brothers over the years?
Yeah, very close, very close.
Oh, that's great.
How old were they when you first met him?
They were like little boys.
I was like, I was probably like, I'm like 10 or, yeah, 9, 10 and, yeah, I'm the bigger brother.
So some of them were little babies too.
They were babies.
That's good.
And you were a benevolent, you were a kind older brother?
No. No.
I used to beat them up.
Oh, well, that's your job.
Now I feel a little bit better about the fact that you got bullied in Delaware.
Yeah, right?
It was karma.
I used to put them in my little brothers.
We had fun. I used to toughen them up. I toughen them up.
That's good. You got to toughen them up.
I got to make them toughen up.
I used to toughen up. We used to wrestling and Mr. and all that.
Were you, the brothers and sisters that you grew up in the house with, were you the four are you close?
Yeah, man. Yeah, man.
That's where we started making music in the house.
Yeah.
Like doing the concerts from my grand aunt and her friends.
Did you know at a young age?
Are you like, oh, it always made sense that we were going to be in a band together?
Was that something that?
No, not really.
No, we never think about it in the band sense.
But we always used to love play music anyway, naturally.
You know, it wasn't forced on us.
We used to just love doing it.
And in Jamaica, we have these, in those days, this cultural event is like,
independent celebration there.
And we used to take part in those kind of performances
for, you know, to celebrate the independence,
like with traditional Jamaican type of songs, you know, like,
like, Ullam Joe.
I think Harry Belafonte did this one over.
Oolim Joe and I let him go down, Kimmer Water, Wolling Joe.
So it was the first song I sung.
It was like that song.
Were you guys looking back, do you think you were good?
Like, did your parents like watching you guys do music, or were they sort of suffering through it?
No, I don't think they really care for the good.
I don't know.
I don't think that was the, like, if you're good or not.
It's just...
Yeah.
I didn't feel that.
I didn't feel that.
I don't think we were good, because we never know what we're doing.
We're just doing it.
Were you drawn drumming?
Did you start...
Drumming was your first instrument?
Yeah, drumming.
All right.
So, Delaware.
Let's go back to Delaware quick.
Great.
Because they're coming to America, we never celebrated Christmas where I came from.
There was no Christmas.
So my first Christmas was in Delaware.
Christmas trees, Santa Claus, whatever, supposed to come through the chimney.
And that's, I mean, I used to see my father and the band play drums, you know, but my grandmother was married to an American guy.
And he, you know, the Christmas thing was big.
My first Christmas gift was a Mickey Mouse drum set.
Wow.
And that's how I started doing drums on a Mickey Mouse drum set.
And then I got a Batman and Robin thing with a car.
It seems like it was a pretty positive Christmas.
Steve Austin.
Oh, yeah, a $6 million man.
With a bionic eye and you could look through the thing and you could do this.
These presents made a big impression on you.
Yeah.
Christmas, bro, Christmas.
It seems like that was the highlight of the Delaware year, maybe.
Yeah, yeah, that was the highlight.
Did you, after you moved back to Jamaica from Delaware,
was that somewhere you would go and visit?
Would you still go back to Delaware to visit your grandmother?
Yeah, yeah, we went to Delaware,
and then she moved to Miami, and then we started going to Miami.
Gotcha.
So it was Delaware and then Miami, yeah, we used to visit Delaware.
Were you happy when you got the news that she'd moved from Delaware to Miami?
Yeah.
No, yeah, Miami was more fun, definitely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We got into go-carts and motorbikes and when we...
The summers were fun in Miami.
Yeah.
Some were fun in Miami, yeah.
Would you go for a whole summer?
Was that sort of your summer?
Yeah, man, we'll go for a little while.
I'll spend time with grandma.
And by that time, you know, my father had bought her a nice house.
You know, because Delaware was just a little other thing.
But by that time, you know, my father could afford to get a nice house with a nice yard.
And so we kids, we had fun in that, you know?
Yeah, that's fantastic.
Did you have a lot of aunts and uncles back in Kingston?
Yeah, yeah, we have uncle, yeah.
I have two uncle and an aunt.
And they're my age.
It's not like, oh, my uncles are like my, my uncle was my age and younger.
