Nas and Damien Marley: Distant Relatives

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Considering the close connection between hip-hop and Jamaican sound system culture, it's a surprise the two genres don't overlap in contemporary music more often. Sure, Marley's 2005 album Welcome to Jamrock helped move Jamaican music beyond the Everything's Gonna Be Alright archetype that his father popularised, and few rap albums are complete these days without a reggae singer guest spot - but level-pegging releases such as this are all too rare. One might expect an album featuring the best-respected Marley son and the New York emcee - whose 1994 album Illmatic is considered by many as hip-hop's finest hour - to be a dangerous battle of egos. But because both artists are given plenty of time to shine, Distant Relatives is a buoyant and mature affair. The songs fall into two categories, forthright rallying cries celebrating African music and culture, such as Tribes at War and My Generation (which features Lil Wayne and Joss Stone), and introspective reflections on family and faith such as Count Your Blessings and In His Own Words. By and large, the former offers the more interesting musical discoveries. While both artists are on fine vocal and lyrical form, the album is let down in many parts by downright garish production, including jangly acoustic guitars and synthesised strings. Only Nah Mean, which appears towards the end of the album, recaptures the gritty Kingston spark that Marley mastered on Jamrock. But despite generic elements, Distant Relatives is a successful collaboration and a welcome exploration of the common threads between hip-hop and reggae.