Distant Relatives Reunite: Nas & Damien Marley Wembley Concert

When I first heard that these two musical greats were collaborating, I was a little dubious and didn’t really pay the rumour any attention. Until the cold, harsh reality of melodic beats, ethnic bongo drum sounds and conscious lyrics hit me in the form of their debut album “Distant Relatives”. This album is a unique fusion of ‘hiphop-reggae’ influences, plagued with thought provoking lyrics , drawing from their African roots; this unlikely pairing formed last year’s most extraordinary collaborations. 

The walls of Wembley Arena were bursting at the seams on Thursday 31st March 2011 for the UK leg of their Distant Relatives Tour. The energy on stage was unreal, Nasir’s effortless Hip hop flow intertwined with Damien’s melodic vocal delivery made this performance not only unique but an eclectic array of spiritual words, cultural beats, colourful, united minds which created - musical genius. As they sang, rapped & danced their way through the Distant Relatives album; which birthed hits such as the infectious “Nah Meen”, the spine-tingling “Patience” and the conscious content of “Africa Must Wake Up” they kept the crowd engaged as they delved into a back catalogue of their own solo albums. 

The ‘God’s Son’ picked and mixed tracks from albums spanning over his 20 music career, hits from his Illmatic, HipHop is Dead and I Am albums sent the crowd wild, whilst cherry picked tracks from Jr. Gong’s Welcome to JamRock album aswell as a few dedications to the late Bob Marley added that tropical heat to an already sizzling atmosphere. 

A fantastic performance which united everyone from diverse backgrounds, speaking the same musical language; a true representation of nations coming together as Distant Relatives.