Marley, son of the famous Reggae music legend, Bob Marley, is promoting the launch of The House of Marley range of eco-friendly headphones in South Africa this week. The headphones are named after Bob Marley popular songs, including Redemption Song, Stir It Up and Exodus.
According to Rohan, launching the product in South Africa came after years of requests from people in Africa – especially South Africa. The headphones have previously been launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas January this year.
The headphones which are made from recycled and “sustainable” materials, with red, yellow and green colours associated with the Bob Marley reggae brand reportedly have a unique sound, a good bass with some more conspicuously Rasta-themed.
Speaking on the newly introduced product, Rohan said House of Marley audio products were developed based on three principles – eco-friendliness, superior quality and being cause-minded. He said the Marley family are committed not only to preserving the future through sustainability and the use of organic products and materials, but they also believe that brands need to take responsibility for the impact that their products have on the environment.
Part of the profits made from the sales in the country will be donated through his family’s charity, 1love.org, to South Africa’s Faces of Hope Foundation and the building of a fully equipped music room for the Eqinisweni Secondary School in Ivory Park.
Marley was thrilled with the interest and dedication shown towards music by the students even though they did not have the necessary equipment to help them.
“It was amazing for me to see the kids using old instruments to play with and didn’t allow that to be a stumbling block – you already have great singers and musicians here,” Rohan said.
“House of Marley is here to contribute in the education and promotion of music within schools because it forms an integral part in the development and expansion of the mind.”
“We want to build a nice acoustic venue for them where they can be able to practice music with state of the art equipment.”
“I am not here to change anything but my role is to enhance and develop the skills because you have an amazing foundation already.”
Rohan who also runs Marley Coffee, which sells ”sustainably grown and ethically farmed” coffee, said, “It’s not about the launch and the eco-friendly headphones and all that but it’s all about what you can do with the power that you have. It’s about giving back and also realising the duty that one was put on this earth to do and it’s also about sharing.”
‘It’s all about finding like-minded people who share the same ideals as us and we’re giving an extra hand and help as a family to contribute towards furthering their skills.
The headphones are available at Dion Wired stores where they can finally purchase the Jammin, Destiny and Freedom Marley on-ear and in-ear headphones as well as docking stations and portable speaker collections.
In a related development, Microsoft announced its own streaming music service, Xbox Music that will feature about 30 million songs. It will only run on Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 devices, as well as the Xbox 360 games console. Xbox Music is expected to be available in South Africa by the end of the year.
