“Distant Relatives” is a full-length collaboration between hip-hop stalwart Nas and reggae scion Damien ”Jr. Gong” Marley. These two musicians first hooked up on the highly praised song “Road To Zion” off of Marley’s lauded “Welcome To Jamrock.” Over the last 18 months, these two honed their talents on the mic to deliver a simply amazing album that serves as both a love letter to the motherland (Africa) and a wake-up call to the young Diaspora.
The first track and single, “As We Enter,” is a great introduction to the album as Nas and Jr. Gong trade bars and lay out the groundwork for the entire album. The next song, “Tribes Of War,” featuring Somali MC K’naan, spins the dark tale of Africa’s history. K’naan’s one verse features the bars “I drink poison, then I vomit diamonds. I gave you Mandela, Black Dalai Lamas. I gave you music, you enthused in my kindness. So how dare you reduce me to Donny Imus.”
The next track, “Strong Will Continue” was the first track that many people heard off of the album. It was leaked late last year and it shows off not only the superior production skills of Marley but also why Nas was called “Nasty Nas”. One very venom-filled verse takes aim at the turmoil that has engulfed Nas’ life the past year or so with bars like “How and the hell am I supposed to stay comfy when I pay child support alimony monthly. Got Maseratis and Ferraris. Only like a woman who’s a rider, but only hoes want me. Single life, crazy, niggas wives on me. I say stay faithful, they say they man corny. So I’m stuck with some married women, so fine Cheatin’ while they husband rushing on the 40 yard line.”
“Leaders”, one of the tracks that was produced by Marley’s brother Stephen, has a really trippy beat that sounds similar to anything that their iconic father would have created. The production helps the two MCs get across their message better. What also helps get their message is when Nas drops lines like “Malcolm on the podium. Shells drop to linoleum. Swipe those. Place ‘em on display at the Smithsonian.”
The next two tracks, “Friends” and “Count Your Blessings” further show the amazing chemistry that has developed between Nas and Jr. Gong. The next two songs after that, “Dispear” and “Land Of Promise” are the polar opposites of each other. The first track highlights the various dark times that the continent of Africa has faced. The bridge of the song, sung by Marley, best shows the despair that Africans from long ago went through, “Despair was a tool that was used to enslave man and mek manservant, Escape from despair and desperation becomes more urgent, Mankind needs to cleanse and wash out dem soul with spiritual detergent.” “Land Of Promise” is the flip side of the previous song. Jr. Gong’s first bar in the first verse of the song compares African cities to American cities and Nas’ first bar in the second verse, “Promised land I picture Porsches, Basquiat portraits, pink rings realistic princesses, heiresses’ bunch of kings and queens”, it shows the high hopes that Nas and Marley have for the future of Africa.
“In His Own Words” is by far the most spiritual song on the album as both Nas and Marley trade verses on their spiritual views. Nas definitely shows on this track why is arguably one of the best lyricists of all time with his verse on his spiritual views, “Through my perspective, I can see Jah reflection in the highest definition, getting high with bredrin, then I ask him why is Africans dying from circumcision, they lack proper surgeons and suffer malnutrition, underestimate the wealth of their own wisdom, it’s like it’s been exchanged for this penicillin.” The next track, “Nah Mean” is the real “party” song of the album the beat is utterly infectious but still keeps the overall message of the album.
The final three tracks of the album, “Patience,” “My Generation” and without a doubt “Africa Must Wake Up,” really hammer home the message of unity and striving for better on the album. On “My Generation,” the addition of Joss Stone and Lil’ Wayne helps the track’s poignancy. Weezy, usually known for swagger and sizzurp-tainted lyrics, pull a verse out of his ass that can hang with Jr. Gong and Nas, the highlight of the verse being , “ Last night I set the future at the feet of my son. But they thinking that my Generation gotta die young. If we all come together, Then
they can’t divide one. Don’t worry ‘bout it, Just be about it.”
Nas and Jr. Gong still bring the heat on this song as they both offer up verses that serve as great observations of today’s generation. Gong’s verse truly shows the ridiculous flow that earned him a Grammy, “My Generation it so special it will make a change because the elders sew the seed and it a germinate. So anytime dem see the progress dem a celebrate because we rising up despite of the economy and then a we a star the show like the astronomy and how we keep on breaking through is an anomaly because we keep remaining true without apology.” Nas matches the sentiment felt by Marley in his verse, “I reach ‘em like Bono, So get rid of your self-sorrow. Add some bravado, Get wealthy like Wells Fargo. It’s true that I am you, And I am proof. Surviving through, We do what we got to do.Yow we can break the cycle, Let nobody lie to you. Then maybe put our sons and our daughters in private school cause there’s a mission we gotta finish before we leave. This generation is destined to do historic deeds.”
“Distant Relatives’” closing track, “Africa Must Wake Up,” is the perfect way to end this album as Nas and Jr. Gong encapsulate their battle cry for a new and prosperous Africa and with help from K’naan singing his verse in his native Somali. You can truly tell that Jr. Gong really put a lot of thought into the production of the album, as the feeling of Africa got across in his beats but also made them fit with the very unique flow of Nas.
Nas’s work lyrically on this album was amazing. His lyrics and flow truly stands out when he focus on what his strengths are as an MC, which are relaying his highly intellectual and observational lyrics in flows are sometimes machine gun-like and sometimes like a lullaby. Him and Jr. Gong work so well together that comes across like they’ve been making music together for years.
“Distant Relatives” is a great piece of collaborative music that not only Nas and Damien Marley should be proud of but this generation of young people but generations to come. ****1/2
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