Once loaded with reggae talent, Cali Roots has a shifting and inclusive landscape of genres.

BOB MARLEY UNDERSTOOD DEFIANCE. It’s exactly what led him to keep performing even with malignant melanoma. Rhythm and blues, reggae and rap sought to flip most American rock ‘n’ roll and funk music on its head in the same way skater culture took over Southern California in the 1970s – no one could stop it.

Nonconformance to the rules is key, and it is evident at the California Roots Music and Arts Festival, which is evolving in terms of the genres it now showcases.

In its inclusive expansiveness, the lineup tells of a shared spirit between musical styles. There are more hip-hop headliners this year, like Ice Cube, Souls of Mischief, E40 and Too $hort.

Dan Sheehan, co-owner of Good Vibez Presents, which runs Cali Roots each year, notes that there was indeed an uptick in ticket sales with the announcement of Wu-Tang Clan in last year’s lineup. And this isn’t the first time that the hip-hop genre has bled into the festival. New York rapper NAS headlined in 2017.

“Reggae has been the heartbeat of the festival, but it has never been the overall brand of it,” Sheehan says. “Hip-hop was a natural progression for us.”

According to Sheehan, showcasing roots reggae artists from America, Great Britain and New Zealand was always in the repertoire. But he got to see that blossom into other genres that touched the soul of reggae as time went on. To him, having a variety of music available at the festival adds to the palate for its community.

“It’s a gathering of like-minded people,” Sheehan adds. “It’s the celebration of that.”

Cali Roots was built as the first reggae festival to showcase American reggae music, anchoring its quintessence. But that challenge serves as an opportunity to attract other sub-genres as well, such as Afro beats or even an electronic space, as Sheehan has casually pondered. Over time, genres naturally feed and blend into other genres. Rock, for instance, emerged from the energy emitted by R&B, blues and soul.

This year, the inflow of hip-hop at the festival is significantly shaping its musical landscape. But in the same dynamism, Sheehan’s team also wanted to feature the Marleys. Added to the lineup this year are Damian, Stephen and Ziggy Marley as an homage to the legend himself – and to the recent biopic of his life that was released earlier this year.

“[Showcasing the Marley family] is a big play on what we’re trying to do,” Sheehan says.

That fits well within the evolution of the festival – defiance is in the zeitgeist now all over the world, and what better way to represent that than with hip-hop music, cannabis culture and an homage to Bob Marley himself?

The 2024 lineup of music at Cali Roots this year is a testament to evolution and resilience, and that’s something that everyone can appreciate. Coming off of the Covid-19 pandemic four years ago, it seems that rather than “getting back to normal” there is a notion of moving on and into the future.

Cali Roots continues to toe this line with the shifting musical landscape. But there’s more to it than just adding more hip-hop artists.

As Sheehan puts it, it’s a celebration of like-minded people, defiance and perhaps of legislative wins and cultural shifts, happening not just musically but for cannabis too. Overall, it is a theme of evolution.