So expectations for Distant Relatives are at once great and modest.
And on both counts, Nas’ excuse to Jay has reportedly been his focus on completing this collaboration record with Damian Marley.
#Nas distant relatives 2 review full
It’s both curious and unfortunate, then, that Nas wriggled out of the opportunity to take things full circle not once, but twice (a highly anticipated remix featuring both Nas and 50 Cent was supposed to come out at the close of last year, but seems to have fallen off the radar). True, there’s no better way to damn your career to eternal disappointment than to debut with an era-defining classic like Nas did in ‘94 with Illmatic, but it’s no small feat that the re-energized emcee managed a couple releases at least worthy of its lineage (2002’s Lost Tapes and God’s Son). Nas quickly responded with a long-forgotten fire on the acerbic “Ether,” and, less 2008’s Untitled misstep, has displayed a restored focus in his second decade. When Jay-Z called him out on having only released one worthwhile record in his ten years as a rapper on 2001’s “Takeover,” it seemed like the critics weren’t the only ones who really heard him. The two reconciled onstage in 2005 after a heated Olympiad of diss tracks and interview insults, but the beef served two major purposes while it lasted: not only did it give post-Pac/Biggie hip-hop heads something fresh to talk about, but it also reminded them that Nas was someone worth talking about in the first place. Though most people who had a working pair of ears last year could hum you the chorus to Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” far fewer seem to know that the song was originally slated to feature a verse from Jay’s former arch-rival Nas.
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