Bob Marley & The Wailers Announce New Bob Marley Album ‘African Unite’ For August 4th

Tuff Gong International has announced a new Bob Marley Reggae/Afrobeats fusion album titled Africa Unite, set for release on August 4, with several collaborations featuring popular Nigerian artists.

The album would be a collaboration between Bob Marley and various rising African musicians, working on classic Bob Marley songs with a splash of modern African music artistry. The line-up includes Sarkodie, Tiwa Savage, Teni, and Oxlade among others, each re-visiting Marley’s classics with their unique styles and distinct voices, honoring Marley’s influence on the Reggae and Afrobeat genre and on music culture.

This highly anticipated album would include Marley’s timeless classic tracks like “Waiting In Vain” and “Stir It Up.” Together with this announcement, came the release of its lead single “Three Little Birds,” presented to the audiences by Teni & Oxlade from Nigeria, adding flavors to another Marley track with styles of Afro-fusion.

The album aims to showcase how far and deep Bob Marley’s influence on the global music scene is, and in particular his importance in the African music scene. It tries to accomplish this goal by blending his classic, soulful Reggae music with modern infectious Afrobeat music, continuing the Reggae pioneer’s musical influence despite the distance in time.

“With Africa Unite, Bob Marley’s influence continues to resonate, bridging the gap between the past and present. The album not only showcases the global reach of Bob Marley’s music but also celebrates the rich tapestry of African rhythms and melodies. By intertwining reggae’s soulful vibrations with the infectious energy of Afrobeats, Africa Unite embodies the unity and spirit of collaboration, mirroring the late artist’s vision of a harmonious world,” Tuff Gong noted.

Bob Marley’s daughter Cedella Marley, in reflecting on the significance of the album, is quoted as saying that Africa Unite showcases the importance of Bob Marley in modern-day Africa, as the singers who are featured “have reimagined Bob Marley’s classics in a way we know he would have loved and been proud of.”

History surrounding the property is that at one stage of Bob’s career, he was refused entry one particular day following a confrontation, “even when Johnny Nash wanted him to record.” Marley then and there had vowed that one day he would own the property.

The property was put up for sale in 1982 and was purchased by Bob’s widow Rita Marley who named it Tuff Gong. Tuff Gong, at that time, specialised in vinyl manufacturing, and also comprised a record shop, a mastering room and a recording studio.

Today, Tuff Gong comprises a recording studio, mastering room, stamper room, pressing plant, cassette plant, wholesale record shop, booking agency, as well as offices for Rita Marley Music and Ghetto Youths International the record label founded by Bob’s son Stephen Marley and his younger brothers Julian and Damian.

Tuff Gong International is one of the Caribbean’s largest studios. It features the second-largest live recording space in Jamaica. Over the decades scores of artistes, musicians, producers and tourists traveling from far reaches of the earth to visit the facility. Jamaican artistes such as Capleton, Sly and Robbie, Shaggy, Bounty Killer, Lady Saw, Jimmy Cliff and Beenie Man have recorded at Tuff Gong, as have foreigners such as Sinead O’Connor, Snoop Dogg and Lauryn Hill.