I had a younger uncle, too.
Gotcha.
Yeah.
And would you, would all the Marley's get to get,
Would you get together with them?
Would you have, like, family reunions?
No, reunion.
We never have them type of thing.
We just, I mean, the reunion is when we see each other.
It's not like a...
Yeah, but not a plan.
No, no, it's not planned like that, no.
What is it like being...
Obviously, you're from a place that a lot of people go for their family vacations.
Like, were you aware, like, that you were growing up in a place that, like, people would come, like, tourism was a part of it?
Yeah, I was aware.
I think
I think one of the time
I mean one memory of mine
is they used to have this reggae festival
in Montiga Bay, Jamaica
and my father was on it
going to perform
so we drove down with him
and I think when I really realized
this tourist thing
was when we went into this hotel
and you had to give them the money
and then you got little bananas
you got a little banana
that was their currency in the hotel
right
and then it's kind of like
Like I saw the tourist, them and the little bananas.
And they're always sticking my head.
Oh, this is what Jamaica.
Oh, it's these people and the little bananas.
Were you friends?
Did you grow up with other kids from like the music community in Jamaica?
Because obviously your dad was not the only person who came out of that.
No, yeah, we grew up with, we had some kids that was like,
good in music in Jamaica.
Like we were up with our peers, you know.
And my father and my mother try help out the younger generation.
So there's one kid named Junior Tucker,
who was great.
He used to sing this earthwind and fire song.
And I remember, like, I remember doing a show.
The first concert we did as a group, me and my brother and sisters,
was a concert that my father was also built on.
Oh, wow.
And Juno Tucker was on the concert.
And I'm like, I always remember Juno Tucker.
You know, it was our first time we did one song.
And my father playing.
But Juno Tucker was a bigger star in Jamaica kind of than my father.
Because when he did that, whew-hoo.
The other people like scream, you know.
So it was funny to me.
I'm like, Junet Tucker like get more screams than my father.
My father's like Bob Marley.
Yeah, it was kind of funny
And he was a kid, you know?
Yeah.
You are not doing it justice.
I'll tell you that much.
Do not cover that song.
Are your kids musically inclined?
Yeah, but not, you know, not like I don't think they have to be,
they want to be in the music.
My son, my son is in college, he's in.
Howard. He's a great drummer. He's doing jazz
music and stuff. He's a great drummer.
You know, they are. They are.
Actually, they are. When I think about it.
Was your dad
and were your mom, like, obviously, like,
were they sort of, did they
take your music education seriously?
Was it a lot of like, hey, kids gather around
and listen to this, or did you just kind of learn it by being
around it? Learning by being around, and
then I bought some books and started, like,
learning how to play guitar
and stuff like that. We did some
piano lessons.
My mother said, no, still this lady.
It was very, you know, you don't like that stuff.
You know, it kind of means like they're like miserable late.
I don't know.
They're kind of miserable.
They have a bad reputation piano teachers.
Did you have a nice piano teacher?
No, no, no.
I think maybe she was nice, but I don't know, no.
Tell us about her.
What do you remember about your piano teacher?
Just grumpy, you know, just grumpy.
Well, I mean, was she disappointed that you hadn't done
the homework?
Grumpy and very, you know, very strict.
Yeah.
It's true.
Yeah.
And then you, like, you come home, you want to go relax after school.
You got to go see the piano lady up the street.
You got to walk up the street to see her.
I guess, I mean, imagine you love, you're a piano teacher because you love piano.
You've learned how to play piano.
And then you have to spend your day with kids who, one, don't want to be there and two
are bad at piano.
I'd be grumpy, too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But when I look back, because also I grew up with my grand aunt,
and I thought she was grumpy.
But when I look back, she was great.
Like when you kids, you think them grumpy.
But when I look back, she was great.
No, I think that's true.
I mean, again, like, now I realize, you know,
I'm just like, if my kids think I'm grumpy,
it's like that's because you're around.
Like, you're just making me grumpy.
Like, I'm a good, I'm a good, chill guy.
You should see me when you guys aren't.
I hear me questions.
Hidden camera.
What else, do you remember, did you ever go on vacation to anywhere in the States other than Delaware?
