SKIP MARLEY RELEASES ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF ‘HIGHER PLACE’ DEBUT EP
VIA TUFF GONG/ISLAND RECORDS OUT SEPTEMBER 10TH
INCLUDES GRAMMY©-NOMINATED #1 GLOBAL SMASH “SLOW DOWN” WITH H.E.R., AND “MAKE ME FEEL” FEATURING RICK ROSS & ARI LENNOX
“SLOW DOWN” WITH H.E.R. NOW CERTIFIED GOLD BY RIAA
EXPANDED EDITION BONUS TRACKS:
“SLOW DOWN” (AFROBEAT REMIX) FEATURING DAVIDO & OXLADE
“MAKE ME FEEL” (DUB MIX) FEATURING ARI LENNOX
PRE-ORDER HIGHER PLACE ANNIVERSARY EDITION VINYL HERE
PERFORMING AT AUSTIN CITY LIMITS
NEW MUSIC COMING FALL 2021
Chart-topping two-time Grammy©-nominated Skip Marley has ample reason to celebrate, as the young artist earned his first RIAA Gold certified single for the #1 global smash “Slow Down” with Grammy© Award-winning artist H.E.R.
The news of the Gold certification, which acknowledges sales and streaming equivalents of 500,000 units in the U.S., arrives as Tuff Gong/Island Records releases a special one-year anniversary expanded limited edition vinyl LP (Pre-Order Here) of HIGHER PLACE (out September 10th), his debut EP originally released August 28th, 2020. The limited edition vinyl comes in a special beige tone with the song lyrics printed on the inner sleeve.
Marley offered his thoughts on the achievement: “I’m thankful that the EP reached these levels over the past year. The vinyl record release is a collector’s item to show that gratitude to the DJs and fans who supported from the start. The one thing you can’t slow down is time, so it is important to acknowledge the milestones along the way.”
Skip Marley, H.E.R. – Slow Down Official Music Video
The moment was amplified with the additional welcomed news of Skip’s triumphant return to stage shows after a long hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic’s effects on the touring industry. Following an electric evening in Prospect Park last month, where he lit up the Brooklyn sky with a headlining performance at the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival, Skip has now announced a string of October tour dates that include two slots at Austin City Limits on the 1st and 8th, and another visit to Brooklyn on the 21st, where he’ll join H.E.R. onstage for the Lights On Festival (curated by H.E.R.) at the world famous Barclays Center.
Skip Marley – Make Me Feel ft. Rick Ross, Ari Lennox
Of his recent performance, he stated, “It was a pure joy to play music for the people again. Great vibes in Brooklyn, and we’re excited to see the fans at ACL in Austin.”
HIGHER PLACE contains wall-to-wall classics. There’s Skip’s history-making #1 global hit “Slow Down” with H.E.R.; “Make Me Feel” featuring fellow Miami hitmaker Rick Ross and Ari Lennox; and “No Love,“ which Skip worked on with soul icon Betty Wright (Skip’s legendary mentor and longtime family friend) to create a gritty reggae vibe that samples Wu-Tang Clan’s “Tearz,” a track from their seminal first LP, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).
The Marley family imprint is also on the record’s opening title track, “Higher Place,” a ‘virtual’ duet with the immortal King of Reggae, Bob Marley (1945-1981, Skip’s grandfather); and “That’s Not True,” a collabo featuring Damian‘Jr. Gong’ Marley (Skip’s uncle).
HIGHER PLACE is now expanded to album length with the addition of two bonus track remixes: “Slow Down” (Afrobeat Remix) featuring DaVido & Oxlade; and “Make Me Feel” (Dub Mix) featuring Ari Lennox. (Please see complete track listing below.)
In spring 2020, “Slow Down,” with over 70 million global streams, became the quickest and biggest-streaming song in Marley family history, and elevated Skip to over 200 million total global artist streams. It was the first time a Jamaican-born artist reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Adult R&B chart.
Skip Marley ‘Higher Place’ ft. Bob Marley
At the same time, Skip became the first Jamaican-born artist inside the Top 15 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart in nearly a decade and a half (since Sean Paul and Keyshia Cole in 2006 with “When You Gonna Give It Up to Me”).
Executive produced by Skip and Cedella Marley (Skip’s mom, and former member of the Grammy© Award-winning group, The Melody Makers) and C. Jermi Thomas (Island Records, A&R), HIGHER PLACE earned its title as a call-to-action to Skip‘s generation, fans, and listeners to inspire people to ascend to a higher place of love and level of consciousness. The project includes wisdom that has been passed down the Marley lineage, that Skip likes to call “Marley Mantras.”
Over the course of 2020, amazing chemistry radiated between Skip and two-time Grammy©-winner H.E.R. performing “Slow Down” live together. The song’s television debut on Fallon and show-stopping performance at the NAACP Image Awards (where he was nominated for “Outstanding New Artist”) both took place in February, followed in June by the ABC Good Morning America Summer Concert Series session.
At the same time, Skip won critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, Fader, Hypebeast, Vibe, Billboard, Complex, Essence, Teen Vogue, and others. During the lockdown, he performed for the launch of the Essence Music Monday series, Billboard Live, Global Citizen & World Health Organization, and Univision’s 17th Annual Premios Juventud Latin youth awards (sharing the stage for the opening performance with the Wailers, Cedella Marley, Pedró Capó, Rauw Alejandro, Camilo and Kany García).
Earlier this year, he was nominated for two Soul Train Music Awards and Best New Artist at the iHeart Music Awards.
Earlier this year, the 25-minute Skip Marley documentary film Let’s Take it Higher premiered at VIBE.com two days before the Grammy© Awards broadcast. The doc, whose production began on the fateful day of January 6, 2021, includes family movies from Skip‘s childhood, and candid interviews with his HIGHER PLACE collaborators H.E.R., Damian “Jr Gong” Marley, Rick Ross, and D. Smoke.
There are special appearances by Skip’s mother Cedella Marley, and by his aunt Marcia Griffiths – she toured the world with Bob Marley as a member of his backing trio the I Three with Skip’s grandmother, the legendary Rita Marley. The film. Let’s Take it Higher was produced by Boomshots, the official reggae and dancehall platform of Complex Media Networks; and by Rob Kenner, whose book The Marathon Don’t Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle was published the same day that Let’s Take it Higher premiered.
HIGHER PLACE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY VINYL track listing:
SIDE A
1. “Higher Place” featuring Bob Marley
3. “Make Me Feel” featuring Rick Ross & Ari Lennox
2. ‘Slow Down” with H.E.R.
4. “My World”
SIDE B
5. “Faith”
6. “No Love”
7. “That’s Not True” featuring Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley
Bonus tracks:
8. “Slow Down” (Afrobeat Remix) featuring DaVido & Oxlade
9. “Make Me Feel” (Dub Mix) featuring Ari Lennox
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