Album Review: Distant Relatives

Just a disclaimer to anyone that reads this: before you get any further into this review, reggae is not my specialty! I know who Damian Marley is, but honestly, reggae is not a staple in my music player. Not that I have anything against reggae or I think it's less important than any other genre, I just find a lot of reggae is pretty similar in nature. Similar beats, the same guitar up-stroke, and familiar themes make new songs a tad bit stale to me and leave me feeling like I've heard it before. However, I do enjoy it from time to time. Bob Marley is a music legend; no doubt about it. Now onto the review....



Artist: Nas & Damian "Junior Gong" Marley
Album: Distant Relatives

I'm not going to lie; I checked this album out because it has Nas' name on it. I consider Nas one of the greatest rappers in the history of rap; bar none. He is definitely in my top 5, if not my favorite. He has made some poor business and personal decisions as of late and hasn't come as hard recently as he did in his heyday in the 90's, but his albums are always worth checking out because his message is always relevant. He is one of the last real rappers left. Now Damian on the other hand...I'm not sure. I mentioned I don't really know much about reggae aside from the big names like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and my man Barrington Levy (and the recent uprising of white people doing reggae like UB40 and Pepper), but from what I understand, Damian Marley is one of the popular names that pop up in today's reggae. It is mostly because he is the youngest son of the legend Bob Marley? Possibly. I haven't heard his music before this album, but considering he produced pretty much the entire album, I know he's got talent. That being said, I feel like this would have been better as a Damian Marley solo album. Nas throws in his verses here and there, however I feel the hip hop elements somewhat dilute the soul of the music. The instruments sound great, the themes are loud and clear, and the production is crystal clear for the most part. It seems like the things I like least about each song are Nas' verses that sometimes feel out of place with very reggae/worldly sounding tracks that would flow a little bitter simply with Damian's "singing?" (I don't know how to classify the reggae lyrics). On top of that, Damian's roots are firmly planted in reggae and his productions reflect it, so throwing a few elements of hip hop beats on top of that don't sound like they blend too well. However, considering this album will probably sell better than most Damian Marley solo albums, I can understand why it was done. Nas on the other hand...this makes no sense homie. Unless he was bored and just felt like doing something different. He does have some big child support payments coming up as well. Ya, actually it makes sense now. Overall it's worth a listen if you're a reggae fan. Damian Marley is a really talented producer and musician. I just may check out more of his joints. Bumbaclad rasta!

Standout tracks: "My Generation", "Friends"

Review: *** (3/5 stars)

Scale:
***** - Amazing! Highly important
**** - Great, very enjoyable
*** - Decent, worth checking out
** - Average, not very exciting
* - Poor, don't even bother