Foto: Getty Images
Two years ago, Davo was in the lab working on his forthcoming album when he got a DM from his sister on Instagram. The post she sent him was about a casting call for the role of The Wailers' guitarist Junior Marvin for the official Bob Marley biopic, One Love. He immediately went to his father, the real Junior Marvin, and asked him about it.
"I sent it to my father and my dad didn't even know about it," Davo explains to iHeartRadio. "I was focused on mixing and mastering my album with Tory Lanez. I was in the studio everyday, so I wasn't really paying much attention."
Davo, born David Kerr, spent his childhood in Jamaica growing up with his talented father, who played the guitar for Bob Marley & The Wailers nearly two decades. Marvin inspired Davo to become an artist at an early age after they spent quality time making beats together in their home along with his other brothers. The family later relocated to South Florida when Davo was 11, which is where he began to make music of his own. He took guitar lessons as a teenager and later evolved into a skilled MC and producer.
While he developed his craft, Davo also met other aspiring artists who lived in his neighborhood — a young Tory Lanez and his brothers, who also made music together. Davo and Tory went from rapping on the school bus to mapping out song ideas in Marvin's studio. As the "Say It" rapper gained notoriety for his music, so did Davo. In 2014, Tory Lanez founded his One Umbrella record label and later signed Davo as the first artist on the roster. They continued to make songs like their 2018 collaboration "Connection" with Fabolous and Paloma Ford as well as "Pull Up"
The rapper-actor was preparing to release his debut album on Tory's label before the pandemic hit in 2020. After the entertainment industry essentially shut down, Davo continued to put the finishing touches on it even after Tory Lanez got into his legal situation with Megan Thee Stallion. He was so focused on his music that he almost forgot about the casting call his sister sent him until a friend encouraged him to "take advantage of all your opportunities."
"One day I went and double-checked the posts again, and then it said, 'Paramount Pictures,'" Davo recalls. "I was like, 'Oh, Paramount? I was like, 'Okay, this must be real.' It must've went over my head when I first seen it. I was so locked in on mixing and stuff. So I immediately DMed the page. I was just like, 'I hope that you guys didn't find someone to play my father as of yet, because literally my whole life, everybody's been telling me I'm literally my father,'" Davo says. "I look just like him. I could talk like him, walk like him, sing, dance like him. I even played a guitar like him. So I was like, what else do you guys need?"
Several audition tapes later, Davo had earned his role as his father in One Love. He stars alongside Kingsley Ben-Adir, who portrays the late Bob Marley, and Lashana Lynch, who plays the artist's wife Rita Marley. The film follows Marley's life from his rise to fame in the 1970s, his iconic music with The Wailers Band and everything he and his family went throughout the course of his career until his untimely death in 1981. Ben-Adir recently told The Breakfast Club about the Marley family's search for the perfect actor to play Bob, and also revealed the late singer's authentic stems and vocals were used for the film.
During our conversation, Davo shares his experience making the film, his dad's thoughts about his role, updates about his new music and more. One Love hits theaters worldwide on February 14.
iHR: How did you find out about the role of Junior Marvin’s role in One Love, and how did your dad feel about it at the time?
Davo: It's funny. It all came to me. I didn't even know it was actually happening. I didn't know there was an actual movie being made because it’s been so long since Bob Marley passed. It's been like 40 years and there's never been a biopic on Bob. So I kind of figured that it would probably never happen. But my sister from London sent me a casting call on Instagram and it was casting junior Marvin. So instantly I thought about it. I was like, is this real? So I sent it to my father and my dad didn't even know about it. So he was like, I don't know. So I was like, okay. I was focused on my album. I was working on mixing and mastering my album with Tory Lanez and whatnot. I was in the studio every day so I wasn't really paying much attention, and one day I was talking with a friend and they were like, “You should make sure you take advantage of all your opportunities.” And I was like, you know what? There's a big one that is at stake.
One day I went and double-checked the posts again, and then it said, “Paramount Pictures.” I was like, “Oh, Paramount?” I was like, “Okay, this must be real.” It must've went over my head when I first saw it. I was so locked in on mixing and stuff. So I immediately DMed the page. I DMed them, and I was just like, “I hope that you guys didn't find someone to play my father as of yet, because literally my whole life, everybody's been telling me I'm literally my father.” I look just like him. I could talk like him, walk like him, sing, dance like him. I even played a guitar like him. So I was like, what else do you guys need?
