He performed in local talent shows during the early days of rap music, further fueling his interest.

[6] He is credited with influencing a number of hip hop icons such as Biggie Smalls, RZA, DJ Premier, Madlib, and Pete Rock.

[8] Vibe magazine wrote that he, "forever changed the sound of hip-hop with his unique beat barrages.

[10] As a young intern at Unique Recording Studios in the early 1980s, he had an opportunity to experiment with very expensive samplers like the Fairlight CMI.

[10] One day during a studio session with an artist named Captain Rock he discovered sampling by accident.

On MC Shan's 1986 Pop Art single "The Bridge', which later appeared on his 1987 album Down By Law, Marley used the 808 pulse to trigger different samplers.

"[16] At the time Marley began a streak of producing entire albums for several Juice Crew members.

He produced all of the tracks on Craig G's The Kingpin (1989), Big Daddy Kane's Long Live The Kane (1988), Biz Markie's Goin' Off (1988), Kool G Rap & DJ Polo's Road to the Riches (1989), MC Shan's Down By Law (1987) and Born to Be Wild (1988), and Roxanne Shante's Bad Sister (1989).