On a special night at The Queen in Wilmington, Delaware, I had the chance to briefly connect with Jimmy Malcolm - a moment that would lead to a deeper conversation just a few days later. When we reconnected for the full interview, it quickly became clear that this wasn’t just another artist discussion. As the cousin of Bob Marley, Jimmy offers something rare: a direct, personal window into the life behind the legend. Speaking about “Nesta” with warmth and authenticity, he shared stories that moved beyond the global icon and into the heart of family, music, and spirituality. What began as a quick introduction in Wilmington turned into an unforgettable conversation - one that highlights not only Marley’s enduring legacy, but the living, breathing connection that continues through those who knew him best.

Hunnypot: For people who may not know your connection, can you tell us about your relationship with your cousin Bob Marley and what it was like growing up in the same extended family?

Jimmy Malcolm: Yeah, so the family, I have to start with 1943. I had an uncle that came here on farm work. And then in 1948, he sent for my mother, you know, she came to Wilmington, Delaware. And my mother got married in 1958 and then had her kids from 1959 to ’63. At that time, my mother needed help with the kids because she had a set of twins. And so then she sent for Bob’s mother, which is Cedella, to come up and help her out with the kids. So my aunt Cedella, we call her Aunt Ciddy, she came up in 1963, to be exact, March of 1963. So she eventually got married to Mr. Booker, one of my mother’s friends. And then Bob came in 1966. You know how when a family member comes, they send for a family member, so my aunt did the same. So I met Bob when I was five years old. I was already a piano player in church, me and my brother at early ages. So that kind of connected me directly musical wise to my cousin Bob, which I don’t think I ever called him Bob. It was Nesta to all of the family members.

Hunnypot: Is that what pretty much everyone called him in the family?

Jimmy: Well, his name wasn’t Bob. His name was Nesta. Bob didn’t exist until after when he signed with Island Records. Then Bob became Bob Marley. But as far as when I first met him, it was Nesta. Even if I’m talking to his brother, we’ll say brother Nesta, you know?

Jimmy (back to first question): So then at the age of five, Bob lived in Delaware on and off from 1966 to 1977. But during that time he was gone and back. Like Stephen was born here, one of his sons. So Bob was always back and forth. And whenever he was in town, the family always gathered around. It wasn’t like he was, because I think back at it, it was just family. And we did that to all our family. When a family came to town, we rallied around. So Bob being a musician, I was glued to that vibe, because he was really a dedicated musician like myself. Like I never traveled without my keyboard. Like when I came here, I had to have a keyboard waiting for me here. Bob was pretty much like that. And I was always inspired by his music. So we used to play a lot together as a child. The music, because when I’m sitting down at the piano, he would always come by, and you know where the piano was. And then when I turned 18, I went to live with him, because in 1977 he moved to Miami, and in ’79 he sent for me, and then that’s when I started working with him. In the middle of working with him he went on tour, that 1980 tour, that last tour, and he said, Jimmy, I’ll send for you. Just as he wanted to visit my mother, he wanted me to visit my mom and then meet him in Jamaica. And then when I got the call, that’s when he got sick. He sent a message. So I’ll just give you a ballpark of everything. Yeah. So there was always, living in Miami, he was always outside playing soccer in the daytime. Soccer, basketball, but soccer was his passion.

Hunnypot: And I know they always say he was, what I always heard is he could have been a professional soccer player, that he was really good. How was he at basketball?

Jimmy: Cheater. He was the biggest cheater I’ve ever seen; it was so fun. That’s all I remember. It’s like, so I was older than my other cousins. Bob is 16 years older than me. And then Bob’s brother is younger. So at the house, you know, there were younger kids. So me and Bob were always on team A and team B. I was the one that picked my team. Bob picked his team, but me and Bob were never on the same team. So I just remember whenever I would get the ball, it was just a memory that never left. He would always run after me and grab me, grab my shirt, and I’d just have to give him the ball or shoot right away. But it was fun. It was a fun childhood growing up, especially in Miami.

Hunnypot: The world knows Bob Marley as a global icon, but what was he like as a family member?

Jimmy: Very dedicated to the little cousins. We were the little cousins. Like I have little cousins too. And I have nephews and I have grand nephews now. And I see myself being the same way. Like, he was very attentive. I remember this distinctively, like as a character of Bob, we were at the house one day and he took us all out to eat. He was driving. He never drove. I think this is the first time I ever saw him drive, but he, because I drove him around. I was a driver, but he drove. He asked us when we got in the car with Ziggy, Stephen, Robbie and his two little brothers Richard and Anthony, and he said, where do y’all want to go to eat? And I remember all of us said, and me and Ziggy talked about this the other day. He said, where do you want to go eat? And all of us said a different place, and Bob took the time to take every one of us to where we wanted to go. I just remember going from place to place to place to place. Everybody got their stuff, and everybody was happy. He would always send for the boys, his sons, Ziggy and Stephen. They would always come up from Jamaica. He was a real family person, so he was not a deadbeat dad. Although he had kids, he took care of his kids and the ones, like Robbie lived with his mother, with Bob’s mother, Ciddy. So Bob was very attentive. That’s how I will describe it. Okay.

