[Western Music Commentary x Peace Studies No.043] Master Blaster (Jammin') - Drums and Prayers Dedicated to Bob Marley by Stevie Wonder
🎸 Song Introduction
Title: Master Blaster (Jammin')
Artist: Stevie Wonder
Issued in: September 1980 (Single)
Album: Hotter Than July (Released September 29, 1980)
Chart: #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 / #1 for 7 consecutive weeks on the R&B Singles chart
Lyrics & Music: Stevie Wonder
Starting today, I will be presenting a four-part series on Stevie Wonder.
Why start today (May 11th)? Because today is the anniversary of the death of reggae legend Bob Marley. On May 11, 1981, he passed away at the young age of 36.
Today's theme song, "Master Blaster (Jammin')," is an anthem Stevie Wonder dedicated to Bob Marley. It was released in September 1980, just seven months before Marley passed away.
Using this song as a starting point, I will trace the scope of Stevie Wonder's pursuit of peace over the next four installments.
1. Background: A friendship that began between two blind musicians in 1980
Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley first met on October 4, 1975. The location was the National Stadium in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica. It was a charity concert for the "Jamaican Institute for the Blind." Stevie, who had been blind since shortly after birth, flew all the way to Kingston for a fund to support the visually impaired. Among the performers was Bob Marley & The Wailers, who were already making a name for themselves as Jamaica's leading artists.
The two hit it off deeply. They were close in age (Stevie born in 1950, Marley in 1945), and both believed in changing society through the power of music. One was at the forefront of American R&B/funk, singing about Black liberation; the other was the central figure of Jamaican reggae, singing about Rastafari and anti-colonialism. It was the moment two poles of the African diaspora met.
In June 1979, they met again at a dinner for the Black Music Association held in Philadelphia. Stevie, who was in the audience, was invited to join the encore of Marley's stage. The two sang "Get Up, Stand Up," one of Marley's signature songs and a call to the oppressed. The sight of the two blind men with their arms around each other on stage singing "stand up" was burned into the memories of everyone present.
It is said that the two were planning a "dream concert." Marley would perform his entire 1979 album "Survival," and Stevie would perform his entire album from the same year, "Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants." It would have been a dream collaboration between two major artists singing about African liberation. However, that dream never came to fruition. On May 11, 1981, Marley passed away from skin cancer (acral lentiginous melanoma).
April 1980 - Marley at the Zimbabwe Independence Ceremony
The direct trigger for the production of Master Blaster was an "event" that occurred on April 18, 1980.
On that day, a new nation was born in southern Africa: the Independence of the Republic of Zimbabwe. It was a day of liberation after 90 years of British colonial rule (Southern Rhodesia) and 15 years of bloody war (the Rhodesian Bush War) fought for independence.
For that independence ceremony, Bob Marley & The Wailers traveled at their own expense to stand on the stage at Rufaro Stadium in Harare (then Salisbury), the capital of Zimbabwe. There were 35,000 spectators. The area outside was overflowing with people who couldn't fit into the venue, leading to the use of tear gas. The song Marley performed that day was "Zimbabwe," which he had included on his 1979 album "Survival"—a song said to have been sung by Black liberation fighters on the eve of battle during the Rhodesian Bush War, effectively serving as a "national anthem of struggle."
Marley singing his former protest song as a celebration of independence in front of Robert Mugabe, who would become Zimbabwe's first prime minister (though he later became a dictator, he was a hero of liberation at the time)—at this moment, reggae had undoubtedly become the soundtrack for the global liberation movement.
Stevie Wonder heard the news. And as the lead single for his new album "Hotter Than July," which he was in the middle of recording, he wrote a song paying tribute to Marley with a reggae rhythm. That was "Master Blaster (Jammin')," released five months later in September 1980.
2. Lyrics: A voice celebrating that "peace has come to Zimbabwe"
The core of the lyrics is simple. "Peace has come to Zimbabwe" and "Third World's right on the one." Everything is condensed into these two phrases.
