“My man’ll speak patois,” Nas rhymes, “and i can speak rap star.” He concluded his verse with a Swahili greeting “Habari gani,” to which Damian replied “Nzuri sana,” as if they were two friends chatting on the streets of Nairobi. In the lead single “As We Enter,” Nas and D trade intricate bars over a Mulatu Astatke breakbeat. But in 2010 the idea of a rapper from Queensbridge and a dancehall DJ from Kingston was a forward-thinking concept-though hardly out of character for two sons of respected musicians who had been raised with a deep and abiding respect for African culture. A decade later, the wide-ranging genre known as “Afro Beats” occupy a place of power within the global music market, and artists like Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Stonebwoy are well known to listeners all over the world. Described by The New York Times as “A Mash Up on Behalf of Mother Africa,” Distant Relatives was constructed around a diverse array of samples, ranging from classic reggae to dancehall/hip hop to Ethiopian jazz.
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