More On The Nas/Damian Marley Collaboration
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 07.08.2009
"It's not reggae. It's not rap. It's different sh*t for each of us."
Nas and Damian Marley had plans to do "an EP based on Africa". However, that project turned into the full album Distant Relatives. Nas and Marley have been previewing material from the set while headlining the 2009 Rock The Bells tour. No release date has been determined.
"Once we started working on the music," Marley says, "it was Nas who said to me, 'Yo, we should just make this a full album.' He really liked the energy, I guess."
Nas adds that "I just think it was me and Damian finding our way. When you have two different artists working on a record when they're used to doing their own thing their own way, it's not as easy as people may think. We just flowed, and the next thing we looked up and there were so many songs done or so many songs started and worked on...we just decided to keep it going. It's not reggae. It's not rap. It's different shit for each of us."
The album is 75-90% done (depending on which artist you ask). K'Naan makes a guest appearance. Part of the track "As We Enter" has already leaked. "Strong Will Continue" and "Africa Must Wake Up" are other track titles.
"I like to come out and tell the people live in person, 'Yo, the album is coming' and give them a little bit of music to start to get excited about it," says Marley. "I think it also will help with the finishing of the album because we're seeing how things work."
"I know people are kind of like, 'What's happening? What's Nas doing? What's Damian doing? Is this really happening?' " Nas notes. "So just being out here on the road we get a good feel from people about this whole thing."