The title "Jammin'" is an homage to the signature song "Jamming," which Bob Marley included on his 1977 album "Exodus." By borrowing "Jamming," which Marley himself described as music in praise of God, Stevie is declaring, "Brother, I will carry on your music."
Repeated over and over in the song are the phrases "Marley's hot on the box" and "Joined as children in Jah". "Jah" is the name for God in the Rastafari movement. It is a symbol of African liberation, linked to Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. I believe it is significant that Stevie (an American musician who is not a Rastafarian) intentionally included this word in the lyrics.
"Jah" is the God of the African Diaspora. It is the God to whom the descendants of those forcibly taken to the Americas and enslaved sing when they call Africa the "lost promised land." Stevie acknowledged that he himself is a member of that diaspora and paid tribute to Marley's spirituality as a "brother."
And the call in the chorus, "Master Blaster, jammin'", is both a praise to God (Jah) and a tribute to everyone on earth who keeps playing music—the "Master Blasters" (those who play the most powerful sound). A celebration where people and God become one through the rhythm of the drums. That is the core of this song.
3. Music: Where Reggae and Funk Melt Together
Stevie Wonder is a giant of R&B and funk. The albums he released one after another in the 1970s—"Talking Book" (1972), "Innervisions" (1973), and "Songs in the Key of Life" (1976)—are etched in history as the pinnacle of Black American music.
It was in 1980 that he fully immersed himself in reggae rhythms for the first time with this song. Known for his mastery of the synthesizer and clavinet, he adopted the reggae-specific "skank beat" (a technique of playing short chords on the off-beats of the second and fourth counts), while the bass bounces deeply and the horn section cuts through like the Jamaican sun.
However, it is not pure reggae. Stevie Wonder's signature funky horn arrangements (a technique where the horn section plays short riffs) and his own vocal melisma (ornamental melodic movements) are unmistakably the language of Motown/funk. It is a song that transplanted the Jamaican heartbeat into the body of Black American music.
It is not just a case of "Black American music paying tribute to Jamaican reggae." By musically "mixing the blood of two musics", Stevie is responding to the history where the music of the African diaspora developed separately in America and the Caribbean, asserting that "we come from the same root."
It was also a commercial success, reaching number one on the R&B charts for seven consecutive weeks and number five on the pop charts. For Stevie Wonder, it was also the song that marked his full comeback after a period of slight commercial decline in the late 1970s.
4. Lessons: Three Things This Song Teaches Us
Lesson 1: The Celebration of Negative Peace - "Peace has come to Zimbabwe"
Johan Galtung, the founder of peace studies, classified peace into "negative peace" and "positive peace." Negative peace is the absence of direct violence (war, armed conflict). It is the most basic form of peace that comes to mind for many people when they hear the word "peace."
The independence of Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980, was truly a moment of achieving negative peace. It was the day the war, which had claimed tens of thousands of lives during the 15-year Rhodesian Bush War, officially ended. Stevie's phrase "Peace has come to Zimbabwe" is a celebration of the literal end of the war.
What is important here is that the achievement of negative peace never comes "naturally". Zimbabwe's independence was won after years of liberation struggle. As shown by the fact that Bob Marley's "Zimbabwe" (1979) continued to be sung as a battle hymn for the liberation forces, music was also a part of the struggle.
When Stevie celebrates "Peace has come to Zimbabwe," I believe it is not a detached sentiment of "I'm glad the war is over," but a declaration of solidarity that resonates the victory of those who fought throughout the world through the power of music.
Lesson 2: The Omen of Positive Peace - "Third World's right on the one"
Another key phrase, "Third World's right on the one", can be translated as "The Third World has finally come to the front." "On the one" is a funk music term referring to the "strong beat on the first count." It is the same "one" that James Brown meant when he said, "Give the drummer some" (or "Hit it on the one"). In other words, it is a message that "the Third World has finally come to the forefront of music and the main melody of history."