That's amazing. So literally all that just from an Instagram DM from your sister?
Yeah I sent in a pitch, some headshots and stuff. I was like, ‘What do you guys think? I was like, “Do you need to speak with my father?” They were like, “No, we don't need to speak with your dad.” So I did the audition tape and it didn't require for me to play the guitar, but it was a scene where I was introduced to Bob,, and it was like an audition. So I played the guitar in the audition and then I sent it back and they were like, “Wow. Oh my God, you did an amazing job.” They were like, “You play the guitar. Oh my God, the director is saying this is urgent. Can you send back some more footage of you playing the guitar?” So I sent back two videos. So immediately they’re thrilled. “Wow this is amazing. Are you available from November to April?” I was like, “Hell yeah, I'm available to play my father. Of course, keep the legacy alive.” From an Instagram post to big screen! Instagram works wonders, man, I tell you that man, I would've never known. Thank you to my sister.
What a huge blessing for you. What was it like actually making the movie, and what was your favorite scene to film?
My favorite scene was the main scene when I was introduced as junior Marvin to Bob Marley, and it was a lot of dialogue for me. It was a lot of talking back and forth. I got to play the guitar and I was really playing the guitar. So I practice a lot on the solos and it shows a lot of my skill level. It shows my guitar skillset, and I also have a British accent in the film as well. You get a little British accent and yeah, man, it's very humorous, that scene. So I mean, I've seen it in the premieres like four times already. We did a world tour. We started in Jamaica, went to London, Paris, and L.A.. Every time my scene comes up, everyone's laughing. They actually just put out a new trailer with me with that introduction scene in, and it has a lot of sense of humor in that shot.
That's dope, man. Can't wait to see it. How long were you on set?
It was almost nine months. Most of it was from November to May so it was like eight, seven months in 2022 to last year. It was basically majority of the year for me.
Do you remember words of advice that you got from your dad once you got the role?
He knows me so well, and he knows that I know I've practiced and studied Bob Marley and the Wailers since I was a teenager. He didn't really give me no advice. He was like, ‘Yeah, man, you know what you're doing.’ He used to bring me on tour, so he was like, ‘You know what to do.’ He came on set when we were in London and he seen me performing and doing the moves, and he was just like, ‘Awesome, man. Wow, you are killing it.’ He never really had anything to say, but he did say something to me. He was like, ‘Just don't forget this one move.’ It's like this move where he does this bop and he runs with the guitar. He kind of runs with it. So he’s like, ‘Yeah, just don't forget that. That was my special move.’ I was like, ’I got you pops’. There's one other thing. He used to wear these Bruce Lee shoes and he was like, ‘Make sure you get the Bruce Lee shoes.’ They got 'em on Chinatown. They're always there. So when I told my costume designers to get them and they brought 'em in.
They really made the right choice in picking you. I feel like if it would’ve been anyone else, his role would’ve been a lot different.
Trust me, I brought a lot of authenticity to the film. Actually some of the parts in my introduction scene, I added some dialogue. My dad told me stories about when he met Bob. My dad had not a perm, but a straightened afro. We have Native Indian blood so when Bob met my dad, he was like, ‘Yo, Junior, what kind of hairstyle is that?’ And then my dad's like,’ I didn't tell you I'm part Indian’. And they started laughing because he's like a rasta. They're all about dreadlocks and stuff. So it was pretty funny. So we added that part to the movie. A few things like him turning down Stevie Wonder the same week that he got the audition for Bob. The same day he met with Bob he got a call right after for him to come play on Stevie Wonder's album and tour and stuff. He thought it was a prank call. He was like, “What's going on here? Who got my number? How am I getting these back to back?” It was kind of surreal for him, but all his friends told him he had a dilemma at the time. All his friends were like, “You're Jamaican, dude. You might as well go play for Bob Marley. What else? That's your roots.” And he was like, “Yyeah, that makes sense.” He always wanted to go back to Jamaica and get back in touch with his roots. That was perfect timing for him.
