It has been confirmed by publicists of both Damian Marley and Nas that they will be collaborating on an album entitled Distant Relatives (2009). The album is named such for both artists admiration and appreciation for their mother land. The scoop comes to us from Hip Hop DX:

Africa is the backbone of the world and the foundation of everything and Africans are in a situation where they need help more than anywhere else,” Marley stated via the press release. “We know there are dire situations here in America but when you look at America—with public libraries and free education—these are not opportunities most Africans have. It’s a completely different scale of trying to help people. As human beings, we’re part of a human family.

You will be sure that Obnoxious Listeners will be doing a review of this album once it drops (or perhaps slightly earlier if we can get a pre-release copy, legally of course!).

So glad to see two artists of such high caliber working together. I like it more when two artists who are already respected individually join together to form a team instead of vice versa. It feels like a union of two equal energies versus one man being stronger than the other.