My heart skipped a bit when I received the confirmation text from Shasha Marley,
Ghanaian international Reggae superstar, that he would be visiting me at our residence in East Legon, Ghana. I instantly knew I had landed a scoop interview with the African music icon, revered in the Reggae world, having performed internationally for decades including in countries such as Libya, South Africa, Australia, United States and the Ivory Coast. I grew up listening to his music. It played in most of the local joints, public transport buses, radio and discotheques in Kenya.

While I had previously interviewed numerous other international acts in the course of my
radio career, including Grammy Award winning group and the ‘Royal family of Reggae music’,
Morgan Heritage, none of them had ever offered to come to my place. I had been introduced to the music maestro by my former Ghanaian roommate while living in the United States and we maintained contact through various social media platforms. I also constantly featured his music on my own platform, NNN Radio. As our friendship grew, I had never imagined that I would ever get to meet him face to face. As they say, the world works
in mysterious ways.

It’s one thing for a music superstar to come for an interview at the radio station or
workplace, but a completely different ballgame for them to offer to come to your house and hang out with you and your colleagues, do an interview and even buy you lunch. Speaks to the
Ghanaian down to earth spirit, and Shasha embodied it with perfection. After all the pleasantries, we sat down for an interview as I wanted to capture the
thoughts, life history and future music plans of the popular Reggae Icon, a humble spirit, a
legendary statesman of Reggae music, spiritual, top rated singing sensation and a superb melody writer whose distinctive vocals and songwriting skills separates him from the rest.

Here’s how it went:

Prince Nesta: It’s great to finally get to meet you Shasha. I know we’ve talked before, but we’ve
never met physically.

Shasha Marley: Thank you my brother! I’ve got to welcome you big time to Ghana. Ghana, you
know, is the gateway to Africa. So good to see you and your beautiful colleagues and you know, it is my honor to meet you.

Prince Nesta: I like the way you say Ghana is the Gateway to Africa. I’m from Kenya myself and
I won’t deny that. I won’t deny that at all.

Shasha Marley: (bursts out laughing)… Yeah. Listen, I’ve done extensive travels, you know, over
the years especially here in Africa, you know, and I find Ghana to be the most peaceful country on this continent. I mean no doubt this is the most beautiful place. I mean, people are nice, the food is good, you know, and everywhere you go, you know, we are hospitable to foreigners. So, I’m from Ghana, and this is my home. This is where I belong, you know? Yeah. So anywhere I go, I’ll be back home to Ghana.

Prince Nesta: Great! People always hear your name and think you are related to Bob Marley.
Where did you get your name from?

Shasha Marley: I got it when I was in high school, St Johns School in Sekondi, Ghana. I was
singing for my high school band. And that’s the time when Bob Marley became very famous in
Ghana, you know, the mid-seventies to late seventies. Bob Marley was everywhere. And we
used to do what we call pop chains, inter high school band competition. And my band was
always first. So, when my friend from Zimbabwe gave me the name of Shasha meaning the great one, the champion, because among all of my colleagues I was very little, you know, and I walked between tall guys and everybody would shout, that’s the great one, the little one is coming, you know. So, it became Shasha and the other guys added Marley to it because I was doing Bob Marley Music. And I became very famous among all the high schools in the Western and the central region of Ghana. so, when I got into professional music, I decided to put it into recording business, you know, because I realized that it’s a catchy name and its catching up. So, no blood connection with Bob Marley, but he was my mentor when I started singing in my high school band.

Prince Nesta: So, what sparked your interest in Music?

Shasha Marley: My father, when I was, little was playing the piano for the church and was also a director in the church choir, and my mother was singing for the woman’s ministry, you know? So, you could tell it was in my DNA though my parents didn’t take music so seriously, you know. They never thought that there’ll be a child who will pick up music. Cause basically I come from a family of lawyers. My real name was Julius Amua-Sekyi and here in Ghana they are known as a family of lawyers and educationists. My father was a director of education in the Western region. So, when I picked up music, you know, he kind of felt very disappointed cause you know, he thought I was going to be a lawyer as well. You know what I mean? So, the music is in my DNA. Along the way I realized that this is my mission.

Prince Nesta: Your music is quite spiritual?

Shasha Marley: Yeah. You see its because I was born into a Christian family. As I grew up my
parents put the kind of fear of God in me. My mother taught me how to pray, you know? And
she took me to church every morning, made sure that the Bible becomes my standard. You know what I mean? Yeah. So when I got into music, I felt so lonely because I didn’t have no help coming from anywhere, you know, no help from anywhere. So, I always remembered my mother showing me how to pray, go on my knees and pray and I found it was working for me. That’s how I came up with the song, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel of the gospel of Jah” and it became a massive hit all over the world.

