Is Bob Marley Respected For His Art and History Or Is He Just An Icon For Marijuana?

Soot and Stars

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O.K., I know I'm treading heavily on flame wars here but I want a healthy debate without straying here because I think it's an interesting topic to debate about a true legend!


No debates about whether marijuana use is right or wrong, should or should not be legal or anything related to preference on the substance itself!


If this happens I'll shut the thread down and give myself a kick in the ass for opening Pandoras box! :lmao:

Bob-marley-cigar-colorful.jpg


O.K., I'll plant the seed for this debate and see where it goes from there! Bob Marley definitely deserves respect musically and historically and I'm not debating that at all. Marley's name has passed to generation to generation but I'm not quite sure each new generation is grasping this important history and his accomplishments. Honestly, the way he is marketed tends to center on his Marijuana use 90% of the time. Nearly all the shirts of him and posters in college all had him smoking his signature fatty in them. Now the following is a generalization, and you are welcome to throw it out, but maybe some have had similar observations. Almost every Bob Marley fan I'd met in college and I was an art student by the way so I had that demographic, was a new age hippy and very open about their usage. The ones who don't just smoke it but advertise their usage openly. It seems to go exclusively hand in hand and I think the proof is in the marketing more so than in my experience! What do you guys think? Has a historical figure become nothing less than an excuse to toke up?
 

Flower

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Re: Is Bob Marley Respected For His Art and History Or Is He Just An Icon For Marijua

I believe that Marley is respected for his art but that most people also 'think' of his 'smoking' too.
 

LG

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Re: Is Bob Marley Respected For His Art and History Or Is He Just An Icon For Marijua

It is impossible to separate the one from the other. Bob Marley was a great musician, and heavily involved in politics.

I look at him this way:

Most important legacy, the great music he produced and almost by himself gave reggae music a worldwide stage.

2nd, his politics, trying to get the powers that be to pay attention to the important things affecting the average Jamaican, a voice that could not be ignored.

3rd, his addiction to marijuana, if he was a practicing Rastafarian, then it is part of the religion to indulge in pot. Some people look at it as an excuse to smoke pot first and the religious connection is tenuous at best. I am open minded what one person does to enjoy their life as long as it doesn't hurt or affect anyone else, then it's okay with me.
 

Hepcat

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Re: Is Bob Marley Respected For His Art and History Or Is He Just An Icon For Marijua

I think that most fans fondly remember Bob Marley and his music through a smoke-filled haze. Were it not for this haze, he would not be held in such high regard.

:drums:
 

Soot and Stars

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Re: Is Bob Marley Respected For His Art and History Or Is He Just An Icon For Marijua

Good points guys! I think time and generations are diluting the positive aspects and making him more of a gimmick than anything else!
 

LG

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Re: Is Bob Marley Respected For His Art and History Or Is He Just An Icon For Marijua

Hep you either like reggae or not,,,the Haze never influenced me, I only had two Bob Marley albums in the collection, and I liked him either with my feet on the ground or becoming a temporary member of his faith.;)
 

annie

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Re: Is Bob Marley Respected For His Art and History Or Is He Just An Icon For Marijua

I am surprised at this thread. Bob Marley died of cancer of the lungs, liver, stomach and brain. However, he continued to play on in concerts and recording albums such as ‘Survival’ in 1979 and ‘Uprising’ in 1980. I think he should be respected for that.
 
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Soot and Stars

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Re: Is Bob Marley Respected For His Art and History Or Is He Just An Icon For Marijua

I am surprised at this thread. Bob Marley died of cancer of the lungs, liver, stomach and brain. However, he continued to play on in concerts and recording albums such as ‘Survival’ in 1979 and ‘Uprising’ in 1980. I think he should be respected for that.

No one is disrespecting him himself. It's more about how he's represented today and what he's been turned into. That's the debate.
 

LG

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Re: Is Bob Marley Respected For His Art and History Or Is He Just An Icon For Marijua

Good points Annie, why surprised though?

Many artists have died from alcohol abuse, prescription painkillers, heroin, cocaine, LSD so the fact Bob died young and beyond doubt his pot smoking was probably responsible it's nothing new.
 

annie

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Re: Is Bob Marley Respected For His Art and History Or Is He Just An Icon For Marijua

Good points Annie, why surprised though?

Many artists have died from alcohol abuse, prescription painkillers, heroin, cocaine, LSD so the fact Bob died young and beyond doubt his pot smoking was probably responsible it's nothing new.

Pot smoking is responsible for cancer? That is news to me. Jimi Hendrix is the prime example of being revered for drugs.
 

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