Cedella Marley Still Believes in the ‘Reggae Girlz’: ‘I Wanted the Music to Reflect the Journey of These Women’
Categoria: Musica
The Grammy-winning daughter of Bob Marley talks Red Bull Studio's new Jamaican women’s soccer team documentary and accompanying soundtrack.
Por Billboard | 26/10/2026
“If it’s Reggae Girlz and it’s football, then it’s Cedella!” the three-time Grammy-winning reggae singer and eldest biological child of Bob and Rita Marley tells Billboard. Related Ziggy Marley Is Looking on the ‘Brightside’ for His First Proper Solo Album in Eight Years: ‘I Listen to This Album As If I Didn’t Make It’ Caribbean Up-And-Comer Umpa Is on a Mission to Bring Saint Lucia’s Dennery Segment to the World: ‘We Need to Become the Face of Our Sound’ How ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ Brought the 1976 Smile Jamaica Concert and ‘Exodus’ Recording Sessions to the Big Screen Next week (Oct. 27), Reggae Girlz , a new documentary following the journey of Jamaica’s Women’s National Football Team to the world stage, will be available to stream on major platforms, two months after its exclusive release on independent streaming platform Jolt. Executive produced by Marley and helmed by two-time Oscar-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton, the film is set against the backdrop of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a time when Marley (alongside her parents’ foundation) stepped in to assist the team as they struggled with limited resources. The Jamaican women’s team is the first Caribbean team (of any gender to qualify for two consecutive World Cups (2019 and 2023), and Marley served as their global ambassador from 2014 to 2024. Marley joined the project as executive producer a little over three years ago, with her major roles consisting of facilitating select interviews with players and handling clearances for her self-curated soundtrack. Featuring nine previously released tracks from various members of the Marley clan (Bob, Damian, Stephen, Bam, Skip and King Cruff all make appearances), and one track from Jamaican soccer star and singer Tiffany Cameron, the compilation is now available exclusively on limited edition vinyl via Tuff Gong Collective, with 100% of net proceeds going to the Reggae Girlz Foundation fund. “I tried to keep the documentary more positive than negative; the end goal is for everyone watching to learn something about Jamaica, football, the Federation and the struggle,” Marley says. “I didn’t want it to just be, ‘The Federation is bad’ because all federations have their problems, and we’re not immune to it. It wasn’t a big deal for me to say, ‘Let’s not go too heavy on the Federation; let’s think about how we can bring about change inside of the Federation.’ They’re there to watch themselves and see how they’ve acted and reacted to the girls. Little girls coming up now will see that [the women before them] paid a price to make a way for the next generation.” The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has been at the center of several controversies surrounding the women’s team in recent years. In 2019, the team, led by star player Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, threatened to boycott qualification matches for the Tokyo Olympics unless an “embarrassing” pay dispute ended, with them receiving