National Geographic Live in Washington D.C. entered new ground as it served as host to hip-hop icon Nas and dancehall reggae artist Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley. MC’d by Sway of MTV, this was their chance to introduce their forthcoming album, Distant Relatives, to the world. In many respects, it is a concept album – lyrics and music inspired by the commonalities of hip-hop and reggae, and their roots based deep in the sounds of Africa.
And Africa was represented on stage – Senegalese artist Moussa Lo, aka Water Flow (of Nomadic Wax), told the audience that American hip-hop artists simply need to include the word “Africa” in a song to inspire the youth throughout the continent. Waterflow was joined on stage with hip-hop legends Kool Herc, DJ Red Alert, and Rakim; along with Jamaican DJ pioneer Big Youth, Damian’s brother Stephen Marley, the director of programming for SirusXM radio’s reggae channel, and hip-hop journalist Jeff Chang.
National Geographic served as the perfect backdrop for this fusion of music and culture. The discussion took us from the Bronx, N.Y. to Dakar, Senegal; from Kingstown, Jamaica to Ethiopia. As a fan of hip-hop music, with just a faint understanding of its origins, one couldn’t help but feel privileged to be amongst the caliber of artists on the panel.
Though the discussion never had time to really delve deep into Nas and Jr. Gong’s Distant Relative’s concept, the fact that two relatively mainstream artists are devoting their attention to Africa and its influences on both hip-hop and reggae music offers a new voice to a continent so rich in culture and message, yet still lacking the resources to gain Western attention. This album offers both the promise of great music and the hope that even more people will take note of the injustices facing parts of our world.