''Distant Relatives'' is a collaborative studio album by American rapper

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

and Jamaican

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

vocalist

Damian Marley Damian Robert Nesta "Jr. Gong" Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican DJ, singer, lyricist and rapper. He is the recipient of four Grammy Awards. Early life, education and family Damian Marley is the youngest son of reggae musician Bob Marle ...

. It was released on May 18, 2010, by

Universal Republic Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

and

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

. The album is Nas' tenth (third for Def Jam) and Marley's fourth studio album, respectively. ''Distant Relatives'' was recorded between 2008 and 2010, being produced primarily by Damien and Stephen Marley, both sons of the most-known Jamaican musician

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

. Fusing musical elements of hip hop and reggae, it features lyrical themes concerning ancestry, poverty, and the plight of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. It features appearances from K’naan, Stephen Marley,

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lo ...

, Junior Reid, Joss Stone and

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

. 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 positive reviews from most music critics.

Background

News of the album first came at the

2009 Grammy Awards The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the b ...

, when Nas told MTV reporters "Right now, I'll tell you first, I'm working on an album with Damian Marley. We tryin' to build some schools in Africa with this one, and trying to build empowerment. We're tryin' to show love and stuff with this album. So, the record's … all about really the 'hood and Africa also as well." The album title derives from Nas and Marley's relationship, their shared African ancestry, and the shared ancestry of the entire human race; which musically and lyrically inspired each recording. Leftover tracks from Nas and Marley's previous albums were originally planned for an EP based on Africa. After working together, the duo decided to record a full album together.

Recording and production

Nas and Marley began recording in 2008; recording sessions took place in Los Angeles, California, and Miami, Florida. Marley and his brother,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, produced the majority of the album, using live instrumentation in the recording process. They collaborated with guest artists, including Stephen Marley, Joss Stone,

, and

K'naan Keinan Abdi Warsame (born 1 February 1978) ( so, Keynaan Cabdi Warsame, ar, كَينَان عَبدِ وَرسَمَ ''Kaynān ʿAbdi Warsama''), better known by his stage name K'naan (), is a Somali Canadians, Somali-Canadian musician. He ...

. On the album's production, Marley told ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', "We're trying to have a sound that's reminiscent of both of us, but not exactly like either... A lot of charity albums come off corny. We want this to be something you'd play in your car."

Music

Fusing hip hop and

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 Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

of the United States and Africa. The track "Count Your Blessings" reflects on the plight of Africa.

Release and promotion

Nas and Damian Marley performing in Wellington Photo By Brady Dyer

The album was released May 18, 2010 on

and

. Its proceeds will go to a project in Africa, with the possibility of building a school in Congo.

Panel discussion

At a sold-out panel discussion on the African diaspora and its relation to music, sponsored by National Geographic, Damian and Stephen Marley and Nas were among the several hip hop and reggae musicians voicing their solidarity. The discussion focused on the collaborations between artists of the two genres, and highlighted the ''Distant Relatives'' project.

Singles

The first single, "

As We Enter "As We Enter" is the first single from Nas and Damian Marley's collaboration album, ''Distant Relatives''. The track is produced by Damian Marley. There are no full verses in the song, but rather Nas and Damian Marley rap in call-and-response fas ...

", was released on iTunes on February 23, 2010. It has so far peaked at #10 on the iTunes Hip Hop/Rap charts and #41 on the iTunes Music charts. The single debuted at number 39 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. "Strong Will Continue" is featured as soundtrack in

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

game, ''

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

''. "My Generation" was released in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2010.

Critical reception

''Distant Relatives'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 73, based on 23 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".''Distant Relatives'' Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More

. Retrieved on 2010-05-18.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's David Jeffries complimented its themes concerning Africa, calling it "one purposeful monster and a conceptional bull's eye that fully supports its title".Jeffries, David. Review: ''Distant Relatives''

. Retrieved on 2010-05-18. Sputnikmusic's Ryan Flatley stated, "Nas and Damian Marley are a formidable pairing, seemingly on the same level throughout most of the album in thought and overall presence".Flatley, Ryan
Review: ''Distant Relatives''
Sputnikmusic. Retrieved on 2010-05-19. Dave Simpson of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described its music as "thoughtful, sincere, weighty stuff, tackling subjects from African poverty to the diamond trade without sounding preachy or schmaltzy".Simpson, Dave
Review: ''Distant Relatives''
''

''. Retrieved on 2010-05-18. Gervase de Wilde of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' called it "predictably brilliant". Although he found its musical fusion "a little overblown", David Amidon of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

felt that "the alchemy between Nas and Junior Gong’s voice is obvious and engenders a strong sense of unity".Amidon, David
Review: ''Distant Relatives''

. Retrieved on 2010-06-01. ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

'' commented that the album "finds a glorious similitude between the two disciplines." '' Slant Magazine''s M.T. Richards called the album "a bright, richly cultured work" and praised its themes of humanity and humility, writing that it "shines with passion and zeal, both in its content and production, which oozes earthy warmth".Richards, M.T
Review: ''Distant Relatives''
Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2010-05-25. In ''

MSN Music ''MSN Music'' was a part of MSN's web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. The website also served as a digital music store from 2004 to 2008. History I ...

