Tag Archives: Damian Marley

The Dusty Foot Philosopher

Posted on by
Reply

After listening to Nas and Damian Marley’s album countless time, I became very interesting in K’naan’s solo work.  I have heard a few songs here and there but not a full album.  I remember back in like 2005 when I first saw K’naan’s video for Soobax on MTV.  I liked the video and the song a lot but never really followed through to listen to his music.  The features on Nas and Damian Marley’s album sealed the deal for me and I had to hear more.  I skimmed through a couple albums a few months ago but listened to his second album, The Dusty Foot Philosopher today.  I got to say that after checking the album, I am definitely a fan.  I didn’t realize how nice dude is on the mike.  Aside from bringing a other flavor and style, you can tell he has firm roots in lyricism.  At times he even has a little Eminem to him.  I think what makes me even more of a fan is the African influence in his music.  Not only does he sound a little different, he is constantly talking about Africa and all the different aspects of growing up there.  I think K’naan really has his own lane especially in hip hop because there isn’t really anyone else who can weave those elements together and still have appeal in hip hop.  Soobax is still my shit but there really isn’t a song on the album that I don’t like.  I will definitely be putting The Dusty Foot Philosopher into rotation and I will be listening to his other albums.  In case you are unfamiliar with K’naan, here is the video for Soobax and one of my favorite joints, The Dusty Foot Philospher.

Weekly Sales 6/30/10

Posted on by
Reply

This week has been perhaps the biggest week in sales for quite some time.  As you all might know, Eminem dropped his album, Recovery last week and managed to move almost 750K in its first week.  It is the highest first week sales in nearly two years.  I honestly am pretty shocked by these numbers, i figured Drake would do more than Eminem but MAN, props to Em.  Drake is now at number 2 on the charts and broke the gold mark in just two weeks.  The Roots also hit the charts at number 6, moving 51k.  Here is the top.

Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
1 Eminem Recovery
 741,000 744,000
2 Drake Thank Me Later
 157,000 604,000
6 The Roots How I Got Over
 51,000 51,000
14 Usher Raymond v. Raymond 24,000 874,000
20 B.o.B. Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray
 19,000 268,000

And for the bottom

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
43 Nas & Damian Marley Distant Relatives
 8,900 134,000
47 Eminem Relapse
 8,400 1,986,000
112 Drake So Far Gone
 4,500 489,000
131 Z-Ro Heroin
 3,900 4,100
179 Lil Jon Crunk Rock
 2,900 17,000

B.o.B. is still doing well.  His feature on Big Boi’s new LP is pretty dope.  Props to B.o.B.  Hopefully Nas and Damian Marley can keep crawling towards gold.  It’s still a little disheartening that The Roots still only moved 50K in their first week especially after touring the world for years and putting out dope album after dope album.  Oh well, until next time, BIG shout out to Eminem.

Weekly Sales 6/23/10

Posted on by
Reply

Last Tuesday and today are probably two of the biggest days in recent memory as far as album sales are concerned.  Rap’s most hyped singer, Drake dropped his debut album, Thank Me Later last Tuesday to much excitement.  Regardless of how you feel about Drake, Thank Me Later is the biggest release this year to date and might take the cake for the entire year if Kanye’s Good Ass Job or Detox don’t see the light of day.  Some people were prediction A Millie in the first week like his bosses album, Tha Carter III.  It is official though, Drake is right under the gold mark in first week sales.  Maybe not as high as some people predicted but still an incredible showing if you ask me.  Check the numbers below.

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
1 Drake Thank Me Later
 447,000 447,000
13 Usher Raymond v. Raymond
 29,000 850,000
17 B.o.B. Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray 20,000 249,000
18 Plies Goon Affiliated 20,000 76,000
19 Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D. 19,000 2,609,000

And for the stragglers.

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
37 Nas & Damian Marley Distant Relatives
 11,000 125,000
39 Ludacris Battle of the Sexes
 11,000 462,000
51 Gorillaz Plastic Beach
 7,800 282,000
76 Drake So Far Gone
 6,100 485,000
112 Lil Jon Crunk Rock
 4,700 14,000

Drake has two projects on the chart now and is still moving some units with the So Far Gone LP.  Nas and Damian Marley are still moving a few units with possibly the best album of the year.  Lil Jon has seem to fall into the “who the fuck cares” category with his new album, Crunk Rock.  Stay tuned until next week for Eminem’s numbers for his album, Recovery.

