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This album I wasn't particularly excited for when it came out 2010. I am a fan of Nas (I have all ten of his solo LPs and and both collaboration LPs). I don't have any Jr Gong albums, or any reggae albums for that matter. Reggae for me was just a soundtrack for Caribbean vacations. The first song I heard was "As We Enter" on one of the late night shows, I believe Kimmel.
This was definitely a different feel. In general, when Caribbean reggae artist would collaborate with American artist they would typically fill in the role of a rapper. Examples include No Doubt with Lady Saw in "Underneath It All" and Sugar Ray with Supercat in "Fly", and also with Beenie Man with Mya in "Girls Dem Suga."
This was different as they specifically wanted to highlight the relationship of Africans and members of the African diaspora. Putting together one of the best rappers from Queens, NY, US with the son of the greatest reggae artist and one of the greatest music artist of all time from Kingston, JAM was a way to highlight the top of both genres. Neither artist takes second billing, as the culture of each is easily distinguished side by side rather than meshed.
I can listen to this album straight through. The singles "As We Enter," "Strong Will Continue" and "My Generation" don't stand out as I feel every song is worth a listen. Somali Canadian rapper K'naan was just getting a boost from Coca-Cola choosing to use his song "Wavin' Flag" as its 2010 World Cup theme and then ongoing until today campaign when he appeared on the album. "Tribes At War" is probably my favorite song, but it is hard to pick one. Another day I might say "Nah Mean," "Count Your Blessings" or "Land of Promise."
Happy Listening! https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dwmfuy9opeodpqn/AABUAkossiUwSlAISQ3I0uuTa
You should check out this post (but really I'm just trying to get a note out that I posted this post).
ReplyDeletetest comment post - if you receive this in an email, please FW to raman (am trying to figure out email alerts here)
ReplyDeleteI did not get it. I am also trying to figure out email notifications...
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DeleteI don't need to listem to this album, I know it quite well. I think the combination worked very well and I agree that K'Naan's contribution is a very good one. I think he had barely released his second album at the time (second best, they go down from the first one).
ReplyDeleteAlso excellent Nas/Damian Marley not on this album is "Road to Zion" but is really in the same theme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTbpS5OWWaQ
Also, I believe they used part of the profits (If not all) to fund building schools in Africa. Quite a noble feat for an industry focused on bling.
This gets a 4.5 for me.
I stuck this album on then tried to do some work. I failed. I enjoyed this album much more than I was expecting. It reminded me a lot of Michael Franti, maybe because the theme was generally very positive.
ReplyDeleteThe opening track was my favourite, As We Enter.
I'm going for 4/5.
I very much enjoyed the opening track "As We Enter" and was anticipating good things for the rest of the album but I didn't enjoy it very much. It's not the style, it's just too preachy for me. One listen was all I could muster.
ReplyDeleteThis gets a 2 from me.
leave it to Derrick make me feel cooler by listening to his music. he's the guy that got me into the Neptunes before Pharrell was too cool for school.
ReplyDeletethat being said, i kind of agree with Ben - "As We Enter" was such a strong start (almost as good as "My Name is Jonas" - it just gets me really amped up every time i hear it) - while i think the rest of the album was slightly better than he did, the rest of it had trouble meeting the bar of the opening track.
The first half really kept the reggaeton (is that a thing?) sound going, but the latter half was taken over by rap sensibilities (missing the magical combination of the two)
3.5 out of 5.
A nice mix of styles. Don't forget: both Damien Marley AND Nas are from musical dynasties. If you don't know Nas's dad's music, check it out asap.
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