Prince Nesta: I find your music entertaining, educative and informative at the same time, but has the commercialization of music affected your content in any way?

Shasha Marley: Well, you see, I’m not moved by the trend of the music out there. Cause what I’m doing is my passion. You know what I mean? And I’ve been very consistent, very, very
consistent with the kind of general music I play. This world is very huge. We live in a very huge world. I mean, I’ve crossed the Indian ocean. I can’t count the number of times I’ve crossed over the Atlantic. I’ve crossed the north Pacific, south Pacific and all that, you know, and, and if my music is not doing well in some area of the world then it is doing well in other areas of the world. For me, it’s not just the money, it’s the message and the impact. When I play a song and somebody from Hawaii hits me on Instagram and tells me, listen, I heard your music and I’ve been so touched by your music. I want to do a collaboration with you. I feel so great that my mission is accomplished. So, it’s not that huge money that I’m looking for. Something to just keep me going and to inspire people.

Prince Nesta: What next for you in terms of your music?

Shasha Marley: Next month in September, close to the end of the month. I’m looking forward to dropping a single, I’m not known to be singing in my local dialect. You know, but this time I’m dropping a single in my local dialect, which, which I know the topic is going to be very
controversial. I want everybody to be able to relate to the message of this music. You know what I’m saying? That’s why I have to sing in the local dialect for everybody to understand what I’m trying to say. It’s going to be a hit. I know because I’m a hit maker. And when I, when I hear a hit, I can tell this is a hit.

Prince Nesta: What’s your tribe?
Shasha Marley: I’m a Fante and I come from the Akan group.
Yeah, I come from around the Cape Coast area of Ghana.

Prince Nesta: I was there recently, and I visited the slave trade dungeons of Elmina and Cape
Coast… When you look at the slavery castles around the area, what do they represent?

Shasha Marley: Looking at the history. It’s so sad to hear what our ancestors went through
across the Atlantic, to the Americas, you know, but at the same time, let me tell you this. I mean, when you look at the effects of the slave trade, it had a lot of impact on Africa, you know, because the, the firm ones were taken away from Africa and they left behind the unfirm ones. That’s why it took so much time for Africa to develop, you know what I’m saying? At the same time, through the slavery, we had Michael Jackson in America, we had a Mike Tyson , Jordan and all those great black guys, you know, would have still been here if there was no slave trade. At the same time that’s how Reggae music was transported to
the Caribbean, because Reggae music has its roots in the African slave trade to Jamaica….. It was started by the slaves in the plantations in Jamaica. And I mean, these were guys who forged a culture, you know, out of the music and songs and chants of Africa. and this culture was, this culture was born out of the, poverty, suffering and misery. That is why we can
easily relate to Reggae. You know, I’m from Cape Coast and most of these slaves went through
Cape coast. Elmina, to the slave Dungeons across Atlantic. so, it’s no wonder I’m doing Reggae
because music even coming out of Jamaica these days is not Reggae, it’s Dancehall. So, I can tell that Reggae is finding its way back to Africa

Prince Nesta: What do you make at the year of return celebrations and Africans and African
Americans’ reconnection?

Shasha Marley: It’s good to return. Like Marcus Garvey was preaching about the repatriation of the Blacks in the diaspora, to return back home, you know. This is a beautiful land. is good for you to return. I mean, coming to establish here, let’s help our continent to, to develop, you know, we’ve got sunshine 365 days a year, you know. But sometime, listen, I’ve met many people across the world, Black people. One time I met with, uh, you know, the former WBC champion, Mike Tyson in LA. And I was telling him I’m from Africa, I’m an African. He said, no, I’m an American. So, it tells you that not every African American sees himself as an African, you know what I mean? So, it is some people who have the mentality of returning home. Some are comfortable where they are, you know, you know, so its not everybody who sees himself as an African. There’s a song by the late Peter Tosh that says, (starts singing) “It doesn’t matter where you come from as long as you are a Black man, you’re an African…”. So yeah, why not? I mean, those who want to come back home they are welcome. This is a very peaceful land. You know, we don’t discriminate regardless of your race, culture, creed, regardless of your color, this home, Africa and Ghana welcomes all and sundry. It is good regardless of color, race, creed for people to live together, to make this world a better place for us and for our children’s children to live.

Prince Nesta: You’ve lived in the United States, how was your time there and what were you
doing?

Shasha Marley: I spent so much time in America, you know, but it got to a point in time, you
miss your roots. You know, I got sick and tired of the winter weather. Home is where the heart
is, and this is where my heart is. You know what I mean? Yeah. It is good to cross the oceans
and the sea, to see the other parts of the world but home is where the heart is. This is, this is where I belong.

