Miami Living Magazine

Kara del Toro

Miami Living Magazine features the best Miami has to offer. Click on any magazine below and enjoy. You can download our free app on iTunes. Ideal for iPad and iPhone users.

Issue link: https://digital.miamilivingmagazine.com/i/1464806

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 270 of 335

Skip: I don’t really check those things too much, but wow! Allison: Well, I checked it and it was the biggest streaming song in Marley family history. Skip: I was aware of that part. Allison: What did your uncles and your mom (Cedella Marley) say to you when they heard that? Skip: They were proud for me, but it’s not for me. It is always “we.” I’m representing all of them, so for me it’s a family victory and it’s not just about me. Allison: It’s interesting you say that. Obviously, I knew who your grandfather, Bob Marley, was. But it wasn’t until a friend of mine said to me, “You know, I really admire the Marleys, because they understand that the collective is more important than one person. They understand what it is to serve something greater than each individual.” Skip: Right, right. We all strive together. We might not all sing, but we have our own lanes for us to go on, yeah mon. Music wasn’t forced on me. Music is something you have to choose. You have to pursue that for yourself. It wasn’t like I was told, “You’re going to make music.” My life was school, school, school growing up. Allison: Were you an “A” student? Skip: No (laugh). I was in school and would always think about music. As I got to junior high and then high school, I was always just thinking about music, and even after school I would have three or four hours of music. I had a drive to learn as much as I could. Allison: I’ve heard that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master anything you want to do. Skip: Yes. If you love something and have a passion for something, and if you are driven towards something, whatever it is, you are not going to give up when you love it. I have had countless hours where my mom would have to say, “Yo, that is enough [practice] for now.” I have such great examples of hard work, discipline, and dedication. From a very young age it was instilled in me, that kind of work ethic. It’s taken me to where I am, and it is going to take me further and further. Allison: You are very close with your mom Cedella, who is your grandparents, Bob and Rita Marley’s daughter, of course. What is the best advice she has ever given you? Skip: Work harder than everyone. Nothing is going to be given to you. Perfect practice makes perfect. You have to believe and get up and work for it. Nothing is given. She was a living example of that, and so every day was an example for me. Allison: Is your Uncle Ziggy [Marley] the head of your grandfather’s estate? Skip: Yes. I think my grandmother, my mother, and my Uncle Ziggy all work together. Allison: Do you guys have family meetings where you decide how you are going to license and distribute the Bob Marley brand, his music, and Bob Marley merchandise? Skip: Yes, for sure. Always family meetings. If it’s not in person, it’s Zoom [meetings]. Allison: Tell me how Covid, the whole pandemic, and everything that has gone on, how did it transform you as a person? Skip: I would say it made me focus more and made me more disciplined. You had more time to really think things out. It gave me time to work on myself and work on my music; to work on my mind and things like that. It was really a fitness thing. I worked out every day, six days a week, so that has been my thing from Covid. Allison: One of my favorite songs of yours is That’s Not True, featuring your Uncle Damian Marley. How did that family musical collaboration come together? Skip: I had a couple of songs and brought them to my uncle, thinking I would love to have him on a song. He went through a couple of them and liked That’s Not True, so we took it from there and just built the song.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Miami Living Magazine - Kara del Toro