The album features the signature instrumentation and musicianship of Marley with the hard-hitting beats and lyrics of Nas.At the end of the 1998 Hype Williams film Belly, Nas, playing a reformed outlaw named Sincere, leaves behind the violence and betrayal of his old life and moves to Africa. Distant Relatives is an album created by the two artists to celebrate the correlation and deep-rooted connection between reggae music, hip-hop, and Africa. Gong' Marley come together as DISTANT RELATIVES. International Hip-Hop superstar Nas and GRAMMY-winning artist Damian 'Jr.
So it makes sense for him to link up with the scion of one of the most universally beloved figures in all of music, making a back-to-basics move that pushes him away from rap and tabloid politics. There's something of that same nagging well-intentioned vagueness to Nas' latest venture, as well.Setlist01 As We Enter 00:0002 Tribes at War (Featuring K'naan) 02:2703 Strong Will Continue 06:5704 Leaders (Featuring Stephen Marley) 12:5905 Friends 17:180.That line continues right up through Damian Marley and Nas' double-Grammy-winning 'Road To Zion.' Distant Relatives is an album created by two serious artists to explore and celebrate the correlations and deep-rooted connections between reggae and hip-hop, tracing both sounds back to the African motherland that is both the cradle of humanity and the wellspring of mankind's music.Nas is in a tough spot right now, coming off of a couple of half-successful, attention-grabbing concept albums and a costly, spiteful public divorce. It's meant to be a triumphant ending, but it's frustratingly out-of-reach, missing the specificity that could've made it satisfying. We just hear "Africa," like the entire continent is some gigantic symbol for rebirth and redemption.
Read enough pre-release commentary, and you might begin to think that Distant Relatives, Nas and Damian Marley’s new collaborative album, is. And first single and album opener "As We Enter" promises great things, Nas and Marley furiously trading off tag-team punchlines over a track that perfectly splits the difference between dusty NY boom-bap and warm post-dancehall reggae.Two heavyweights leave their egos at the door. State of Mind" beat and Nas giddily playing hypeman on "Welcome to Jamrock". Onstage together at SXSW, they had a lively chemistry, Marley chatting madly over the "N.Y. Five years ago, Nas guested on Marley's "Road to Zion" and sounded great doing it.
So when it does work, it's serious. On tracks like this one, the dorm-room philosophizing gets a little thick.But even with all that, the album is still a true collaborative affair, two deeply talented guys with amazing, evocative voices finding common ground and exploring it. The track "My Generation" is all the album's worst impulses put on display, a sickly attempt at gospel with Joss Stone yowling all over the chorus and a truly dogshit Lil Wayne guest verse- all in service of fuzzy, feel-good preachiness. The production, mostly from Marley and brother Stephen, tends too often toward stifled, Grammy-bait guitar solos and tinkling, expensive R&B sheen.
But then the song ends, and it's back to the preaching. The song is mostly pretty bland, five minutes of sloganeering before Nas suddenly turns ugly, wondering if his ex-wife cheated on him, bringing up Bruce Lee's family curse, raging at nobody in particular, then breaking everything off with haughty style: "See a nigga disappearing with the baddest honeys in the whole spot, yeeah." With all the heavy-handed philosophizing all around it, it's pretty thrilling to hear Nas suddenly going all "Oochie Wally" on us, if only for a second. Nas sounds most like himself in the last minute of "Strong Will Continue". When these guys stop trying to be positive and just vent, they do great things. "As We Enter" and "Patience" respectively sample Mulatu Astatke and Amadou and Mariam, both to great effect. "Land of Promise" is devastating old-school dancehall toughness, not far removed from Marley's own "Welcome to Jamrock", with Nas finding new cadences for his dusky monotone.
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