When I sat down with Rohan Marley ahead of The Whine Down—our cultural benefit experience supporting the Bob & Rita Marley Foundation’s hurricane relief efforts in Jamaica—our conversation moved quickly into the teachings that have shaped his life. Before we talked logistics, food, or philanthropy, he returned to something much older: a lesson from his brother Ziggy that changed the way he approached herb, intention, and the responsibility carried in his family name.
“One day my brother Ziggy said to me, ‘Why do you smoke? We know why we smoke. We make music,’” he told me. “We smoke with a purpose. You can’t just smoke herb just to smoke herb.”
The comment stayed with him. “This big brother shit is for real,” he said, laughing at the memory. “I started to understand the discipline of the herb and started to treat the herb more responsibly.”
That discipline threads through everything Rohan touches. And in true Marley fashion, the path to clarity wasn’t inherited—it was learned.
“Rastafari is a teaching,” he said. “And that’s not because your father’s Rastafari that you know the teachings. You have to learn the teachings yourself.”
His siblings—Ziggy, Stephen, Cedella, and Sharon—were immersed in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Rastafari traditions from early childhood. Their music, he explained, is more than creative expression. “For us, music is like church… you’re giving a sermon every time,” he said. “A lot of Bible study within yourself.”
That internal study eventually took him to Ethiopia, where he immersed himself more deeply in the principles of Rastafari and what he called ‘the teachings of the ancients’. Living there clarified not just the spiritual foundations he’d grown up around, but the discipline required to live them. When he returned to the United States, he carried that clarity with him and began aligning his actions with those teachings—starting with the herb itself.
“If we were going to smoke herb, it better be the herb—our own herb and our own genetics,” he told me. “If I’m going to be smoking herb for the rest of my life, I could figure out how I’m going to do this my way.” Out of that philosophy came Lion Order, a movement and cannabis brand he developed as an extension of the values he grew up with, blending Rastafari teachings with the mindset he carried through family, music, and sport.
But for Rohan, Lion Order was never the whole story. The same values that shaped its creation—discipline, purpose, responsibility—are the ones that root him in community. Those teachings, he explained, come directly from watching his parents and elders serve the people of Jamaica, a tradition that continues today through the Bob & Rita Marley Foundation.
Those teachings didn’t just shape his philosophy; they guide the work he’s focused on today, including the benefit designed to support Jamaica in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.
The Whine Down: Culture, Unity, and Relief for Jamaica
This year, on December 7, 2025, during Art Basel in Miami, a new expression of that commitment comes to life: The Whine Down, a philanthropic cultural experience dedicated to supporting ongoing hurricane relief efforts in Jamaica.
Hosted by Rohan alongside G Putt Diamond and curated by me through The High End Affair, the evening blends elevated culinary artistry, cannabis culture, live art, and community impact. I’ll guide guests through curated bites and tasting stations, each matched with select cultivars from participating partners. Throughout the night, a featured artist will create a live painting to be auctioned—along with additional artwork—to support the Bob & Rita Marley Foundation’s relief work.
“The mission is simple—come together in unity, creativity, and One Love to support the people of Jamaica,” Rohan says in the official event announcement.
This benefit is not a branding exercise. It’s not a commercial showcase. It’s a continuation of something his family has been doing for generations: showing up for people in need.
A Family Tradition of Service
When I asked Rohan why this event—and this moment—matters so deeply, he didn’t hesitate.
“People needed help before the wind came,” he told me. “Before the rains, they still needed help.”
Hurricane Melissa added urgency to an already-existing need across Jamaica, especially on the island’s south and west coasts. But for the Marley family, disaster response isn’t episodic—it’s built into their legacy.
“I don’t know anyone like these two people—Bob and Rita,” he said. He recalled the long lines outside their home every Friday: families needing school fees, food, or help with basic needs. His father never turned them away.
“When my dad left this planet in 1981, it was Rita Marley that’s there,” he said. “She is Bob Marley. She’s the representative of Bob.”
He told me about driving with her in the mornings. At every stoplight and every corner, someone would approach asking for assistance. “‘Good morning, Mrs. Marley, my daughter needs to go… Mrs. Marley, we never drank tea this morning…’”
People see Bob’s image everywhere, he said, but “they don’t know who is the engine. Rita’s the engine.”
Today, the tradition continues through the Bob & Rita Marley Foundation and through Rohan’s sister Cedella, who leads much of the family’s philanthropic work. The foundation supports disaster relief, youth programs, sports initiatives, community rebuilding, and long-term support across Jamaica.
“We need more support to extend that,” Rohan said. “People need home, food, and shelter.”
Funds raised from The Whine Down will directly support these ongoing relief efforts—providing supplies, structural rebuilding, and sustained care for families affected by the storm.
A Legacy of Teachings, Alive in the Present
Toward the end of our conversation, one of Rohan’s young children walked into the room. He paused to talk with him gently—reminding him to eat, get ready, start the day. It was a simple moment, but it carried everything he had been speaking about.
“We teach the children early and young,” he said.
That’s the heart of this work: the continuity between generations, between teachings and action, between intention and service. The same values that guided his parents guide him now—and guide this event.
The Whine Down is one way to honor that lineage. It is culture in service of community; art and food and music as vessels for relief; a gathering designed not just to celebrate, but to uplift.
As curator, it’s a privilege to shape an experience that moves in both directions—joy outward, support inward. And as Rohan told me plainly, the commitment at the center of all this is simple:
“This is home.”
EVENT DETAILS
Event: The Whine Down – Benefit for the Bob & Rita Marley Foundation
Date: Sunday, December 7th
Time: 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Location: The Carter Project House
Hosts: Rohan Marley & G Putt Diamond
Curated by: Chef Nikki Steward, The High End Affair. For Donations https://bobmarleyfoundation.org/news/hurricane-melissa-relief-effort-in-jamaica/
This article is from an external, unpaid contributor. It does not represent High Times’ reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.
