Ziggy Marley doesn’t do optimism. At least, not by his definition. “I don’t like that term,” he told me flatly. “Optimism is when you’re talking about something that might happen. I’m talking about what is happening.” And with his album Rebellion Rises, Ziggy wasn’t predicting peace—he was demanding it.
The record came out swinging, both politically and spiritually. From the opener “Fake Leaders” to the title track’s global rally cry, Ziggy channels frustration into rhythm the way his father once did with Exodus. But he’s careful to draw a distinction between the two words that have followed his family for generations: revolution and rebellion. “A revolution can be personal,” he said. “A rebellion is all of us. We’re not rebelling against anything—we’re rebelling for something. For humanity, for love.”
That nuance—both hopeful and hard-edged—runs through the album. He’s not ignoring the chaos; he’s rejecting despair as an option. “The system wants us to lose hope,” he said. “Look at what they show us every day: war, violence, division. That’s what sells. But if people who love each other ever get the same chance to be amplified, love will win. I’m positive of that.”
He means it, too. You can hear it in his phrasing, that calm but unshakable certainty, the same cadence that once turned Bob Marley’s prophecies into pop hooks. Ziggy’s own rebellion, though, is quieter—less street protest, more internal uprising. “Love is the most powerful thing on the planet,” he said. “We just have to use it.”
When I asked how touring his father’s Exodus album influenced Rebellion Rises, Ziggy smiled. “It’s time,” he said. “I felt a responsibility, yes, but it was a great mission. I didn’t want to compete with the original record. I just wanted to explore it from a new perspective.” That perspective became Exodus: The Movement Continues, a “restatement” version using alternate takes, forgotten instrumentations, and subtle production tweaks that reveal the genius in the margins. “You hear him laugh in the first track,” Ziggy said. “I turned it up. That laugh—it’s defiant, maniacal, triumphant. It says, ‘I’m still standing.’”
That energy fed directly into Rebellion Rises. The lessons he learned from deconstructing Exodus—space, simplicity, spirit—shaped how he approached his own songs. “I simplified the music,” he said. “Because that’s where the spirit lives.”
Still, his frustration with modern leadership seeps through. “After all these years, our so-called leaders still can’t find a way to make things better?” he asked. “Then what’s your job? If you’re not bringing people together in love and harmony, you’re not leading—you’re misleading.”
But even that fire is wrapped in faith. Ziggy’s rebellion isn’t against—it’s for. For peace. For balance. For the simple things, as he put it: “Shelter, food, family, growing with your children.” The message hasn’t changed much since Exodus, but the world around it has. Which is exactly why he keeps singing.
And he’s not slowing down. Between dropping new singles, revisiting his father’s legacy, and teasing “something cooking” for next year, Ziggy Marley seems more energized than ever. “I’m a cheerleader,” he said, grinning. “I’m saying, come on—this can be done. It’s real. It’s not optimism. It’s reality.”
Listen to the interview above and then check out "Rebellion Rises" below!
