Welcome to Jamrock

Welcome to Jamrock
Welcome to Jamrock
Studio album by Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley
Released	September 12, 2005
Studio	Lion's Den, Miami, Florida, United States; Marley Music, Kingston, Jamaica; Tuff Gong, Kingston, Jamaica;
Genre	Reggae; dancehall; ska; hip-hop; reggae fusion;
Length	62:54
Label	Ghetto Youths International/Tuff Gong; Universal Records;
Producer	Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley; Stephen Marley;
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley chronology
Singles from Welcome to Jamrock
	"Welcome to Jamrock"; Released: March 14, 2005; "Road To Zion"; Released: 2005; "The Master Has Come Back"; Released: December 12, 2005; "Beautiful"; Released: January 24, 2006;

Welcome to Jamrock is the third studio album by Jamaican reggae/dancehall artist Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. The album was released on September 12, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and one day later in the United States.

Marley won two 2006 Grammy Awards for the album, Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance (for the track "Welcome to Jamrock"). Guests appearing on the album include Stephen Marley, Black Thought, Bobby Brown and Nas.

Recording

Production of the album was handled by Damian and his brother Stephen Marley. The pair had frequently collaborated, with Damian wanting to utilise the professionals already in his family.^[1] The album's title track was inspired by the everyday life of Jamaica that the world does not know about. The title was a play on a song entitled "Welcome to Atlanta", which discussed the dark side of Atlanta. Inspired by this Marley wanted to showcase what it was like to live in a "third world country."^[2]

Reception

Chart performance

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	A−^[4]
Entertainment Weekly	A−^[5]
Mojo	^[6]
Now	^[7]
The Observer	^[8]
Pitchfork	7.7/10^[9]
Rolling Stone	^[10]
Spin	7/10^[11]
Tom Hull – on the Web	A−^[12]

The album debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200, and sold 86,000 copies, during its first week of release in the United States.^[13] As of August 23, 2006, Welcome to Jamrock has sold 539,000 recognized copies in the United States.^[14] Between September 2005 and 2007, the album spent more than 30 weeks at the top of the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.^[15] In January 2022, it re-entered the chart at number 10.^[15]

The title-track peaked at number 55 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100, but did better on the R&B and rap charts, peaking at numbers 18 and 12, respectively. It also did well in the UK, peaking at number 13.

Critical reception

Steve Yates, in The Observer, gave the album five stars out of five, concluding that "Like his father, Damian is tucked in well behind the cutting edge of digital production, but this fine collection of songs outshines the ephemeral delights of modern day dancehall. The Jr Gong is banging."^[8]

David Jeffries, writing for AllMusic, gave the album four stars out of five, saying, "Besides the fantastic single, this album has 'legs,' with a bulging lyric sheet filled with vivid and crafty lines that offer plenty to focus on once all the sonic brilliance has sunk in. A career-defining moment that lives up to a huge hit, Welcome to Jamrock is a tremendous achievement."^[3]

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Stephen Marley and Damian Marley, except where noted.^[16]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Confrontation" (featuring spoken introduction from Bunny Wailer)	Damian Marley Stephen Marley Paul Scott Levy		5:29
2.	"There for You"	D. Marley S. Marley Levy		4:41
3.	"Welcome to Jamrock"	D. Marley S. Marley Ini Kamoze Robert Russell		3:33
4.	"The Master Has Come Back"	D. Marley S. Marley Neville Livingston		4:40
5.	"All Night" (featuring Stephen Marley)	D. Marley S. Marley Jackie Mittoo Clement Dodd		3:30
6.	"Beautiful" (featuring Bobby Brown)	D. Marley Bobby Brown S. Marley Paul Yebuah	Stephen Marley Paul Yebuah	4:47
7.	"Pimpa's Paradise" (featuring Stephen Marley and Black Thought)	Bob Marley D. Marley Black Thought		5:04
8.	"Move!"	B. Marley D. Marley S. Marley		3:44
9.	"For the Babies" (featuring Stephen Marley)	D. Marley S. Marley		4:53
10.	"Hey Girl" (featuring Stephen Marley and Rovleta Fraser)	D. Marley S. Marley Yebuah	Stephen Marley Paul Yebuah	4:14
11.	"Road to Zion" (featuring Nas)	Irving Berlin		5:17
12.	"We're Gonna Make It"	D. Marley S. Marley Jimmy Riley		4:20
13.	"In 2 Deep"	D. Marley Michael Jones	Mighty Mike Stephen Marley (add.) Damian Marley (add.)	4:44
14.	"Khaki Suit" (featuring Bounty Killer and Eek-A-Mouse)	D. Marley Rodney Price Ripton Hylton Henry Lawes Richard Smith S. Marley		3:57
15.	"Carnal Mind" (bonus track) (featuring Chew Stick)			4:26

