News of the album first surfaced at the 2009 Grammy Awards when Nas told MTV:
Right now, I’ll tell you first, I’m working on an album with Damian Marley. We tryin’ to build some schools in Africa with this one, and trying to build empowerment. We’re tryin’ to show love and stuff with this album. So, the record’s … all about really the ‘hood and Africa also as well.
Recording began in 2008 as Nas and Damian met in Los Angeles and Miami for recording sessions. The majority of the album was produced by Damian Marley and his brother Stephen Marley while Nas also employed producers K’naan and 9th Wonder for select tracks.
The album has been anticipated for over a year and the duo has already performed live numerous times including an appearance at the 2009 Rothbury Music Festival last year. An official release date of May 25th, 2010. The initial single, “As We Enter”, was made available February 23rd, 2010; check it out the album artwork and full tracklisting below.
Distant Relatives Tracklisting
- “Intro (Something New)”
- “As We Enter”
- “Revolutionary”
- “Count Your Blessings”
- “Belief is Key”
- “Africa Must Wake Up” (featuring K’naan)
- “Black Horizon” (featuring K’naan)
- “Strong Will Continue”
- “Our Generation” (featuring Joss Stone & Stevie Wonder)
- “Empowerment”
- “AID”
- “Let’s End It (Poverty)” (featuring K’naan)
- “The Earth” (featuring Bob Marley)
- “Black Man’s Paper” (featuring Erykah Badu)
- “Weed On” (featuring Snoop Dogg)