'', Robert Christgau stated, "The result is an exceptionally melodic reggae album that's intensified by rapping devoid of dancehall patois and a hard edge unknown to roots revivalism. The result is also an exceptionally political hip-hop album that's most convincing when it doesn't multiply Afrocentric distortion by Rastafarian reasoning".Christgau, Robert.
Consumer Guide: ''Distant Relatives''
.

: June 2010. In a mixed review, J. Gabriel Boylan of '' Spin'' felt that its "revelatory message blunted by digressions".Boylan, J. Gabriel
Review: ''Distant Relatives''
'' Spin''. Retrieved on 2010-05-18. Sean Fennessey of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' found it to be "rudimentary" and "a tasteful affair full of uninteresting revelations and self-serious proclamations".Fennessey, Sean
Review: ''Distant Relatives''
''

''. Retrieved on 2010-05-19. Jeff Weiss of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' commented that the album "vacillates between the dreary and dynamic", and criticized its "didacticism": " adened by reductive philosophies and crippling self-seriousness, the record often feels overly ponderous".Weiss, Jeff
Review: ''Distant Relatives''
''

''. Retrieved on 2010-05-18.

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

's Tom Breihan viewed the lyrics as trite and stated, "Nas and Marley fall into a sort of middlebrow funk, kicking overripe platitudes over sunny session-musician lopes and letting their self-importance suffocate their personalities".Breihan, Tom
Review: ''Distant Relatives''

. Retrieved on 2010-05-21. Nathan Rabin of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' called it "an Afrocentric manifesto sometimes loaded down by the weight of its noble ambitions".Rabin, Nathan
Review: ''Distant Relatives''
''

''. Retrieved on 2010-05-25.

Commercial performance

''Distant Relatives'' debuted at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart with first-week sales of 57,000 copies.Caulfield, Keith
'Glee' Stops the Show at No. 1, Stones Come in Second On Billboard 200
'' Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-05-26. 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 The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

,Digital Albums - Week of June 05, 2010
''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-05-27. and at number one on its R&B/Hip-Hop Albums,R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Week of June 05, 2010
''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-05-27. Rap Albums,Rap Albums - Week of June 05, 2010
''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-05-27. and Reggae Albums charts.Reggae Albums - Week of June 05, 2010
''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-05-27. As of June 2010, it has sold 134,000 copies in the United States. Internationally, ''Distant Relatives'' attained some chart success.Album Performance: ''Distant Relatives''
acharts. Retrieved on 2010-05-27. It entered at number 33 on the

European Top 100 Albums The European Top 100 Albums chart was the European adaptation of the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. It ran from March 1984 until December 2010. Also commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums, the chart showcased the sales of an act in 19 E ...

chart.European Albums - Week of June 05, 2010
''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-05-27. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 30 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and at number four on the R&B Albums Chart.The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart - 23 May 2010

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

. Retrieved on 2010-05-27.UK Top 40 RnB Albums - 23 May 2010
BBC Online. Retrieved on 2010-05-27. In Canada, the album entered at number 9 on the Top 100 Albums chart. In Germany, it debuted at number 38 on the

Media Control Charts Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass ...

,Album Top 50 KW 20 - Gültig ab 28.05.2010
MTV. Retrieved on 2010-05-28. and in the Netherlands, the album debuted at number 72 and peaked at number 65 on the

Mega Album Top 100 The Dutch Album Top 100 or Album Top 100 is a weekly hit list of music albums, compiled by Dutch Charts. List shows the 100 best-selling music albums of the moment in the Netherlands. The list has passed through various name changes and has expand ...

Track listing

All tracks were produced by Damian Marley, except tracks 4, 9, and 11, which were produced by Stephen Marley. ; Sample credits * "

" contains samples of "Yegelle Tezeta" by Mulatu Astatke. * "Tribes at War" contains a sample from "Tribal War" by Earl Lowe. * "Friends" contains a sample from "Undenge Uami" by David Zé. * "Land Of Promise" contains a sample from "Promised Land" by

. * "Nah Mean" contains a sample from "Kurikute" by Sara Chaves. * "Patience" contains a sample from "Sabali" by

Amadou & Mariam Amadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali, composed of the Bamako-born couple Amadou Bagayoko (guitar and vocals) (born 24 October 1954) and Mariam Doumbia (vocals) (born 15 April 1958). Their album '' Welcome To Mali'' (2008) was nominated ...

from the album '' Welcome to Mali''. * "My Generation" contains a sample from "Generation" by

Ziggy Marley David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician, actor and philanthropist. He is the son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 20 ...

