‘Old Soul’ Stephen Marley ready for Babylon by Bus tour

Award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer, Stephen Marley, the second son of Bob Marley, has chronicled his growth as a young Marley kid, and his personal rites of passage through the family legacy, in his just-released single, Old Soul.

The acoustic track was released on Stephen’s birthday, April 20, and a week later, it was followed by a retrospective lyric video, revealing never-before-seen old family photos and vintage vinyl album covers.

Old Soul arrived as Bob Marley’s second son celebrated his 51st year of life. “ I’m an old soul, living in the body of a nine-year-old,” Stephen sings, sharing glimpses of his past.

The song was co-written with Jamaican pop star Omi, whose manager, renowned producer Specialist, brought it to Stephen, saying it fit him. “I had to change up the years to place my life in it,” Stephen said, “but really, Omi gave me the first inspiration.”

Before the pandemic, Stephen ‘Ragga’ Marley and his band toured incessantly. During the COVID lockdown, however, he set up a new makeshift studio on a family farm in the Florida countryside, holding nightly jam sessions in a converted garage studio.

“Irie vibration,” Stephen said of the sounds he and his friends made together on the farm. Old Soul was recorded during these unplugged jam sessions, the spirit of which will permeate the vibe of his upcoming tour dates and his forthcoming solo album.

“You have to be true to yourself,” he said. “I refuse to be put into any category. I am inspired by everything. So, if I feel like I want to play some jazz music, I will play some jazz music. Who dig it, dig it.”

He added, “We come to free the people’s minds. Only way you can free your soul is to free your mind. My father said, ‘No chains on my feet, but I’m not free,’ and then he come to say, ‘Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.’ Anywhere the music calls us, we are going to be there to spread the message of love and unity.”

Summer 2023 marks the return of Stephen’s Babylon By Bus Summer Tour. Hand-picked support artistes, including Fortunate Youth, Skip Marley, Jesse Royal, Hirie, Arise Roots and Roots of Creation, will appear at various venues across the United States. The tour will begin in San Diego, CA in June and head to Colorado, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Chicago, Cape Cod, Brooklyn, NY and more, ending in Florida in August.