Robert Nesta Marley is remembered simply as Bob Marley who was the result of a relationship that was mixed in race. His mother, who was a teenager at the time, was named Cedella and was involved with a white middle aged man whose name was Norval Marley. Marley was from an upper class English background. This fact placed a strain on the relationship on the two from the very beginning. A pregnant Cedella and Norval’s engagement was cancelled a week before the wedding. At this time society was much less receptive to a relationship of mixed race people particularly between two people who had such different economic and social backgrounds.

Bob was a Rasta Man who was born in Nine Miles in St. Ann. There were not many opportunities in such rural areas at the time. This prompted the young Cedella to later move to the inner city of Kingston. Trench Town was the choice and this would later be featured in one of Bob’s songs. In search of a better life, Bob’s mother moved, however, Trench Town was a futile effort to provide the Marley family with any economic gain.

The area in which they now lived was poor and lacked basic amenities. Conversely, the community proved to be rich source of inspiration for Bob’s music. At a later time, this inspiration would be integrated with the themes of poverty, oppression, injustice, inequality, the requirement for basic human rights, and for peace in his music.

Trench Town exposed Bob Marley to the deceptive practices within the music industry from contact with the likes of Clement Dodd. These experiences prepared him to take on the music industry and ultimately succeed in creating a real survivor. The years that Bob Marley spent in Trench Town allowed him to emerge as a real ambassador to the inner city.
As society changed so did the attitude and songs of Bob Marley. Trench Town provided the relevant experience needed to create the Rasta Man and nothing would have emerged had there not been a Trench Town. The area gave birth to songs which are equally important today as they were when written since the conditions of which the Rasta Man sang are still present and some argue that little has changed over the years.