UMG STANDS UP WITH MARLEYS ON TUFF GONG COLLECTIVE

Universal Music Group and Cedella Marley are partnering on Tuff Gong Collective, a joint venture that encompasses film and television projects as well as recorded music from artists signed through the arrangement.

Cedella Marley, Bob Marley’s daughter and CEO of the Bob Marley Group of Companies, will oversee the operation with her son, Soul Rebel, as creative director.

“Tuff Gong Collective will allow us to find new creative platforms to introduce new generations to my father’s music but will also give us the ability to cultivate the next generation of music artists and creators,” she said.

TGC is partnering with Island Records’ 4th and Broadway on their first artist signing, Young Devyn, a Brooklyn-bred Trinidadian phenom who’s latest single, “Straight To It.” TGC will represent Devyn and her repertoire in the Caribbean.

“We’re thrilled to work with Cedella to continue to evolve and build on the long-standing relationship between the Marley family and Island Records,” declared 4th and Broadway President and Island EVP LaTrice Burnette.

TGC’s film and television projects with UMG through Polygram Entertainment include a feature animation project with Walt Disney Co. being written by Kenya Barris. The project is intended to be a love letter to Bob Marley’s music and to the people of Jamaica. Cedella Marley and David Blackman, UMG’s Head of Film and Television Development and Production, will produce the film along with E. Brian Dobbins from Principato-Young Entertainment.

UMG spent 2020 celebrating the 75th anniversary of Bob Marley's birth.

We're guessing it's no coincidence the deal is being announced on 4/20.