Hunnypot: How did Bob’s upbringing in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish shape the person he became?

Jimmy: Oh, I would say, if I had to say that part of it, I would say the culture. The culture of Nine Mile, because even when I was younger, I ended up spending a lot of time there. My mother brought us there when I was 10 or 11. And just, I think when I say the culture, I mentioned that word because the African tradition really is strong, and especially in Nine Mile. And the discipline, it’s like a different way of living. ’Cause I live in Africa now, and it’s more like my upbringing in Jamaica. It’s like it means a lot. It feels a lot like the same kind of upbringing, you know? Although it was in the early ’70s, it wasn’t like a lot of distractions like it is now, especially in this generation. It was more out in the farm. It was more when we did things because, you know, because Bob didn’t grow up with a TV or anything like that. Right. So it was more time to do music. My dad didn’t have a TV in the house, and I think that contributed a lot to me being the piano player that I am today. Because the kids nowadays, it’s like all the distraction of social media and all that didn’t exist, as you know. So I think that growing up in Nine Mile had a lot to do with him connecting with God and with the spiritual connection and his talent.

Hunnypot: Your grandfather was such an influence over Bob when he was very young, before moving to Kingston. How much did you get to see your grandfather? And can you explain kind of that upbringing that he got from your grandfather?

Jimmy: So I could answer that with, so my grandfather died when I was three years old. I never met him. My grandfather never, you know, my father met him ’cause when my mother and father got married, my mother went down to Jamaica. But just based on the upbringing of my mother, and my aunt, and just all the aunts and uncles, I got a chance to feel that vibe, the discipline that they raised, the morals and things like that. But I did meet my grandfather once in a dream, and the dream was very strong. I was in my 20s at the time, and I remember when I woke up, I went, I was staying at my mother’s house at this time, I remember going to my mom in the morning and I said, hey mom, guess who I dreamt about last night? She said, my father. She said, my father (in a Jamaican accent). Like that’s how she talks. And I said, how’d you know? She said, “I dreamt of him too. So, the whole night I was with him.” So it was like a beautiful dream, but that’s the only connection. And I always, like I have to say that to you, is when people ask me about my grandfather, I had that connection just one time in my life in a dream. And it was so strong. But that vibe kind of stays with me. But growing up with his daughters, which is my mother and his kids, which is my aunts, they had instilled, like my grandfather instilled to them, great morals. They always, you know, they all love God, all of my aunts and uncles. They were all very believing in God and very spiritual, and raised us the same way.

Hunnypot: So you live in Africa now, and things I’ve read about Bob is that he wanted to live in Africa. Do you think if he were still around today, he’d be living in Africa too?

Jimmy: 100%. 100%, the reason why I say that like that, because, you know, even Ethiopia where I’m at, it’s an amazing situation there because Bob went to Ethiopia. So I think Bob would have made Ethiopia his home. And that’s no doubt in my mind about that.

Hunnypot: When did you first realize that Bob’s music was starting to reach people far beyond Jamaica?

Jimmy: Probably when I went to high school. So you know, Bob, the Caucasian, the whites were more into his music. So I went to an all-white school in ninth grade, and everyone there knew who Bob was, you know, through their parents. And I think I was around 14 when I connected to his music, which was the Rastaman Vibration album, that album that was just celebrated, and I remember when I got my hands on that album, Bob would have been out of town, but we used to always get his music, and this one time I just was listening to his music every day. I became a fan of “Who the Cap Fit” - that became my favorite song, and I remember listening to it every day. And then during that time Bob ended up coming to Delaware, you know, because he would go back and forth. And I remember my mother said, oh, Bob is here. Nesta’s here. He wants to see you guys. So when I went over there, the fan, like me as a fan of the music, I never brought it with me. Like I left it at home, and I went to see him, and it was cousin and it was like the same. It was just, yo, cousin, you know? So I never, and even when I lived with him, the world was, by the ’79 when I went to school there, ’cause I was in the 12th grade when I moved to live with him. And now the world knew who he was. And we were still a normal family. Even now, when I’m with Ziggy or everyone else, we live a normal life. And I think it has a lot to do with our upbringing. You wouldn’t know that the success is what it is. You know, because it’s all about family vibes for us.

