Ky-Mani Marley

Ky-Mani Marley (born 26 February 1976) is a Jamaican reggae and hip-hop artist. His name is of East African origin, and means "Adventurous Traveler". He is the only child of Bob Marley with Anita Belnavis, a Jamaican table tennis champion.

Life and career

Ky-Mani was born in Falmouth, Jamaica, but at the age of nine, he relocated to the inner-city of Miami . During his youth, Ky-Mani was unaware of his musical abilities, sports being his first love. With his mother's direction, he took piano and guitar lessons and played trumpet in his high school band. In addition to tapping into his musical talents, Ky-Mani was an athlete, competing in soccer and American football. As a teenager, Ky-Mani started rapping and deejaying; his first single was "Unnecessary Badness". He became inspired as a singer after being asked to sing a hook to a song during a recording session at a studio in Miami. Ky-Mani soon began experimenting with laying tracks, at times with his brothers, Stephen, Julian and Damian.

Bob Marley

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist who achieved international fame and acclaim. Starting out in 1963 with the group The Wailers, he forged a distinctive songwriting and vocal style that would later resonate with audiences worldwide. The Wailers would go on to release some of the earliest reggae records with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry.

After the Wailers disbanded in 1974, Marley pursued a solo career upon his relocation to England that culminated in the release of the album Exodus in 1977, which established his worldwide reputation and produced his status as one of the world's best-selling artists of all time, with sales of more than 75 million records.Exodus stayed on the British album charts for fifty-six consecutive weeks. It included four UK hit singles: "Exodus", "Waiting in Vain", "Jamming", and "One Love". In 1978 he released the album Kaya, which included the hit singles "Is This Love" and "Satisfy My Soul".

Papoose (rapper)

Shamele Mackie (born March 5, 1978), better known by his stage name Papoose /pæˈpuːs/, is an American rapper. After breaking into the rap game in 2005 with DJ Kayslay with the release of his song "Alphabetical Slaughter" he signed a $1.5 million contract with Jive Records. After his debut studio album, The Nacirema Dream was shelved, he cut ties with Jive. This resulted in him releasing over a dozen free mixtapes to keep himself popular. In 2012 he secured a deal with Fontana Distribution and released his debut album independently on March 26, 2013.

Biography

Papoose became known to the public when he appeared in 1998 on Kool G Rap's Roots of Evil album. The following year, he released his first single, "Thug Connection"/"Alphabetical Slaughter".

After an early record deal failed, he decided to produce and sell his own mixtapes, one of which he presented to DJ Kay Slay outside the offices of New York's Hot 97 after the latter's radio show there. This led to Kay Slay inviting Papoose onto the air, and, impressed by his rendition of "Alphabetical Slaughter", signing him to his Streetsweepers Entertainment label. He continued to release mixtapes at a prolific rate – over a dozen between 2004 and 2006 – and won the Justo Mixtape Award for Best Underground Artist in 2005.