The Top 20 Albums of 2010 #7 Nas and Damian Marley: Distant Relatives

The Top 20 Albums of 2010

#7 Nas and Damian Marley: Distant Relatives

Words by Dirk Calloway

Preface: you're reading a - mostly - daily series on the best albums of 2010. Check out the archives for April and May (you'll see them up the top-right of this here page) for more!

You're looking at royalty here. One of the princes of Hip Hop and the King of Reggae's heir. To fuse them together in the same record though... would fireworks result? Or just a soft fizzle followed by the smell of stale gunpowder? Turns out... neither! If we're sticking with explosion metaphors, and why shouldn't we, let's just say this is a self-contained slow-burn that sustains itself over many months. But it starts with a BANG:

As We Enter is the name of that first shot across the bow (ok really need to ditch this "explosion" thing). Its music video is, um, not my favourite, but at least it gives you a legal way to listen to the song. A few of the lyrics are censored, including "guns" and "ganga" of all things. Ironic that a country that fiercely defends its right to bear arms would also demand that we protect youngsters ears from a word like "guns." Sigh. Anyway, the song itself is carried by a groovy keyboard riff and feels like the two guys are letting loose and passing lyrics to each other with excitement. By no means does it sound like a track from two massive stoners! It's energised, alive and also serves as a fantastic way for them to open their live act. Here's a shot taken at the gig in Wellington I went to where I saw them perform live, including Nas in an All-Blacks shirt:

The look on Damian Marley's face above says it all. This is not an album by 'composers,' nope, it's an album by performers. Each line is part of the act. It's not a conceptual act though, it's just a conciousness that they have the limelight and will make the most of it while they're in it. Whether they're on a soap-box demanding "every child deserves to learn" or the quietly pleading album closure Africa Must Wake Up, these two are determined to grab your ears for as long as you'll listen. I'll take lyrics like this over most other hip hop any day: 

The black oasis, ancient Africa, the sacred

Awaken the sleeping giant, science, art is your creation

I dreamed that we could visit old Kemet

your history is too complex and rigid for some Western critics

They want the whole subject diminished

Rest assured, if any of the lyrics sound trite, they're done with the best of intentions. Indeed, a workmate of mine took umbrage at a rhyme with "ganga" and "Willy Wonka" and his reaction is justified. I guess my feeling about most rap albums (if you could call Distant Relatives rap) is that they generally have about 20% of lyrics that I either feel make no sense, or are downright offensive, or are voiced by thoughtless individuals. If I can defend this record against his thoughts, I'd propose that Distant Relatives' strike-out rate is much better than 80-20, and when they do fail to deliver the goods they do so while trying hard. I appreciate hip hop that goes to some effort. 

Distant Relatives goes beyond 'effort' though - it's rap's version of The Lion King or Paul Simon's Graceland. Choirs sing over tribal rhythms, tuned percussion clunk where you'd normally hear a synthesiser, all while violins play over the top. And that's just the second song. Many of the tracks on this record take you to places you never thought you'd hear from Nas. He's always had savvy arrangements, but this is a massive step up for him from his more recent releases. The great thing about it all though, is they're able to improve upon the sound when they play live! They've toured this year with a top-knotch band who can seriously rock out, adding flourishes on top of existing beauty, as if to prove that the song's foundations are sound and able to withstand any amount of renovation professional musos can throw at them. These aren't "samples," instead they are legitimate music that has been thoughtfully arranged.

I'm gonna wrap this thing up here, because either you're keen to give the record a go, or you're really not. You can let your prejudice against genre influence that decision if you like. Or... you could check out a genuinely original piece of music from two artists that work within played-out and usually trite "brands" of music and are innovating in a way that is truly exciting. Your call!

Tomorrow, we will review another album. It is by another duo. They would appreciate my phrasing here, as they replicated it in their publicity and cover art.