2 years later and "Distant Relatives" is still a classic

[Oroko Saki]

One of 3 consecutive classics for Nas

 

[MouseTeeth]

we have been past the point where DJs honestly and wholeheartedly dictate what is popular amongst listeners. a classic is a classic. the major corporations have no say.

your reasoning is detrimental to the state of hiphop.

I didn't mean major corporations. I'm basically saying IMO these albums won't stand the test of time it's too early to label any of these albums classic. Might have a handful of "classic" individual tracks but as a body of work same goes for Kendrick's album...ppl r callin that shyt a classic already? Let it live n then well c

 

[SubLyminalz]

that shyt is the audio version of nyquil


another album overrated by nas warriors.

 

[Grano-Grano]

fukking dope

 

[neph27]

Slang jacker? I'm from Baltimore, I grew up in an environment where people talk like this. Forgive me if my words offend, but people talked to me like this and people still do. Since you're getting butt-hurt over that lexicon, let's use a word like "psuedo-intellectual" instead. You know nothing about me other than an extremely vague idea of my ethnic background. I mention "black points" because rather than attacking my assertions you immediately resorted to attacking my ethnic background (which you're still completely wrong about) even though it was an irrelevant point.

All I'm saying is that this album had great peaks, and at times it was muddled by preachyness. Regardless, musically it's a wonderful project.

OYOYO

 

[Adidastar]

"
America's first immigrants, the kings and daughters from our waters
The first architect, the first philosophers
Astronomers, the first prophets and the doctors were us"


Add the preceding line:

The ancestral lineage built pyramids

Then get the words accurate in the line you started with:

The Kings sons and daughters from Nile waters

and you'll see that the rhyme is a seamless thread flowing to a complete thought. He's saying we are the children of Kemet (Egypt), hence pyramids, Nile River, Kings. America's first immigrants is a reference to the ancestors brought over from the Dark Continent to America during the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade/ Middle Passage. First architect, philosopher, etc........go look up Imhotep and Tehuti... Nas was SPOT on with the lines you chose to quote. There are better examples to illustrate the point you're tryna make----this is just a bad one.

 

[USSInsiders]

"
America's first immigrants, the kings and daughters from our waters
The first architect, the first philosophers
Astronomers, the first prophets and the doctors were us"


Add the preceding line:

The ancestral lineage built pyramids

Then get the words accurate in the line you started with:

The Kings sons and daughters from Nile waters

and you'll see that the rhyme is a seamless thread flowing to a complete thought. He's saying we are the children of Kemet (Egypt), hence pyramids, Nile River, Kings. America's first immigrants is a reference to the ancestors brought over from the Dark Continent to America during the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade/ Middle Passage. First architect, philosopher, etc........go look up Imhotep and Tehuti... Nas was SPOT on with the lines you chose to quote. There are better examples to illustrate the point you're tryna make----this is just a bad one.

First immigrants? Its theorized that people emigrated to America from modern day south east asia over thousands upon thousands of years ago via the Bering land strait. Those people had more in common with south east and pacific asians than Africans anyway. The true ethnic origin of the people you're quoting isn't so black and white. The earliest recorded civilization in human history is not in Africa, it's in Western/Central Asia, so a line like "first philosophers and first architects is just silly." and ignores brilliant contributions like those of the Sumerians and other ancient civilizations that existed near or in Mesopotamia. Not all Africans trace their lineages back to Egyptians necessarily, they were a civilization that shared asiastic, caucasoid, and negroid features, so to pick any one of those alone and ignore the rest doesn't make sense.

So who are the true first immigrants? The people who came here via the Bering land bridge and the native peoples who lived in America for thousands of years, or Africans of tremendously diverse ethnic backgrounds who were brought by the Europeans?

 

[Danie84]

This one's for all the leaders
Leader
Let's all change the world
Change the world

 

[NvrCMyNut]

First immigrants? Its theorized that people emigrated to America from modern day south east asia over thousands upon thousands of years ago via the Bering land strait. Those people had more in common with south east and pacific asians than Africans anyway. The true ethnic origin of the people you're quoting isn't so black and white. The earliest recorded civilization in human history is not in Africa, it's in Western/Central Asia, so a line like "first philosophers and first architects is just silly." and ignores brilliant contributions like those of the Sumerians and other ancient civilizations that existed near or in Mesopotamia. Not all Africans trace their lineages back to Egyptians necessarily, they were a civilization that shared asiastic, caucasoid, and negroid features, so to pick any one of those alone and ignore the rest doesn't make sense.

So who are the true first immigrants? The people who came here via the Bering land bridge and the native peoples who lived in America for thousands of years, or Africans of tremendously diverse ethnic backgrounds who were brought by the Europeans?