Personnel

Credits for ''Distant Relatives'' adapted from

. Credits: ''Distant Relatives'' Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-05-18. * Luke Aiono – guitar * Rahsaan Alexander – background vocals * Chris Athens – mastering * Kreiger Bailey – background vocals * Amadou Bajayoko – composer * Miguel Bermudez – assistant * Chad Blaize – background vocals * Dennis Brown – composer, background vocals * Llamar "Riff Raff" Brown – keyboards * Ann Marie Calhoun – violin * Andrea Carter – guitar * James "Bonzai" Caruso – mixing * Jason Chantrelle – A&R * Daniel Chappell – brass * Squiddly Cole – percussion, drums, keyboards * Shiah Coore – bass, drums, background vocals, handclapping * Greg DePante – assistant * Courtney Diedrick – drums, handclapping * Sean Diedrick – keyboards * Mariam Doumbia – composer *

Dwayne Carter Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

– composer *

Nabil Elderkin Nabil Elderkin is an American-born Australian film and music video director and photographer, who is of Iranian and American descent. He is mononymously credited as Nabil in his videos. Elderkin has directed videos for musical artists such as: ...

– photography * Paul Fakhourie – bass, keyboards * Andre "Illestr8" Forrest – background vocals, handclapping * Rovleta Fraser – background vocals * Nesta Garrick – art direction, design *

Neville Garrick Neville Garrick is a Jamaican-born Los Angeles-based graphic artist, and photographer. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Garrick attended UCLA where he played for the football team, reaching the National Collegia ...

– photography, art consultant * Marcus Garvey – quotation author * Rannoy Gordon – guitar * Andrew Green – engineer * Tim Harkins – engineer * Phillip "Winta" James – keyboards, background vocals, handclapping * Sunday Agwaze Michaels – tumbadora "African conga" * Nasir Jones – composer, writer, rapper, executive producer, producer, background vocals * Keinan Warsame – composer * L.A.'s Best Sunny Brae Choir – background vocals * Marc Lee – engineer * Funji Legohn – brass * Casey Lewis – engineer *

– composer, producer, programming, background vocals, handclapping, executive producer * Stephen Marley – guitar, composer, keyboards, programming, producer * George Massa – engineer * Christopher Merridith – bass, guitar, keyboards * Jah Amen Mobley – background vocals *

Leon Mobley Leon Mobley (born February 27, 1961) is a percussionist and drummer, founder and artistic and musical director of Da Lion and Djimbe West African Drummers and Dancers, actor, and a member of the Innocent Criminals, Ben Harper's band. He worked w ...

– percussion, background vocals * Vernon Mungo – engineer * Josh Newell – engineer * Bobby Newland – assistant * Steve Nowa – assistant * Oakwood School 5th Grade Choir – background vocals * Raymond Onyai – background vocals *

George Pajon George Pajon Jr. (born April 10, 1969) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Early life George Pajon Jr. "attended private St. Matthias Elementary School, a Catholic K-8 school, in Huntington Park. Growing up in conservative ...

– guitar * Lisa Parade – director * Josef Powell – background vocals * José Quintero – assistant * Benjamin Reid – engineer, assistant * Mike Rowe – keyboards * James Rudder – assistant *

Noelle Scaggs Noelle Scaggs (born October 8, 1979) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, known as the co-lead singer of the pop group Fitz and the Tantrums. Scaggs has also had numerous collaborations with the Black Eyed Peas, Dilated ...

– background vocals * Miles Tackett – cello * Charles Wakeman – engineer, mixing, assistant *

Oren Waters Oren Waters is an American vocalist best known for his work with the backup singing group The Waters, his siblings: Luther, Maxine and Julia. As an ensemble, Waters has been a part of 260 gold and over 100 platinum albums with artists ranging from ...

– background vocals * Will Wheaton – background vocals * Roselyn Williams – background vocals * Betty Wright – background vocals * Eric "Twizted" Young – assistant * Gabriel Zardes – A&R * Danny Zook – sample clearance * Corey Lloyd - sample clearance * Michael Hardin - sample clearance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* *
Distant Relatives
' at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

*
Distant Relatives
' at

*
''Distant Relatives'' panel discussion
at '' National Geographic'' {{Authority control 2010 albums Damian Marley albums Def Jam Recordings albums Collaborative albums Nas albums Republic Records albums