Dublin, July 17th 2010, I had the privilege of being picked as the guest-dj support for the Nas and Damian gig; below are my thoughts on the ground shattering album.

There are so many ‘reviews’ of the ‘Distant Relatives’ album featured around in print and online. Some of them pleasant and truthful some have been exceptionally difficult to read; most of the so called music gurus penning them (if they actually know what a pen is?) have absolutely no idea of the history behind the piece at all. I don’t claim to have the authority, be it moral or otherwise, to comment on the musical giants who have laid down their hearts into this album, but I would like to comment on what this communiqué has meant in my own heart and what I think it might mean to the target audience of the Album; my Generation, our Generation.

For way too long now many of us have watched and listened as music that actually meant something has faded to a whisper, a whimper and then rolled over and died. We barely hear in any intellectual or tuneful capacity from anyone, but let’s not forget Q-Tip’s offering last year with ‘Renaissance’, some artists have tried to keep the flame burning.

Nasir Oludara Jones and Damian ‘Jr.Gong’ Marley blend harmoniously on this album through their lyrical richness, neither trying to outshine the other; their true appreciation of each others’ musical prowess blends with the pure humility in both souls, creating an album built to withstand the forces of time. We should be (I know I am) very proud that however lost our Generation may seem, we truly have people to look up to in Nasir and Damian, there IS hope. Real, true, actual HOPE.

Rolling stone has ‘awarded’ Distant relatives a 3.5 / 5, yet I remember a few years back reading a review of Jayz’s ‘The Black Album’ (supposedly his last ever Album) and of course this received a 4/5.

Jay-z poses a problem that has been on his mind with ‘I got 99problems but a bitch ain’t one’, Nasir and Damian, on the other hand consider something a little less trivial to be a problem. “Yesterday we were kings/Can you tell the young ones/ who are we today?” or “Guns are power controlled by assets/Owned by financial forecasters”. And if you’re slightly unsure what that means, look up a few articles on Global Arms Trade. It’s common knowledge that the guy with the gun controls the moment, at least while the gun is pointed at you; a guy once said ‘He who controls the past, controls the future, he who controls the present controls the past, who controls now?’

Now, I often wonder what happened to the glorious music of youthful rebellion. Where is the rebellion? We spend our time chatting and uploading pictures to gain shallow comments to feed our egos (Facebook anyone?). Is that really what rebellion means today? An example of this is that after listening to ‘Africa Must Wake Up’ I posted a status as I felt the need to communicate; not one comment surfaced from anyone, I was truly disgusted and let down. Now if I had asked whether to buy an Iphone or a Blackberry (I want neither) or something equally as stupid I would have gotten hoards of replies from the masses, from ‘the wise ones’ with their ‘intellectual’ opinions about nothing but distractions.

I conclude with a quote from the album sleeve “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” – Marcus Garvey.

Wake up and get the gist!
Peace!

Mark Dutchi Lye (TL-Dublin)
Mark.dutchi@gmail.com
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