What a story, man. You've been a producer and a musician in your own right before the movie even came around. How did you first get into music for yourself?
Well, I've always been recording music. My father used to have us making beats and stuff at home when we were kids, and then he asked me and my brothers, “What do you guys want to be? What kind of artists?” Because he knows we love music. I loved the West Coast music back then. I was like, “I want to be a rapper.” He took us to the record store. I automatically I saw the Doggystyle album by Snoop Dogg, and it was a cartoon. It looks cool. Got parental advisory on there. So I got this Snoop Dogg album, and then from there it was 2Pac, Biggie, Wu-Tang Clan, Method Man. I was into Hip-Hop a lot. I wasn't really into singing. I was on trying to be Mr. Cool guy. We was rapping. All my boys were rapping, and Tory Lanez happened to live in my neighborhood. So me and his brothers, we would always rap on a school bus, rap battles and stuff like that. Tory was one of the more advanced younger kids because all his older brothers were doing it. He was probably the youngest and shortest, but he came with so much energy that I was like, “Nah, this kid got it. We got to help this kid make it because he already had his foot in the door." So we helped Tory along the way, produced for him, and then once he made it big, he signed me as his first artist because he looked at me. He believed in me just as much as he believed in himself. I did a lot of records with him, and I produced for him along the way. I went to school for audio engineering and all that stuff. Music is everything for me. So I just made sure that everybody got their foot in the door.
I've been waiting to drop my album. I'm not going to lie. A lot of situations happened in the last year with our label. I had to fall back for a little bit when Covid came. I was about to drop my first album right before Covid came. We had to chill because we couldn't even be outside. Then I revised my album the next year. A whole other altercation came up. That's when I had kind of got the movie right when I was done mixing and mastering. So I went and did the movie, and now I have three albums. So now I'm about to just start dropping. Once the movie comes out, we're planning on dropping my first single from the album a week after. Then I have another big record with Tory that we're planning on dropping probably a couple of weeks after that one.
Tell us a little bit about the album. What's your direction for the project?
I like to dabble in everything. Mainly it's like Psychedelic R&B. It's kind of what you call vibey music. I'm very similar to Tory. Tory calls me his twin. I call him my twin. I don't really see much people in the industry that has the same wavelengths as us. Drake is one. PARTYNEXTDOOR is one. People who can actually rap and sing. We have that chameleon kind of style. Most of my album is like R&B, Hip-Hop, vibey music. I let the music speak for itself, but I'll give y'all a heads up. It's nothing to be played with. That's for sure
That's dope. You got a title yet?
Yeah, I do. I have this collection that we're going to go with. The first one is called LXD: Purple Heart, and it has an acronym for LXD. The first one is Live and Dream. Purple Heart… purple is euphoric. I'm saying living out your dreams, and being a living dream so people could look at you and be inspired. The next one is going to be called LXD: The Blue Album and then LXD: Rockstar Blues, and that one's going to be Love and Drugs, you feel me? On there I'm saying love could be a drug, and also pretty much when rock stars get the blues. It be on all kinds of s**t, but I'm not promoting drugs or nothing – just like how love can be like a drug type of vibe. It’s a metaphor. It's a lot of R&B Hip-Hop, a little bit of reggae, a little bit of dancehall, some Afrobeat kind of beats. I have Ray Vaughn on there. That's my boy. We got a couple records coming. We got a real big one on there. Tory Lanez is on there as well. I've worked with a few artists. I'm not sure if I'm going to be waiting for them to get verses cleared. I also have a song with Slim Jxmmi. I got a song with Rich The Kid, but I don't know if they’re gonna be on the project to be honest. Those might just come later.
What can you tell us about the first single from the album?
The first one that's coming out is called "On the Run." It's coming out with a music video and everything. In the hook, I'm saying "I'm on the run, see me outside on the come up/I'm by my dollar getting mine." So pretty much it's just about being on the go right now. I'm on the run. Tory directed the video. He edited it. It's an amazing film. It has a lot of acting in it so it shows my acting skill level. It's like a little gangster kind of vibe. It's a really good song, amazing production. I can't wait for you guys to see it.