What we're about to do right now is go back. Back to a time when rap's greatest hits were created in basement soundrooms, not corporate boardrooms. When dancehall and hip-hop music was all about moving the crowd not "moving units." Before Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley and Nasty Nasir Jones first began treading the long and winding "Road to Zion." The artists' first collaboration went so well that they decided to do a full album together, and that album is Distant Relatives.

Unlike all previous collaborations between Jamaican and American artists, Distant Relatives is neither a remix nor a featured guest spot on a single track. The recording is a fully collaborative effort filling an entire album, opening new avenues of musical expression.

In their latest collaboration, Nas and Damian trace hip-hop’s roots to Africa, where the genre originated as a vital form of cultural expression and was then transported by the slave trade to the Caribbean and the American colonies. It blossomed a half century ago in the dance halls of Kingston, Jamaica, and soon migrated to the park jams and recreational centers of New York City, where the culture became known as hip-hop. This evolution forms the basis of the Distant Relatives project which, in addition to the album, also includes a documentary film, performances and a series of public discussions.

The partnership between the two artists is sure to amaze with an album encompassing 14 tracks including the first singles "As We Enter" and "Strong Will Continue." The album was produced by Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley and also features several guest appearances from Joss Stone and Lil Wayne, who appear on the track "Generation," K’NAAN on "Africa Must Wake Up" and "Tribal War," and Stephen Marley on "Leaders" and "In His Own Words."

The sound of Distant Relatives features live musicians as well as studio production by Damian Marley and his elder brother Stephen Marley, a distinguished award-winning artist and producer in his own right. "I didn't want it to sound like something that would be typical of me, neither typical of Nas," said Damian Marley, who produced much of the album. "But something where you can still see how there’s a middle ground in the music, where you can still hear something that is reminiscent of either of us. Nas adds, "I think we can have fun helping people. When I think about things we wanna do with this album, it’s just limitless."

Tour Dates
7/04 - Gdynia, PL - Heineken Open'er Festival
7/06 - Copenhagen, DK - Vega
7/07 - Hultsfred, SE - Hultsfred Festival
7/09 - Frauenfeld, CH - Openair Frauenfeld
7/10 - Montreux, CH - 44th Montreux Jazz Festival
7/11 - Rotterdam, NL - North Sea Jazz
7/13 - Hamburg, DE - Stadtpark
7/14 - Munich, DE - Tollwood Festival
7/17 - Dublin, IE - Tripod
7/23 - Gräfenhainichen, DE - Splash Festival
7/31 - Brooklyn, NY - Williamsburg Waterfront
8/01 - Bridgeport, CT - Gathering of the Vibes
8/14 - Denver, CO - Mile High Music Festival

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