| Born : 2/26/1976
Country :Jamaica
Best known for/as:
Biography: The only child of Jamaican table tennis
champion Anita Belnavis and Reggae Icon legend Bob
Marley , Kymani was born in Jamaica. He
spent many summers with his father and his wife Rita as a
child.
Kymani moved to the U.S. at the age of 9 settling in Miami.
He inherited a love of sports from his mother and father and
never intended to play music, until his mother encouraged
him to take piano and guitar lessons. Eventually he ended
up as the trumpet player in his high school band.
Also based in Miami producer/manager Clifton "Specialist"
Dillon who had mega-success in the early 90's with Shabba
Ranks, Patra and Mad Cobra saw the potentail in Ky-mani's
hybrid of reggae/dancehall with the American music forms he
grew up listening such as hip-hop and R&B. Kymani signed
to Specialist's label Shang Records and recorded several singles
including, "Judge Not" with label-mate Patra and
the Sly Dunbar produced "Dear Dad" in which he put
to music a letter that he had written to his dad who passed
away when Kymani was only 5.
Lyrics: "Dear Dad – I really didn’t
get to know you / And sometimes I sit and wonder and it
makes me blue / But there is one memory that stays on the
back of my mind / And this memory got me thinking ‘bout
you all the time / Wow! I swear we miss you so / and I wish
that you were here to see your boys grow / In case you’re
wondering, mommy she’s doing fine / And she tells
me stories ‘bout you Papa all the time …"
His collaboration with Pras from the Fugee's on the cover
of Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" brought him to
the national spotlight. The buzz was out that this was a Marley
marching to the beat of a different drum. The labels came
bidding, and under the guidance of Specialist and Shang he
eventually signed an album deal with a New York based independent
label called Gee Street/V2. His debut album "The
Journey" hit the streets in 1999 to much critical
acclaim and anticipation. In addtion to "Dear Dad"
it also featured "Country Journey" recorded with
Morgan Heritage at their studios in New York.
After
touring the World in support of "The
Journey" and often joining his brothers Damian, Stephen
and Ziggy on stage he released his sophmore CD, "Many
Roads." Not only has Kymani made a name for himself in music,
he starred with dancehall deejay Spragga
Benz, and Jamaican actor Paul Campbell in the movie "Shottas"
directed by Cess Silvera that told the story of two young
gangsters hustling and running drugs in both Kingston and
Miami. He is also slated to appear in another movie called
"One Love" as the lead character 'Kassa.' He is
the father of 3 children and an avid sports fan.
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