One876 Entertainment.com

Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley, whose collaboration, Distant Relatives, with US hip hop artiste, Nas, continues to hold on to the No 1 spot after 13 weeks on the chart. Such is the appeal of the album that it has kept Gyptian's Hold Yuh album at bay even though Gyptian is the breakout reggae artiste this Summer in the United States.
 

Meanwhile, it is still going strong on the Top 200, rocking the # 93 spot while strong-arming the #18 spot on the R&B /Hip Hop Album charts.

The album is also #11 on the Rap Albums charts.

One876entertainment.com reviewed the album recently.

Oh no, we know what you’re thinking. Not another African manifesto chock full of reductive, outdated philosophies, preachy self-righteousness and odd schmaltzy references to Babylon and Zion. But Distant Relatives, the collaborative album between the American rapper Nas and our own Damian Marley, is much more than that.

It is a record that shows clearly the alchemy between Nas and Junior Gong’s voice, how two musicians from different backgrounds can make music with a universal theme of love, tolerance and understanding. This album engenders a strong sense of unity which we can build on for a better, more glorious future.

The album is a strong statement of the importance of one’s roots and shows how we are interconnected in a crazy, overpopulated world. The album has a strong unified vision, not only of shared ancestry, but of brotherhood and friendship regardless of geography.

This theme is hammered home by strong lyrical performances over a mix of hip-hop and reggae beats melded with trumpets, congas and electric organs. Fusing hip hop and reggae musical elements, Marley and Nas also incorporated samples from African music into the album. The album's lyrical content heavily revolves around themes concerning Africa, from ancestry and poverty, with social commentary of the United States and Africa

Marley does most of the heavy lifting on the album, and at times, Nas seems to be content to trot out meaningless platitudes we’ve heard over and over again, but every now and then, there is a spark of anger and the truth comes bleeding out. For instance when Nas raps on the violin-influenced Tribes of War:

"Man, what happened to us? Geographically, they moved us, from Africa.

We was once happiness pursuers. Now we backstabbing, combative and Abusive.”

Marley positively sparkles on Land of Promise which samples the work of the Crown Prince of Reggae, Dennis Brown. He sings:

"Imagine Ghana like California, with Sunset Boulevard. And

Johannesburg would be Miami. Somalia like New York.”

Standout songs like Africa Must Wake Up, featuring K'naan, is a call to awareness, while the track "Count Your Blessings" reflects on the plight of Africa.

released May 18, 2010, on Universal Republic and Def Jam Recordings. Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2010 and was handled primarily by Damian Marley and Stephen Marley. Fusing musical elements of hip hop and reggae, Distant Relatives features lyrical themes concerning ancestry, poverty, and the plight of Africa.

The album debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 57,000 copies in its first week. Upon its release, Distant Relatives received generally positive reviews from most music critics. The album debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 57,000 copies. It serves as Nas's tenth top-ten album and Marley's second top-ten album in the United States.

The album also entered at number four on Billboard's Digital Albums, and at number one on its R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Rap Albums, and Reggae Albums charts.

It’s a difficult thing to tackle complex subjects from the diamond trade to poverty and economics, but Nas and Marley for the most part are thoughtful, sincere, without getting too preachy, didactic and self-important. But that was expected, they are, after all, Distant Relatives.