This whole record, by and large, tries to be a message piece. DoesnвЂ™t always make for great music, however. Sure, with the presence he holds in hip hop, he can more or less afford this, and might even deserve it. What then, you ask, is the problem? ItвЂ™s nothing new with Nas: the guy takes himself pretty damn seriously. His presence over the reggae-infused beats and DamianвЂ™s singing is great one the ears, and he can pretty much carry you through the album regardless as to what heвЂ™s saying. ItвЂ™s pretty much understood he can at the very least hold his own, if not out rap, anyone in the game. His flow is absurdly fantastic, smooth and equally in turns forceful. Nas, is both the albumвЂ™s greatest asset and detractor. Damian is just as much of a presence on the record as Nasir, sometimes вЂ“ yes, really вЂ“ overshadowing the great.

Would he be that prominently featured? Many people, attached to Nas, assumed and hoped MarleyвЂ™s presence would be fleeting, just backing up the hip hop godfather.

As buzz amongst the hip hop world grew, the presence of Damian Marley was something of a mystery. Might seem silly, but I wonder if the record execs were less faithful in the record as it couldnвЂ™t be marketed simply as a Nas album. This album received practically no press, at least for an album featuring someone as big of a deal as Nas. Now that the recordвЂ™s out, itвЂ™s yet another hip hop record where the delays really werenвЂ™t warranted. Talk of Distant Relatives began quite a while ago, I recall thinking the album had to be coming soon probably a year ago. Following Untitled, let down, I immediately began rooting around to see what he had up next. You know, whether itвЂ™s the case or not, it feels like weвЂ™ve been waiting forever for this one.

Nas distant relatives 2 review