^ C A C

 

[prophecypro]

I dont know about Classic, there's too many music and hip-hop critical afficanados who see it cynically as a safe world music album (not me)

BUT...having seen them together live twice, Their Live Show>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[prophecypro]

 

[USSInsiders]

^ C A C

Only a filthy, cave-dwelling edomite would spew such drivel.

 

[The Dust King]

Slang jacker? I'm from Baltimore, I grew up in an environment where people talk like this. Forgive me if my words offend, but people talked to me like this and people still do. Since you're getting butt-hurt over that lexicon, let's use a word like "psuedo-intellectual" instead. You know nothing about me other than an extremely vague idea of my ethnic background. I mention "black points" because rather than attacking my assertions you immediately resorted to attacking my ethnic background (which you're still completely wrong about) even though it was an irrelevant point.

All I'm saying is that this album had great peaks, and at times it was muddled by preachyness. Regardless, musically it's a wonderful project.

I never attacked your race and I'm definitely not butt hurt. dissapointed is the appropiate term.

I called you a slang jacker because smart dumb ngga ain't b-more thas NY. on record that phrase is attrbuted to wu-tang so to use that slang to dis nas is some cut your nose off ish.

notice I said "on record" as on wax. I ain't claimin wu invented that just in case you try to run with that b.s.

its cool if you don't like the album, what this is really about is your reverse psychology. the only psudeo intellectual is you, not nas.

now I asked you if you wanted a history lesson and you conveniently left that out of your reply.

here's the facts. africans immigrated to "america" in b.c.

kemet has claim to the first alchemists, chemists, scientists and astronomers.

I mean I could quote your oxford explanation of the beiring straight and all that east asia migration ish but that's mad years after what nas is talking about.

were talking about papyrus and your speaking about phonographs.

as far as africa, its influence is worldwide. asia and the "far east" is no exception. the first samurai was black.

just in case you bring up "I can" all it would do is help illustrate my point. that third verse is accurate as well.

not sure where you got your education but it definitely wasnt the street.

 

[Sugar]

This was the summer album of 2010 It sounds as if it was made just this year

the God for another stellar release.

 

[USSInsiders]

I never attacked your race and I'm definitely not butt hurt. dissapointed is the appropiate term.

I called you a slang jacker because smart dumb ngga ain't b-more thas NY. on record that phrase is attrbuted to wu-tang so to use that slang to dis nas is some cut your nose off ish.

notice I said "on record" as on wax. I ain't claimin wu invented that just in case you try to run with that b.s.

its cool if you don't like the album, what this is really about is your reverse psychology. the only psudeo intellectual is you, not nas.

now I asked you if you wanted a history lesson and you conveniently left that out of your reply.

here's the facts. africans immigrated to "america" in b.c.

kemet has claim to the first alchemists, chemists, scientists and astronomers.

I mean I could quote your oxford explanation of the beiring straight and all that east asia migration ish but that's mad years after what nas is talking about.

were talking about papyrus and your speaking about phonographs.

as far as africa, its influence is worldwide. asia and the "far east" is no exception. the first samurai was black.

just in case you bring up "I can" all it would do is help illustrate my point. that third verse is accurate as well.

not sure where you got your education but it definitely wasnt the street.

For some reason I never got a notification about this post.

Ok, what you're referencing is a bunch of 5%er psuedo-science. How am I being remotely psuedo-intellectual btw? I never said I didn't like the album at all either. What you're doing is putting words in my mouth and responding with more and more psuedo-science and irrelevant shyt.

In regards to your "history lesson" question I already knew what you were going to respond with in regards to the Kemet shyt etc. if I wanted to hear your history lesson I'd ask any other quasi-muslim or 5%er psuedo-science to give me a revisionist history lesson.

You do realize there were civilizations before the Egyptians right? That's my point. It's irrelevant whether they expressed their words on papyrus, hieroglyphs, etc., all that matters is that the sequence of events predates the ones you're referencing, so to claim the first alchemists and things like that without documentation or proof is just silly.

It just seems like history black, white, asian, etc. is never just human history, people are constantly placing their "racial-ethnic" flag on it and revising events to make themselves feel better.

This fits right in with the myth that the Egyptians were all white, and the same weirdo revisionist myth that all egyptians were black. There were an incredibly diverse society and to simplify them as one or the other is just ignorance.

I just feel like this album had a good message, but it got caught up in being less about documented science, and more about throwing things out there all for the sake of pride. I've said this over and over in my posts and oyu seem to ignore it, but this album is a personal favorite of mine musically.

Subject matter and lyrical content aside (not that it was bad or poorly done) , the songs were beautifully done and I feel the album deserves a lot more recognition.