Did you ever go to like New York or anything?
Oh, we used to, you know what?
When we used to live in Delaware, we used to take the train to New York to visit my grandfather, my mother's father.
He was a saxophone player.
He used to live in New York.
I remember.
The only thing I remember about that is like he lived right near where the train is.
run, like above
the ground trains.
I always remember the noise of the train.
Like we're, like, living,
like, spending time with him,
I just remember the trains being there.
As a kid, did you think this is cool
that the trains you can hear him,
or did you know that that was...
No, no, no, no.
I thought it was crazy.
I thought it was kind of crazy,
like on the trains and they live,
like, it's kind of crazy now.
Oh, yeah.
It's crazy those people that grew up
in New York and can't sleep without
a lot of, like, street
noise or whatever. If they get to a
quiet place, they're very unsettled.
But if you go the opposite way,
it's just, yeah, it can be very jarring.
And then did your
did your mother grow up in Jamaica?
Yeah, my mother born in Cuba, grew up in Jamaica, yeah.
She was a singer.
She's a singer, too, but she'd do some nursing and stuff, you know?
Did you go, did you ever go to Cuba
to visit family of hers, or had they all left?
No, I think them leave.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Have you ever been to Cuba?
No, I've never been to Cuba.
I want to go, though.
I would love to go to Cuba.
Yeah.
Yeah, Cuba.
Yeah, Moola.
Where is your mother still around, yes?
Yeah, my mother's still around, yeah.
That's great.
Where is she now?
She's in Miami with my sister and my brother.
Like, I know of my family, kind of settled in Miami for a little bit now.
That's great.
Is she a fun grandmother?
Do you think your kids would say she's fun or grumpy?
No, no, she's cool.
Yeah, I would hope so.
She's been cool, yeah, no, she really cool.
Yeah, she, I don't know, I feel like I have a lot of her demeanor with me.
Like, you know, she's a loving woman and charity and she has a horror about her, you know?
That's, yeah, she really cool, yeah.
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When did your sort of charitable work appear to you as something that was important in your life?
Like, how old were you?
Let me say, so when I was leaving high school, when I was leaving high school.
Well, I mean, we always used to go back to where we came from.
My father always, even when we left, I would have trench town and those years.
because I went through, you know,
we poor, lower middle class,
upper middle class,
I know,
like, you know,
you know,
you know,
you know,
you have little material richness.
But we would always go back.
And so I think,
and I would always see them helping people.
You know,
helping people,
giving people money,
you know,
some guy who comes needs help,
whatever, whatever,
you know,
so that was an example
that was set by my parents.
So we grew up
So when I was a teenager
When I could have my own money
I started doing some of the same things like that
Helping people
You know do like food programs
For people who don't have food
Or build bathrooms in community
That don't have bathrooms
A lot of work and helping individuals out too
Because that's a big part of it
In Jamaica
Like just helping people
And so yeah
That's how that came about
So yeah
That's fantastic.
Yeah.
You have a new album as well.
Congratulations.
Yeah, thank you.
You have a new album.
I couldn't listen to it yet because it's not, I mean, again, shame on me,
but it's out on vinyl, digital in a couple of days.
Digital, yeah.
May 1st, May 1st.
Is it cool to still have, see a vinyl album that you made?
No, yeah, it is cool.
It's one of the coolest things.
Like, for just.
To hold it?
Yeah, it is.
It is cool. Maybe it's because I'm nostalgic about it or I know.
I've lived in that world.
It's like when I lived in that world and I live in this digital world.
So I know the difference.
Some kids grew up.
They just started in the digital world.
They have no idea of that world.
So they have no reference to say, oh, that shit is much better than this shit.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
But no.
So this, the new album is really cool for me because I did some things differently.
one of the biggest things I did was
I changed the frequency that we tuned to,
that the instruments are tuned to.
So the standard tuning,
everything that you listen to nowadays
is what we call four 40 hertz.
Now, I decided, I don't want to be different.
I don't want to be like everybody else.
I'm going to tune in 432 hertz,
which is a thing I've been exploring for years.
You know, musical, like,
hey, what's different, what's up?
And this 432 hertz, what is said about it is that it resonates at the frequency closest to how the human resonate,
how we as human beings resonate.