Prince Nesta: You’ve also done collaborations with the ‘King of Soul?’

Shasha Marley: Yeah, In the year, 2000, 15 top Ghanaian musicians came together, and I led a
collaboration and a fight against HIV Aids in Africa. And this was sponsored by John Hopkins
University in New York, you know, and it became a huge hit here in Ghana, big hit. ‘Stop Aids,
Love Life.’ That was the title of the song. And, uh, in 2004, the then King of Soul, multi-Grammy award winner, Isaac Hayes was in Ghana. He actually decided to make his home here in Ghana, you know, and he was inducted as kin for development in the town after Accra called Adan, which every year he had a program where he brought, uh, medical students. So, he heard the music, and he was like, look, I’m going to do a collaboration with you on a song called ‘Save a Million Lives.’ So, I was in LA with him, you know, back and forth, back and forth, back and we did so much together and unfortunately, he
passed away and uh, we couldn’t release the song. It was going to be released by Atlantic
Records. And, uh, you know, he passed on, so we had to put a hold on it. But I got it with me
every day, hopefully we’ll see how we go about it.

Prince Nesta: Nice! People want to know you Shasha… Your family and personal life?

Shasha Marley: You see prior to 2011. I was very busy all of the place, coz I had released an
album lost and found in 2007 which had a massive hit. I had ‘I’m not ashamed of the Gospel of
Jah on it.’ And it was a big hit all over. So that got me so busy, you know, very busy. I’m the
only boy for my mother. My mother would call me and tell me…. “settle down, settle down, be responsible,
you know? Be a parent, be a parent.” So, 2011, I became a parent for the first time in my life.
So that new life that I found actually took my attention from my musical career about 70%. Coz I had to stay home now, you know, and see my baby for the first time. His
forehead, lips, looked like me. So, I started changing diapers from that time, you know. For so
long, close to a decade, I, wasn’t doing very busy music. And, uh, two years
ago I said to myself, you know what, I got to get back full time. So, the first single I brought was an album of 11 musicians from 11 different countries, which we did to raise funds to support the frontline workers in Hawaii. Yeah! It was an album called the ‘Front-line Workers Appreciation’ and my song on the album is called ‘Dawn.’ And February this year I released ‘Enemies are not Jah’ and next month I’m dropping another single.

Prince Nesta: I arrived here in Ghana, and less than 24 hours after I arrived there were protests… What do you make of the protests?

Shasha Marley: No. Listen, I mean, there was so much noise about this ‘fix the country’ stuff. But looking at things in both ways, we first need to fix our attitude. You know, the people need to fix their attitude. I’m not speaking for the politician. I don’t speak for the politician, you know, but when we fix our attitude fist, the country will be fixed, you know what I mean? Listen, I mean, people in public transport, they can eat and throw the cover of the food out. In the streets of New York, I buy a toffee and I can’t even drop the cover on the floor. I’d be holding it till I find the next dustbin and I drop it in, you know, but the same person comes to Ghana and liters the street, you know what I mean? So, we need to fix the attitude fast. But with the politicians, I’m not speaking for them better, but I think over the years, since 1981 to now we’ve had a very smooth governance though. There’s been change of government, but Democracy is number one here in Ghana.

Prince Nesta: There’s a musician listening to you right now. What would you like to tell them?

Shasha Marley: My message for upcoming musicians. I mean, you watch TV these days
everybody wants to be a musician. And I say to myself, why do you want to be musicians? You
know, music is a calling, you need to have that call on you as a musician, you don’t do music
because Shasha Marley is doing it. You know? So, though we have great musicians. No doubt,
they are doing extremely great, but a lot of them to need to go back to school. You know, I say to myself, you know what, go to school, acquire knowledge first because talking of showbiz, there’s the business aspect of it. And there’s a show aspect of it, you know. You need to go to school, acquire knowledge and know your mathematics. And then if you are called to be a musician, you can be a musician. You know what I’m saying? You can’t just walk to me and say, Shasha Marley help me I want to be a musician, I can’t help you because, do you have that calling? You know, if you just become a musician, you know, along the way, you derail. But if you have that calling you derail; you get back on track. You know what I’m saying? So,  I
want to see them back to classroom.

Prince Nesta: What’s your last message to the African continent?
Shasha Marley: Talking about Africa. This Is a very beautiful continent. The world knows that
Africa is the most beautiful continent. And you know, politicians, have to make this continent a better place, a better place for generations yet unborn to live.

Interview and Story by Prince Nesta, recorded on August 25, 2021