hiphoplives

Today is a special Sunday Meditation. For the first Sunday, I can actually play the day’s music, rather than having you find it for yourself, or wait for the email. (By the way, you can still sign up to the email list to receive free mixtapes  through email, just send a message to hiphoplivesmixtapes@gmail.com) So to mark this historical event, I decided I would use my powers to give the people something that is kinda hard to find.

The legend Bob Marley gave us many inspirational hymns to meditate to. His albums are like lost temples of classics. So many people are familiar with the stuff off Legend, but every single album he released (Over 16 official full length studio albums, and tons of indie and other material) has at least one or two songs that would have made another artist’s entire career.

These two, are songs just like that.

The first one is “IronLionZion”, but it is a version that was unreleased until 06 when the multi-disc set Songs of Freedom was released.

The second is “Smile Jamaica”, a song that is very special. It is a song that Bob performed live on occasion, and it was famously performed at the 1st Smile Jamaica Concert on Dec 5th, 1976. The concert was famous because it was held in Jamaica’s National Hero’s Park in Kingston in front of more than 80,000 people. Political violence was running rampant, and Marley himself had been shot in his home a mere two days before the event. He performed, in spite of his injuries, a rousing 90 minute set that included this hopeful classic. He knowingly risked his life to bring people joy. He brought pure joy to a suffering, poor, overworked, stressed people, at a time when it seemed nothing could. And due to the wonders of technology, though the legend has passed in the physical sense, his music can still bring joy to you on this fine day. So enjoy, and meditate.