And it's using meditation, it can be used for healing.
So I tried it out.
I like it.
I like how it feel.
And I just decided that this record is going to be in 4302 hertz.
When you tell, like, I'm assuming you worked with producers you've worked with before,
but how is it greeted when you let people know
we're going to be doing it a different way like this?
So let me tell you, I'll tell you exactly how we think.
So I walked in, right?
The ban was in there and I walked in and said,
everybody, we're going to tune the 432.
And it was first like, they never understand
what I'm talking about.
And then when they did understand, they were like,
oh, no, my tuna doesn't do that.
My keep all.
And I was like, let's get the tunas that do that.
Let's get the keep.
boys that do that. And then
since, on this record, since we're doing
like trying to use real instruments,
you know, like a
real, a B-3 organ, for example,
we were like, oh, we're going to
choose a B-3 organ to 432.
That's impossible. Like,
and then some guy came in
and he was like, oh, I can do it.
And he was like, all roughen his chin.
All right of these change of voltage, you know.
And it worked.
in change of voltage.
It's a whole, like, mad scientist.
We went through some whole other things
to, like, get everything to 432 hurts.
Was your band, like, enthusiastic about this,
or were they rolling their eyes?
Yeah, I think they never really understand
what it was or why.
Like, when a guy said,
I can fix the organ, were they like, oh, dude.
Yeah, no, we were like,
coming in all, because the organ is a very,
it's the first thing, it's an old technology.
And, you know,
but this guy was, he knew about it.
He knew about it.
So, yeah.
No, the band, them never know, but I think, you know, we really,
we did it live before I went into the show, we've been doing it live.
And I think there's really a different vibe to it for us.
That's very cool.
I mean, we're sensitive to it because we've been playing music and frequencies,
so we're sensitive.
But I feel like frequencies match, and I think with how the world stays right now,
And music is a very powerful tool.
I think if I was saying this like, I said this, like, if the music were the size,
say, you know, let's change the frequency.
Maybe it can affect the population, just like it does know in four-foughty,
but in a more communicative frequency that brings harmony,
it might have something to do with it, you know?
It's a good idea.
We should all consider changing the group.
We should all do that.
Yeah, we should all do that.
And we'll have to get the number of your organ guy so we can share it around.
I know.
My friend Ziggy knows an organ guy.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I know a guy.
What about vacations that you've taken with your wife and your kids?
Do you ever go somewhere to just get away from it all?
Yeah, my wife insists.
Yeah, all right.
Good for her.
She insists.
vacation. I'm like, vacation.
Vacation, for me, is not really vacation.
It's like, I got to do a lot of stuff.
Yeah.
On vacation.
So you're not a sit-on-the-beach guy?
Yeah, I am a sit-on-the-beach guy.
Okay, all right.
But I'm not going out to the breakfast spot and the next.
Oh, I see.
Yes.
You want to do, yeah.
Yeah, I just want to do nothing.
I just want to do nothing.
Yeah.
Well, that's what vacation is.
You know, we love Hawaii.
We just came back from Hawaii.
We love Hawaii.
I like going to Hawaii.
Hawaii is like, I think,
there's one place I can, like, relax.
Yeah, a little bit.
It's beautiful.
Do your kids get along?
Yeah, ma'am.
I keep them get along, yeah.
That's good.
Yeah, I mean, the little one,
a little annoying to the older one,
but, yeah, that's a role.
You got to play that role, too.
Yeah.
I do that for Seth.
Yeah.
Still, still.
Still.
Still.
Still.
A hundred percent still.
Uh, what was the first?
time you brought your kids out of the country. Do you remember?
Yeah, to the first time I took them to Jamaica.
Yeah. And did they, did they love it?
Yeah, man. I'm like Jamaica, man. Like, we stop, we get them,
because Jamaica now, we get them, stop, we drink coconut water. That's at first.
They never drank coconut water out of real coconut before.
Yeah.