This is a realm beyond negative peace, that is, a discussion of positive peace. Positive peace is a state where there is not only no war, but also where structural violence (the way society is structured to harm people) is resolved, and everyone can live with dignity.
In 1980, the countries then called the "Third World" (many former colonies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia) were suffering from structural violence such as economic dependence, debt crises, and military dictatorships even after independence. Stevie sang that with Zimbabwe's independence, "now is the time for the Third World to become the main melody of the world." This is a dream that has not been fully realized even after more than 40 years.
In my (Rikiya Adachi's) own peace studies theory, which develops Galtung's theory, I define positive peace as "actively creating good." This passage by Stevie is truly a moment where he created a "force in the direction of good" as music. It is not about whether it is realized, but the will itself to move in that direction that is the core of positive peace.
Lesson 3: The Practice of Positive Peace through the 'Reconnection of the Diaspora' via Music
Another significance of this song in peace studies lies in the fact that it reconnected the two African diasporas of America and Jamaica through music.
The descendants of people forcibly separated into North America and the Caribbean by the slave trade developed distinct musical traditions. In America, it went Blues -> Jazz -> R&B -> Funk -> Hip-hop. In Jamaica, it went Mento -> Ska -> Rocksteady -> Reggae. These are similar yet distinct musical forms.
Stevie Wonder declared with this song that 'both are musics that originally grew from the same root.' Building on the experience of singing 'Get Up, Stand Up' together in Philadelphia just before, his friendship with Marley, and the independence of Zimbabwe—Stevie proved through the music itself that 'Marley's music is the brother of my music.'
Transcending division and rediscovering connection. I believe this is a core practice of positive peace. To borrow Galtung's words, this is the simultaneous realization of 'Reconciliation' and 'Recreation.' Stevie created a new musical brotherhood for the future while looking directly at the historical divisions of the past. I believe that is the deepest achievement of Master Blaster.
And seven months after this declaration of 'brotherhood,' Marley departed. Stevie's song, as a result, became a final musical letter to Marley while he was still alive. It is said that the last words Marley left for his son Ziggy were, 'On your way up, take me up. On your way down, don't let me down..' Stevie continued to take Marley up on that path with his music.
5. In sum: Beating the drums on May 11th
Today is May 11, 2026. It is the 45th anniversary of Bob Marley's passing.
On May 11, 1981, Marley passed away at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami. The skin cancer had metastasized to his brain and lungs. Ten days later, on May 21, his state funeral was held in his hometown of Nine Mile, Jamaica, and it is said that a red Gibson Les Paul, a Bible (opened to Psalm 23), and a cannabis stalk placed by his wife Rita were placed in his coffin.
The musical anthem gifted to him in the final year of his life was this 'Master Blaster (Jammin').' A song in which Stevie calls him 'brother,' celebrates Zimbabwe's independence together, and declares that they are one as children of Jah.
Peace is not just the absence of war. Sharing joy, beating drums together, and honoring each other's music—that, too, is a form of positive peace that peace studies values.
If you have time today, please listen to this song once at a high volume. The bass that shakes the speakers, the bouncing reggae guitar, and Stevie's celebratory vocals. They should connect the sky of Zimbabwe in 1980, Marley's final year, and now in 2026 with the rhythm of the drums.
Next time (5/13), we will cover 'Higher Ground,' a song Stevie wrote when he returned from the brink of death. It is the story of that accident in 1973 and the 'higher ground' he found from there.
* Regarding the concept of 'negative peace/positive peace,' please also refer to No.015'Sweet Sweet Smile' (Carpenters)
Regarding the themes of "solidarity as positive peace" and "music that transcends division," please also see No.018"A Dios le pido" (Juanes), No.020"That's the Way of the World" (Earth, Wind & Fire).
📌 About this series [Western Music Commentary x Peace Studies]—if you are new here, please see this article.