KY-MANI MARLEY Undaunted By VAN HALEN Opening Slot

September 14, 2007

Reggae royalty KY-MANI MARLEY, who is slated to open for VAN HALEN on the band's long-anticipated reunion tour this fall, told Billboard.com that he's not worried about the classic-rock audience he'll face on the upcoming trek. "I'm not nervous because I'm not going there to play reggae," he says. "I have music for everybody. There's definitely going to be some people surprised, I promise you. Of course, everybody's not going to like it, but everybody can't hate it. So my thing is, if I can capture one fan, then I've done my job."

The 31-year-old son of the iconic Bob and one-time table tennis champion Anita Belnavis will be performing tracks from his forthcoming "Radio" disc, which he says is not a reggae album.

"It's really edgy, really urban. It's not reggae," he tells Billboard.com. "I don't want to call it hip-hop, and it's not R&B. I like to call it 'Ky-Mani.' I think I've created my own sound now, where you can identify me from everything else. I don't like to stick to one genre. And that's the reason I call it 'Radio', because the radio is where all genres of music meet."

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