So that, those kind of little experiences is so unique for them, you know, because,
you know, like, it's funny. In America here, them eat, you know, they eat chicken.
but they never really see
a chicken
It's true
They go to Jamaica
They say chickens
Run around
You know
Yeah
You can make that connection
Much easier
Oh, it's that
I'm eating that
Yeah, yeah
That's a chicken
That's what chickens look like
In real life
You know
It is
It is so great talking to you
What a delight
To meet you
and speak to you.
Congrats on the album.
But we also have
a speed round questions for you
that Josh is going to ask.
All right, here we go.
What's the speed round?
What am I supposed to answer fast?
No, no, we're going to ask fast.
You take your time.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
But it goes like this.
You can only pick one of these.
Is your ideal vacation relaxing,
adventurous, or educational?
Relaxing.
Yeah, that was our bounce on you.
What is your favorite means of transportation?
Favorite means of transportation?
What is my favorite means of transportation?
I like, I don't know.
You know, I like airplanes.
Yeah, sure.
I like airplanes.
I like flying.
If you could take a vacation with any family,
alive or dead, real or fictional,
other than your own family,
what family would you like to take a vacation with?
Good question.
I don't know.
The first thing come to my mind, I don't know.
Yes, sure.
Okay.
Great.
Yeah, that's the first time.
You're the first one to give that answer.
If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be?
My brother, Stephen, we grew up together, yeah.
How many?
What's the year gap with you and Stephen?
Oh, four?
Okay, great.
Four years, yeah.
Good, good, good.
What is your dream destination for a family vacation?
Africa.
I haven't taken the kids to Africa yet.
I want to take them to Africa.
If you took them to Africa, how many days do you think?
Would it be like a three-weeker, two-weeker?
I was going to say one week, but I'd say two weeks.
I'd say two weeks.
The most.
Like, after a while, vacation get too long, it's like, man.
Yeah.
You just felt bad.
You were ashamed because.
the white guys were like two weeks, three weeks? You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's what I was going to say. You are from Kingston, Jamaica. If you had to get more
families to come visit Kingston, what would you tell them about that city? Kingston is a real
experience. It's real people. You know, you're going to be, you're going to feel like,
you're going to feel like a real person, because I would treat everyone the same. There's no hierarchy.
You know, yeah. So I feel like that. It's a real place for the real people.
and you can just feel like you're a part of the community basically.
You know, they will really be, people come to Jamaica,
they go down into the trench town, like the worst part.
You know, sometimes I go down there and I see some people from like Norway.
Like, why are you living in trench town?
You know, but it's like they welcome people, you know?
So we're welcoming, you know?
Oh, that's great.
And Seth has our final questions.
Ziggy, have you been to the Grand Canyon?
No.
Do you want to go?
Yeah, but I'm not in a rush.
Yeah.
Man after my own heart.
It's been there for ages.
It's not going to my own heart.
It's not going anywhere.
I don't have to race.
But I'm not like, oh, I can go see it.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
I love everything about that answer.
Well, you're also going to be busy this summer.
You've got 20 tour dates.
Really between like
June 19th and July 22nd
you're doing 20 shows
that's
going to be some work
Do you love the road?
Do you love being on the road for music?
Yeah, I like playing music
I love being on the road
I mean after a while
When you come back
after the road
Then you feel like
what happened on the road
Is it like
After you fake
You know
But when I do like being on the road
I like playing music for people
And I feel like
You know
I feel purposeful
because the words that I'm singing,
and I feel like people listening more now too than before,
the words I'm singing have meaning.
So I feel like I'm not just there like an entertainer,
like going out there.
I feel like there's a real purpose band what I'm doing.
So it helps me to keep going on that, you know?
That's fantastic.
Well, congrats on the new album.
Can't wait for the tour.
Thank you so much, Ziggy.
All right, man.
Good for talk to you guys.
Thank you, thank you.
Yeah, thank you.
Bye now.
Bye, bye.
The flight was so long, Ziggie said it was like taking a trip to the moon.
Hop inside his dad's Volkswagen, Velifante singing, hold'em Joe.
Pull up, there's a little boy there.
Zingie's dad would say come meet your road.
Down to Miami got to drive, go carts and motorbikes.
Teacher was too grumpy.
Looking back, she probably was all right.
This town, Grandpa lived in a train drive.
was so loud first Christmas
the snow Mickey mess gift you got a