Hunnypot: Bob’s songs often carried powerful messages about unity, justice, and spirituality. How important were those ideas to him in his everyday life?

Jimmy: I think he lived it because I’ve never seen anything less than, you know, a great family member. I have many family members, as you know, and we all get along really great. And I think even me, I’m different from, I think, everyone else because I lived in Bob’s house. When you visit someone, you go home. You know, like when I lived in Delaware, when he lived in Delaware, I would go visit him and go home, but then waking up, eating breakfast together, eating dinner together - you get a chance to see a person differently. And I got a chance to see Bob for who he was, you know, when he wasn’t working or when he woke up, or when he needed to go somewhere. Jimmy, come take me here. So, what you see is what you get. My aunt used to say that. So, what I saw was a great family member, great vibes, a great cousin, a great musician.

Hunnypot: Being a huge Bob Marley fan, it’s nice to hear that, because so many people that have made it big, they may be singing about something that just isn’t true. And it’s nice to hear that he really practiced what he preached.

Jimmy: 100%. And that’s what we experienced. Being around him at night, he’ll be writing music and we’ll hear, like one day he said to this person that was working with him, he was down, and Bob said, don’t you know when one door is closed, another is open? And then next minute, we hear it in a song. So, you would hear him just… like at night, he would just sing anything, and then he’ll have this paper and pencil, and then he’ll, if a thought is there, he’ll write it down and then build on it.

Hunnypot: Were there particular songs or albums that felt especially personal to him or connected to his experiences growing up?

Jimmy: I think all of them. I think every song that Bob did had a meaning. “Night Shift” was written about Delaware, working on a night shift on a forklift. I think every song was his baby, because if you check out the lyrics, you know, Bob would answer the question better, but my observation of it is, everything, every song, just like your children, every one of them, you can’t really say which one is the favorite, because they all, everything that made the album, and there’s lots of songs that didn’t, but everything is personal.

Hunnypot: Today Bob Marley is seen as one of the most influential musicians in history. What do you think he would say if he could see the global impact his music still has today?

Jimmy: Bless. Blessing. God’s work continues. I think he would say Jah works continue. And it continues with us. When you see me on stage or any of the kids or any of us, you know, I don’t think he would say more. I think the most positive situation is the impact his music has on the world. And I think he would just rejoice on that part of it.

Hunnypot: Why do you think his message continues to resonate with new generations all around the world?

Jimmy: Because it came from God. That’s all I can say. Because when something comes from God, when God’s putting out a message and using someone in that kind of way, it’s going to reach the world. And I couldn’t really give credit, or I don’t see credit given, to anyone else but God.

Hunnypot: As someone who knew him personally, what do you think people most misunderstand about Bob Marley?

Jimmy: I don’t know. I don’t think there was a misunderstanding. I think Bob’s music was straightforward, and the generations, because I do a lot of school stuff, especially in Africa and the world and in Kenya, and whenever, you know, this new generation, like kids are 10 or 12, they know about Bob through their parents or through just being where they are. And everyone’s always positive, and they just want to know more and hear more. So, in that situation, I feel as though it’s straightforward. It’s a straightforward situation, I think. I think everything is revealed the way it is.

Hunnypot: Is there a story or memory about Bob that you feel people should know but don’t often hear?

Jimmy: Well, Bob was a very serious musician. And even I have a band in Africa now in Ethiopia. And one of the things I talk about is discipline and, you know, coming to rehearsal is the state of mind you have to be in when you’re doing music. And when you see Bob on stage, Bob wasn’t there. Bob would leave and something else would take over. So, Bob was always like that. Like it was a different Bob when he was home playing with us than when you see him on stage; it wasn’t the same. So, you could tell that he took his art seriously, and he was led by God. I think it’s the true gospel. I think we talk about gospel music. Because when I play for church, I have to play my cousin’s music in church because it’s like, why not? These words - listen to these words.

Hunnypot: In addition to being part of the Marley family, you are also a musician in your own right. How did your own journey into music begin?

Jimmy: At the age of four or five, when I started playing in my dad’s church and working with my sisters - every Sunday I would perform at church. And as I got older, my dad passed when I was 10, then after that, having a cousin that was like, Bob checked in, Bob became, because I was very close to his mother and my aunt and ended up living with them, as she came up to take care of us. And when she came up, we bonded this bond together. We bonded. So, when I started living with Bob, I continued, because I went to live with Bob to work with him on an album with his mother, which we later did. And it was fun seeing Glen because Glen was a part of that album. Glen used to play with The Wailers. And then Glen was playing on that album because The Wailers, Bob was working on it with all his band to do a gospel album with his mother. And I think that brought me in in a major way. I think that’s when I really became the musician with these mentors that were around me, you know, The Wailers. They were all my friends; I was always around them because when I lived with Bob they were around when he was preparing for a tour. So, I think being around them kind of threw me in it. So, after Bob passed, I was fully in. And I became that.

