Stephen Robert Nesta Marley, (born April 20, 1972 in Wilmington, Delaware; raised primarily in Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae artist and a son of Bob Marley and reggae singer Rita Marley. Stephen is a five-time Grammy award winner as artist, producer and recording engineer. As child and teenager, he was a member of Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers. His debut album Mind Control was released 20 March 2007.
Both Ed Rush and Optical are the co-heads of a drum and bass record label called Virus Recordings, based in London, UK. Both have earned acclaim separately, with Optical engineering tracks on Goldie and Grooverider's albums and releasing some excellent solo tunes on the likes of Prototype, 31, and Metro. Ed Rush also has countless releases, notably on No U-Turn, where he and Nico first emphasized the dark era of drum and bass with the masterpiece album Torque, and Metalheadz, where he produced such classics as "The Raven" and "Locust".
Groundation is a Fusion-Reggae band based in Sonoma County, California. It was established in 1998 by Harrison Stafford, Ryan Newman and Marcus Urani upon their meeting at the Jazz program at Sonoma State University. Groundation's music incorporates the lyrical struggle of Roots Reggae, the progressive musicianship of Funk/Jazz fusion, and other-worldly transcendental Dub. The 9-piece band creates an altogether new Reggae sound, featuring swirling horns, stout poly-rhythmics, and soulful harmony vocals.