Weekly Sales 6/9/10

Posted on by
Reply

What up world?????  Here are the weekly numbers once again.  No major releases hit the shelves last week but TWO major releases sprung a leak.  Drake’s debut album, Thank Me Later and Eminem’s Recovery both hit the net in the past week or so and have been getting A LOT of attention.  I would imagine the downloads are in the millions. Anyway, the usual suspects are still up top.  Nas and Damian reached over 100k, which I must say that I’m pretty excited to see that.  Here is the top.

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
5 Usher Raymond v. Raymond
 35,000 791,000
13 B.o.B. Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray 20,000 210,000
17 Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D. 17,000 2,569,000
18 Damian Marley & Nas Distant Relatives
 17,000 100,000
25 Alicia Keys Element of Freedom 13,000 1,305,00

And for the caboose

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
28 Ludacris Battle of the Sexes
 12,000 441,000
82 Drake So Far Gone
 5,000 474,000
97 Trina Amazin’
 4,700 59,000
104 Reflection Eternal Revolutions Per Minute
 4,700 33,000
162 Gucci Mane The State vs. Radric Davis
 2,900 369,000

It’s pretty amazing that Black Eyed Peas are STILL moving more units than everyone else.  I guess I should reconsider making hip hop music and go straight pop.  Shout out to Will I.Am. though.  Dude is an incredible producer.  Reflection Eternal moved another 4,700 but I doubt they will hit 100K any time soon.  Until next week, go download the new Drake and Eminem.

Weekly Sales 6/2/2010

Posted on by
Reply

No big news in album sales this week.  Ursher is getting closer to reaching that platinum mark.  Nas and Damian Marley are still in the top 10 and Reflection Eternal dropped down to number 68.  Here is for the top

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
5 Usher Raymond v. Raymond
 35,000 757,000
9 Damian Marley & Nas Distant Relatives 25,000 83,000
15 B.o.B. Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray 20,000 190,000
21 Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D.
 17,000 2,552,000
29 Alicia Keys Element of Freedom 12,000 1,292,00

And for the bottom

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
32 Ludacris Battle of the Sexes
 12,000 429,000
62 Reflection Eternal Revolutions Per Minute
 6,800 28,000
85 Trina Amazin’
 5,400 54,000
123 8Ball & MJG Ten Toes Down 4,200 33,000
133 Cam’ron & The U.N. Present… Heat In Here Volume 1
 3,700 3,800

Killa Cam is back on the charts in the 133rd position moving 3,800 copies of whatever project he just released.  Trina is still failing to move units even with a Diddy feature and Luda is approaching gold status with his album.  Sorry for the rather unexciting edition this week but stay tuned for some BIG releases this summer.

Weekly Sale 5/26/2010

Posted on by
Reply

Two really dope projects dropped last week so, I have been anticipating this weeks numbers more than usual.  This has been one of the most solid weeks in releases that I can remember recently.  Both Nas and Damian Marley and Reflection Eternal managed to make their way onto the charts.  Nas and Damian debuted at number 4 moving 58K in the first week and Reflection Eternal made their way to number 17 selling 21K.  Check the top

Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
4 Damian Marley & Nas Distant Relatives
 57,000 58,000
7 Usher Raymond v. Raymond
 41,000 721,000
13 B.o.B. Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray 23,000 170,000
16 Janelle Monae The Archandroid
 21,000 21,000
17 Reflection Eternal Revolutions Per Minute 21,000 21,000

And for the bottom

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
30 Ludacris Battle of the Sexes
 13,000 417,000
59 Trina Amazin’
 6,700 49,000
82 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Uni5: The World’s Enemy
 5,700 45,000
89 8Ball & MJG Ten Toes Down 5,300 29,000
191 Cypress Hill Rise Up 2,500 37,000

Its pretty cool to see Nas and Damian at number four even though B.o.B. sold more in his first week.  Janelle Monae also hit the charts at number 16 with her album, The ArchAndroid.  Her single Tightrope with Big Boi is really dope.  Stay tuned for next week…….

Weekly Numbers 5/19/10

Posted on by
Reply

I kind of wanted to skip over this weeks numbers just to see how many units Nas and Damian Marley would do as well as Reflection Eternal.  No real big surprises here.  B.o.B. moved another 27K, Ursher is almost at 700K and those durn Black Eyed Peas are are over 2.5 MILLIE.  Here is the top. 

Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
7 Usher Raymond v. Raymond
 43,000 680,000
13 B.o.B. Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray
 27,000 148,000
19 Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D. 19,000 2,518,000
29 Ludacris Battle of the Sexes
 14,000 405,000
32 Monica Still Standing 13,000 406,000

And for the bottom

Rank Artist Album

 This Week Est. Total
48 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Uni5: The World’s Enemy
 9,400 39,000
49 Trina Amazin’
 9,400 42,000
62 8Ball & MJG Ten Toes Down
 7,300 23,000
99 Bruno Mars It’s Better If You Don’t Understand 5,400 5,400
137 Sage Francis L(i)fe 3,900 3,900

It’s interesting to see that the man responsible for B.o.B.’s UBER pop single only managed to do 5K his first week.  Probably because no one knows who he is.  Seems like that album was rushed out a little.  The underground emcee, Sage Francis moved just under 4K in his first week.  I am guessing that there is NO hope underground rappers.  Trina isn’t doing to tell considering she has a single with Keri Hilson AND Diddy.  I am encouraging everyone to go out an purchase 3 copies of Distant Relatives and a couple copies of Reflection Eternal’s album, Revolutions Per Minute.  Any predictions for next week??????

Distant Relatives

Posted on by
1

What a better way to start the week than with one of my most anticipated albums in YEARS.  Actually, I have been listening to this album since last week and it has only come out of the tapedeck a couple of times.  With numerous delays, I was starting to get worried that Nas and Damian Marley’s album, Distant Relatives would never see the light of day.  Despite the wait, the album is DEFINITELY worth it.  It’s easy to have incredible expectations when two of music’s greatest voices team up for an entire album.  It’s even easier to be let down by such a pairing however, Distant Relatives managed to bring out the strengths in both artists and minimizing the awkward collabs of mashing together two genres of music.  Fortunately for Nas’ sake, Damian and Stephen handle the production and seem to guide the soundscape of the album.  This allows Distant Relatives to flow nicely.  Nas also brings his A game with his writing.  He touches on many different subjects and sounds just as sharp as ever, even on slower paced, reggae joints.  I don’t want to give away too much because this is a project that people NEED to support.  I will be purchasing my copy tomorrow.  The album isn’t quite perfect but even the weakest songs have great messages and are still pretty solid.  Even Lil Wayne drops some knowledge on My Generation, which happens to be my least favorite song.  In my humble opinion, this is the strongest album of the year to date and will be top 5 for sure.  Not only is the album really dope, it’s in support of Africa and proceeds go to Africa so, PURCHASE the album.  I am sure they will tour again very soon so, make sure you catch Nas and Damian live.  Check out the video for As We Enter below.

Damian Marley and Nas “As We Enter” Video

Posted on by
Reply

One of my most anticipated albums in the past few years is set to drop soon in the form of a Damian Marley and Nas collaboration called Distant Relatives.  This album was supposed to drop last year and for whatever reason got pushed back but best believe that it is still coming.  Nas and Damian just dropped their first video for the single, As We Enter which is one of my favorite songs in the last year or so.  The production is sick of course and the two go back and forth, trading rhymes pretty dang well.  I hope this project lives up to its potential because everything they have dropped so far is crazy.  Check out the OFFICIAL video for As We Enter from Nas and Damian Marley.

Distant Relatives

Posted on by
Reply

I posted a few times about Nas and Damian Marley’s new project Distant Relatives but I wanted to share the EPK and the tracklisting with everyone.  The EPK dropped a week or so ago and the way this project is building up is crazy.  I can’t imagine that it will go platinum but I read one of the comments that describes the project as “necessary.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Not only are they teaming up to do a full lenth EP in support of Africa but two of the most respected names in music, period, are putting together an album.  If “Road To Zion” is any indication of what this album sounds like, it will be incredible.  The songs they have released already are amazing.  As We Enter and Strong Will Continue are both incredible songs.  It’s funny the different moves that different artists make in their careers.  You have a guy like Jay-Z, who has one of the biggest voices in the world and he does albums with R. Kelly.  Nas does albums with Damian Marley. I’ll save that discussion for a later time.  The release date has changed several times but expect the album out this year so stay tuned.  In the meantime, check out the tracklist, the EPK and the two joints, As We Enter and Strong Will Survive.

1. As We Enter
2. Tribal War (feat. K’NAAN)
3. Strong Will Continue
4. Leaders
5. Wisdom (Sabali)
6. Count Your Blessings
7. Disappear
8. The Promised Land (feat. Dennis Brown)
9. Nah Mean
10. Angola (Friends)
11. My Generation (feat. Lil Wayne and Joss Stone)
12. Africa Must Wake Up (Feat. K’NAAN)
13. Ancient People (feat. Junior Reid)