Today, August 17, Marcus Garvey, the first leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was born in 1887 in St. Ann Jamaica. The son of a stonemason founded the UNIA in 1914 and his teachings continue to have a mark on young people and popular music cultures all over the world.
Garvey’s advocacy for black pride, black liberation, self-respect and self determination inspired the Nation of Islam, The Black Power Movement and Rastafarian movement. Reggae’s popularity grew because or Bob Marley, a Rastafarian from Trench Town Jamaica and the genre was the tenth most listened to genre around the world according to IFPI’s Engaging With Music Report 2022.
The music report from the globally respected music measurement organization is based on a survey of more than 33 thousand respondents from several countries. Even young dancehall deejays like Popcaan whose “Great Is He” album cover is a cosplay image of Garvey.
Garvey’s vision of a united Africa and in the diaspora influenced many early African musicians like Fela Kute who incorporated African rhythms, themes, and instrumentation into his music.
African music, driven by superstars like Burna Boy, Wizkid and Tems have found a hybrid of Afro-fusion music that often has messages of black beauty, black liberation, independence and black power.
Burna Boy’s 2022 album Love, Damini debuted at No. 2 on the U.K. Charts and debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 chart after selling 25,000 units in the United States in its first week. He has the distinction of having the highest charting album of all time by a Nigerian.
Last Last from the album also made the Billboard Hot 100, a first for the artist as a solo or lead. The song entered at No. 86 and climbed 14 spots to No. 72. Burna’s politically conscious lyrics on “Dangote,” is a direct reflection of Garvey’s teachings.
Garvey encouraged black entrepreneurship
“Serial entrepreneur, we on our own
Stop sittin’ around waitin’ for folks to throw you a bone
If you can’t buy the building, at least stock the shelf (word)
Then keep on stacking ’til you stocking for yourself, uh
See everything you place after black
Is too small a term to completely describe the act
Black nation, Black builder, Black entrepreneur
You in the presence of Black excellence and I’m on the board, Lord”Jay -Z
Garvey encouraged black entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency, which is the inspiring foundation that caused many musicians to start their own record labels, studios, and other businesses. Jay-Z like Garvey, speaks of the disenfranchised society afforded to him at birth and made a conscious decision to come up out of the slums and make it as a “Business man.” Black entrepreneurship throughout the U.S. and most of the world is seen as black redemption. Jay-Z has built a billion dollar empire through Roc Nation where he signed two of the biggest artists of this generation, Kanye West and Rihanna, who have also become billionaires.
The RIAA certified Platinum album “4:44” (2017) is a dedication to black entrepreneurs,“ Y’all out here still takin’ advances/Me and my niggas takin’ real chances,” Jay says on the “The Story of O.J.”
With a net worth surpassing 2 billion dollars, Jay-Z again professes Garvey philosophies on “Legacy”; “We gonna start a society within society/That’s major/Just like the Negro Leagues…Generational wealth that’s the key.” On the single “Family Feud,” he said “What’s better than one billionaire? Two. ’Specially if they’re from the same hue as you.”
On Mr. Carter he flows in tribute to Garvey, “Jay Z Now my name’s being mentioned with the martyrs The Biggies and the Pacs and the Marleys and the Marcuses Garvey, got me a molotov-cocktail flow Even if you box well, can’t stop the blows.”
Garvey’s Impact On Black Beauty
Many black artists who have become the standard of beauty in pop culture like Beyonce and Rihana wouldn’t have been seen as such due to racism against black people at the turn of the 20th century when Marcus Garvey was alive.
However, the Jamaican National Hero dedicated his life to advocating for racial pride and the idea that black is beautiful. Garvey said, “reject images and ideas that portrayed the African race negatively,” “honour people of African descent who contributed positively to their history,” “teach children of African descent to love their physical features.”
Both Beyonce and Rihanna profit heavily from the black beauty industry which is closely linked to the music industry. They are not alone, as a Mckinsey report showed that In 2021, even with the lack of equity in the industry, black people spent $6.6 billion on ‘beauty’ which is 11.1 percent of the total U.S. beauty market.
Garvey preached black beauty and encouraged musicians to celebrate the beauty of blackness in their music and performances.
Rihanna, 35, is the youngest self-made billionaire in America- and from the Caribbean with a staggering net worth of USD 1.7 billion, up from 1.4 billion in 2021 according to the Forbes list. Rihanna became America’s Richest Self-Made Woman in 2022 as the co-owner of Fenty Beauty and holds a 30% stake in her other brand, Savage x Fenty lingerie.