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.^[17]

Chris Athens – Mastering
Cristy Barber – A&R
Black Thought – Guest Artist, Primary Artist
Bounty Killer – Guest Artist, Primary Artist
Bobby Brown – Guest Artist, Primary Artist
Errol Brown – Mixing
Jill Capone – Product Manager
James "Bonzai" Caruso – Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing
Commissioner Gordon – Mixing
Shiah Coore – Bass, Keyboards
Gary Corbett – Keyboards
Noel Davey – Hammond organ, Piano
Sean Diedrick – Keyboards
Eek-A-Mouse – Guest Artist, Primary Artist
Paul Fakhourie – Bass, Clavinet, Keyboards
Dean Fraser – Saxophone
Rovleta Fraser – Primary Artist, Backing vocals
Deron D. James – Cover Design
Jazzwad – Bass, Drum Programming, Drums, Keyboards
Joanne "Joey" Joseph – A&R
King Swamp – Vocals
Kevin Law – A&R
Marc Stephen Lee – Engineer
Bob Marley – Composer
Damian Marley – Composer, Drum Programming, Executive Producer, Keyboards, Primary Artist, Producer
Julian Marley – Hammond organ
Stephen Marley – Bass, Composer, Executive Producer, Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion, Primary Artist, Producer, Synthesizer
Roland McDermott – Engineer
Gregory J. Morris – Engineer
Nas – Guest Artist, Primary Artist
Stephen "Asher" Noel – Bass, Guitar
Alfredo Oliva – Concertmaster
R. Price – Composer
Ras Kass – Concept Graphics
Don Reid – A&R
Owen "Dreadie" Reid – Bass
The Roots – Guest Artist
Kenneth Roxborough – Backing vocals
R. Russell – Composer
Keith Tamashiro – Art Direction
Craig "Niteman" Taylor – Drum Fills, Drums
Franklin Thompson – Backing vocals
Uziah "Sticky" Thompson – Percussion
Dan Warner – Guitar
Larry Warrilow – String Arrangements
Roselyn Williams – Backing vocals

Samples

"Confrontation" contains spoken-word samples from speeches made by Haile Selassie I and Marcus Garvey. The music contains a sample from the entrance music of former WCW wrestler Bill Goldberg.
"Road to Zion" contains a sample from "Russian Lullaby" by Ella Fitzgerald.
"Move!" contains a sample from "Exodus" by Bob Marley & The Wailers.
"Welcome to Jamrock" contains a sample from "World a Music" by Ini Kamoze.
"The Master Has Come Back" contains a sample from "Bide Up" by Bunny Wailer.
"All Night" contains a sample from "Nimrod" by The Skatalites.
"There for You" contains a sample from "Heartbreak Hotel" by the Jacksons.
"Khaki Suit" contains a sample from "For Hire and Removal" by Eek-A-Mouse.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[18]	58
French Albums (SNEP)^[19]	188
US Billboard 200^[20]	7
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[21]	4
US Reggae Albums (Billboard)^[22]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2006)	Position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[23]	87

Certifications

Certifications for *Welcome To Jamrock*
Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)^[24]	Gold	50,000^{^}
United Kingdom (BPI)^[25]	Gold	100,000^{^}
United States (RIAA)^[26]	Gold	500,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.