Nas and Damian Marley

There is a saying that goes, “Preparation time is not lost time.”

That saying is fitting for Nas and Damian Marley, two titans in their respective genres of music who have chosen to educate the world about the similarities between both styles of music as well as the issues which affect Africa.

God’s Son and Jr. Gong have had the streets buzzing about their upcoming album for quite some time now. Early this year, the two announced that they would be recording a joint album. Entitled Distant Relatives, the expected release date for the project is March 16, 2010.

The two had originally planned to record an EP about Africa, largely consisting of previous songs. After working on the project together, they decided to record a full-length album.

Since then, the two have been recording and touring together, fueling interest for the album.

That one was “Africa Must Wake Up.”

Since then, a snippet of a new record from the two has been leaked. It’s called “As We Enter.”

I really like the back-and-forth format of this song. If they can keep variety like this in the music, it should be a classic.

For this album, the intended purpose is more important than the music itself. It is long overdue that our culture became more acquainted with that of Africa and that an intellectual dialogue is sparked.

Beyond that, the dynamic musical duo intends to use the proceeds from the album to do charity work in Africa and may possibly build a school in the Congo.

From two very conscious artists who have always had much to say about Africa, the world stage has proven to be a very comfortable environment. Both artists recently hooked up with hip hop greats such as Rakim, DJ Kool Herc, and DJ Red Alert to speak about the cultural and musical ties between reggae and hip hop at an event sponsored by National Geographic.

Hosted by Sway Calloway, the event lasted for over two hours and featured a dynamic and highly distinguished group of musical pioneers.

You can find it below (assuming that you have two hours to spare).

Some of the speakers seemed to hint that this is a series that we will see and hear more from, which shows that the two are serious about educating their respective cultures about the context in which they originated.

In an interview with NPR, Nas said the following about both artists’ mission for the album.

“I want to build whatever we can build. We can build schools, states, hospitals. I mean, we want to give our whole heart.”

Your thoughts?

Main Image: Hip Hop Is Life

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