Eddie Murphy Roots Reggae

Edward Regan “Eddie” Murphy ranks as the 4th highest paid actor in the United States. Making people laugh out loud, comes second nature to this comedian. The actor from Bushwick, Brooklyn, even masters the art of playing multiple roles in the same movie; including fan favorite, “Coming to America.” He’s dabbled in music for years, but Murphy gets serious with  reggae in 2015.  More After The Jump…

Murphy’s first reggae collaboration was in 1993, with reggae icon, Shabba Ranks on a track entitled, “I Was A King.” With raw lyrics like, “Your nation was built upon my sweat,” Murphy put all jokes aside:

Murphy released his second collaborative effort, this time with Snoop Lion, on a warning track called “Red Light, ” which was well received.

In a recent interview conducted by Jesse Serwer for Rolling Stone Magazine, Murphy states that he is continuously in the studio:

That’s a misconception. I stopped putting music out 20 years ago. I’ve never stopped making music. I’ve always had a facility for recording at the house. I’ve stayed in the studio for years and years. Twenty years ago there was a bunch of motherfuckers just putting records out that was actors. I didn’t want to be one of these motherfuckers dropping tracks on some ego shit, trying to be the actor-singer. It always looks weird when you see the actor singing in the video. You’re always gonna be like, “What the fuck is this?” I didn’t want to be part of it. I’m not trying to get no paper, or get more famous off of this. I just do it and I love doing it.”

Fast forward to 2015, Murphy gives us his latest reggae track “Oh Jah Jah,”  in which he cries out to Jah regarding the status quo.  Fans are already commenting on social media about  Murphy’s maturation in terms of reggae sound. When asked if this song professes a spiritual realization, Murphy responded:

“Oh no, no. I’m not a Rasta. I’m doing a reggae track, reggae artists they say Jah, so I said Jah. I can call God Jah and not be a Rasta. The lyrics lent itself to this whole reggae feel. The first lyric in that song goes, “The devil’s on the move.” Originally it was “Ebola’s on the move,” but I was like “Ebola’s gonna be over, and the song will be dated.” I wrote that track the first week that Ebola jumped off, and Ferguson was going on – it was pulled out of the headlines. To say this stuff, it has to be reggae. You can’t touch on none of this with an R&B track, because people will shut down to it. But do a roots reggae song that feels like Bob Marley type of stuff, you can say it.”

 The authenticity of the music may be questioned, based on the aforementioned quote. However, according to Charles Caleb Colton: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, “so Murphy may get a pass with fans when “Oh Jah Jah” hits Itunes on January 27.

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