Hunnypot: That must have been amazing to be around all of them, because when you think of The Wailers, they were all amazing musicians as well.

Jimmy: At the time, you don’t see it for what it is, because it was just normal, just like when people say, oh, you knew Bob, it’s, you know, just like you, with your family, because they’re just as great. You have to understand all of us have our greatness. I think with us, I got a chance to be right in the middle of it. And I didn’t know it until now. Like, I still, I still don’t even know it. I’m still even at it like, oh, wow.

Hunnypot: Growing up around such a powerful musical legacy, how did you develop your own sound and artistic identity?

Jimmy: From just the talent. Once the talent is there, once you have a talent, then it’s an individual, because although I work with my family a lot, I still have my own individual talent that was nurtured, and I nurture it every day when I play.

Hunnypot: You’ve been involved in a project called The Journey Continues with Stephen Marley, which aims to reimagine some of Bob Marley’s classic songs. Can you tell us about how that project came together and what fans can expect from these new interpretations?

Jimmy: Yes, I was, yeah, but I kind of took some time away just to do some other stuff that I’m doing now. But yeah, I’m going to continue that as well. Well, it’s just working together. Because even with Ziggy the other day, I did some stuff with Ziggy on his album. So, it’s just like being together whenever you’re together. Like if I’m with them, I’m in the studio. So, with the family vibes that we have, we’re always together. So, like with Julian, I used to be his piano player. I used to work with him. I worked with Ky-Mani. So, I think whenever the family gets together, if I see them right now, we might discuss and start working on a project. So, it just comes from just talking, talking it out.

Hunnypot: Looking ahead, what are your hopes for your music and the projects you’re developing right now?

Jimmy: Well, right now I’m working in Ethiopia with a band that I’m doing, I’m mentoring kids, I’m mentoring into schools and things like that. And I think the journey continues. Just every time we wake up, there’s a new vision that we want to do. We focus on continuing because when God blesses you as a musician, your message is in the music. So tomorrow, if you talk to me, it might be a new project that I developed overnight.

Hunnypot: You’ve also been involved with musical and cultural work in Africa. How has your experience there influenced your perspective on reggae, culture, and the global legacy of Marley’s music?

Jimmy: So, every day, and I hope I can answer this right. So, inspiration, you know, music inspires. So, like even my family’s legacy - like when I’m in Ethiopia I do a lot of my cousin’s songs ’cause it’s continuing, you know, we become our family, our ancestors’ voice. When I do a Bob song, I do it differently from anyone else. I’m very articulated on what notes I’m hitting and making sure it’s identical to give honor to the musicians that created this. Sometimes you could do another person’s song, you could do them differently. When it comes to my family’s music, you know, to Marley, my cousin, I try to perfect it and teach so they can see the creativity of what went into making this music. And the spiritualness of it, I always tell stories before I would instruct the song. I tell the story about the song. Because every song has a story, how it was written. And a lot of Bob’s songs, I kind of know the history and where he was and what year he wrote it and what state of mind he was in. And I try to relay that to my students or the band members.

Hunnypot: If you could only listen to one album the rest of your life, what would it be?

Jimmy: So, I would say Pink Floyd. And the reason why I picked that one is because when I moved to live with Bob, when I went to live in 1979, Pink Floyd was, and Led Zeppelin, they were like, like I was exposed to this new type of music because living in Delaware, I wasn’t exposed. So, when I was in that culture of that music. And, you know, I would say that, and Rastaman Vibration as well, that we just did, I could listen to that forever. But, and I related the rock with the reggae because, you know what, you’re inspired by different music too. I wouldn’t really want to listen to one, because I’ll listen to one and get tired of it, but if I had to pick one, it would be those two.

Talking with Jimmy Malcolm was more than just an interview - it was an experience that stayed with me long after the conversation ended. There was a sincerity in the way he spoke, a calm confidence rooted in faith, family, and lived experience that made every story feel personal and real. Through his words, Bob Marley became more than a global symbol - he became human, present, and deeply connected to those around him. What struck me most was how naturally Jimmy carries that legacy forward, not as a weight, but as a calling. It was an honor to hear these stories firsthand, and a reminder that the true power of Marley’s music isn’t just in what we hear - it’s in the lives it continues to touch through people like Jimmy.

One Love - Todd M. Judd