Future Gets Bob Marley Tattoo
American rapper Future has gotten a tattoo of the King of Reggae, Bob Marley on his right leg.
A clip that has been circulating on social media shows the Wait For U rapper on FaceTime while getting his new ink. It seems he’s a fan of historical greats, because Marley falls right above an older tattoo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Steve right here doing my tattoo…,” he explained to the person on the other end of the call.
He is later heard saying he will “put Take on there,” referring to late Migos rapper Takeoff, who was shot and killed on November 1, 2022.
Future has been to Jamaica on several occasions. He was the headliner on festival night two at Reggae Sumfest in 2014, before returning with his son Zahir in 2016 for some downtime. He also returned in 2020 to celebrate the birthday of his then-girlfriend, Lori Harvey.
It is no doubt that Bob Marley will forever be one of Jamaica’s most potent cultural icons. Dancehall artist Shenseea even sparked a debate back in December, by postulating that he is “bigger than Michael Jackson.”
There has also been an ongoing discussion about bestowing the honor of National Hero on the musical legend.
In February 2020, music industry veteran Tommy Cowan, who was once marketing manager for Marley, had argued that no other person, including the seven National Heroes, had the impact of the Exodussinger, but that there were people in Jamaica who cannot “get beyond the fact that they see this man with a spliff that he can’t be a National Hero.”
However, Professor of Culture, Gender, and Society at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Donna P. Hope, had told the Jamacia Gleaner in a August 2017 article that, for a small nation, Jamaica already had “way too many national heroes.”
“I think we really have to be very careful as to how we go about apportioning that notion of heroine or hero status to individuals,” Hope had said. The Professor, who is the publisher of several books on Jamaican music including Inna Di Dancehall and Reggae Stories, had also pointed out that some persons “want to incorrectly impose hero status on individuals based on achievements in their careers and the recognition they have gained internationally”.
In December 2021, Opposition Senator Floyd Morris served notice in the Upper House of the Jamaican Parliament that he would be moving a motion for Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Usain Bolt and Louise Bennett Coverly to be all made National Heroes, no later than Independence Day (August 6, 2022), however, this did not materialise.