NAS & DAMIAN MARLEY
Distant Relatives
CD: |
Tracklisting: |
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| 01 | As We Enter | |
| 02 | Tribes At War (ft K'Naan) | |
| 03 | Strong Will Continue | |
| 04 | Leaders (ft Stephen Marley) | |
| 05 | Friends | |
| 06 | Count Your Blessings | |
| 07 | Dispear | |
| 08 | Land Of Promise (ft Dennis Brown) | |
| 09 | In His Own Words (ft Stephen Marley) | |
| 10 | Nah Mean | |
| 11 | Patience | |
| 12 | My Generation (ft Lil Wayne) | |
| 13 | Africa Must Wake Up (ft K'Naan) | |
| Ancient People |
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REVIEW IN ENGLISH: SOURCE: ROOTS MUSIC Reggae & Dancehall AUTHOR: Teacha Dan 
What to say about a project that has received so much attention from all sorts of media already? The spotlights have been on this collaboration from it's inception. The two performers who already worked together for the song 'Road To Zion' that was released on Damian Junior Gong's Welcome To Jamrock (Tuff Gong / Ghetto Youths / Universal, 2005) album, have worked on this album over a period of two years. Their goal was to make a hybrid out of reggae, hip-hop and African music and so lay bare the relations between them and indeed humanity as a whole. In their quest they were followed by CNN, by National Geographic and magazines and internet blogs around the world. The discussions that followed were plenty. The hybrid mix that Nas and Junior Gong came up with is very contagious and surprisingly consistent. Hip-hop is the main ingredient as was to be expected since Damian Marley's music has always flirted with hip-hop and Nas only occasionally brought in reggae. Reggae and dancehall are present through the innovative riddims, instrumentation, tempo and references to classics like Little Roy's 'Tribal War' in 'Tribes At War' and a reworking of Dennis Brown's 'Promised Land' renamed 'Land Of Promise', featuring the late crown prince himself. The African elements have a regrettably high Eurocentric Lion King quality with lots of choirs and drum rolls. Why not use real African instruments occasionally like e.g. a kora, a djembe, an mbira or a bodhran? I must mention that I think I spotted a Balafon on 'Tribes at War' and that the riddim of opening song 'As We Enter' is in fact a reworking of 'Yegelle Tezeta' (1974) by Ethiopian musician Maluta Astatke. Initially the proceeds of the project were meant for building schools and AIDS awareness on the African continent but that was never made official. When Nas was asked about it he evaded the question saying that their initial goal might have been too pretentious. Still, the album is a good seller and rightly so. Never a dull moment, catchy clever lyrics and lots of variation. It is clear to all that the artists had a very good time working together constantly pushing the other to do better by their respective writing skills. The claim by many reviewers that this is a benchmark album that outlines the future of both hip-hop and reggae is one I do not share. Distant Relatives is just some really good fun with a message. Be aware that there is a bonus track to the album that is only available when you buy the whole album from iTunes. There are some different sleeve designs for different parts of the world, see below. (Teacha Dan, June 2010)
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