and so a young Kris Parker started off his legendary diss South Bronx, simultaneously big upping his hood and dissing on the QB projects and equally legendary MC Shan, Juice Crew, and DJ Marley Marl.

A legendary – controversial – figure in hip-hop, KRS-ONE’s credibility and history is untouchable: responsible for countless rap classics, the Teacha has toured the world, performing solo and with the legendary Boogie Down Productions; put his credibility towards campaigns for Nike, Sprite, and more; founded the Temple of Hip-hop, one of the organizations responsible for stewarding hip-hop culture; and served as an elder (if unpredictable) statesman for years.

During the second evening of the Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival, as the crowd swelled for the Saturday night concert (which KRS-ONE headlined and closed out), a small group of press passes and video cameras gathered, selected by the organizers to partake in a closed-door session with Blastmaster KRS-ONE.

As the volume steadily grew to a raucous clamor outside, KRS shared insights with the audience:

on technology

the need to master (and not be mastered by) our tools

The need for hip-hop education

how hip-hop should be taught and available in school curriculum

on rap’s death and hip-hop’s growth

and – making a strong display for why he deserves his name, the Teacha, he broke down the history of New York urban radio, from WBLS and KISS FM’s radio/DJ battles, to the founding of Hot 97 – and its later abandonment of what he considers to be real-school hip-hop

Last, before rushing out the door, he broke down what he considers the hip-hop lifestyle to be – not flossing or throwing around stacks, but knowing how to get by and survive and thrive

Throughout the weekend, the local Temple of Hip-Hop members (big up to Trinity College Temple of Hip-hop – the nation’s first collegiate chapter!) were showing out for KRS-ONE’s new book, The Gospel of Hip-Hop. At the close of this session, his associates passed out complimentary copies to all the journalists in attendance, as the teacha was whisked away to his green room.

Interview with DJ Nio (Italy)
Interviewed by Mikal Amin Lee (aka Hired Gun)

1. Please tell the people a little bit about Dj Nio, how you came into the culture, and a quick description of where you are at currently?

I’m from Genoa (Genova), Italy, and I’m a dj, mc, producer and Hip-Hop Activist. I started spinning records and writing my first rap in 1993, after listening to Cypress Hill, Public Enemy and the very first Italian rap groups. I felt in love with Hip-Hop Culture and I started buying records, rapping, making “graffiti” and even b-boyin’ a little. As a dj, I’ve been performing everywhere in my city and in many other towns in Italy since 1996, and I’ve been part of or worked with a lot of groups such Zena Art Core, maybe one of the most important crew in our country. I founded my group, Zero Plastica, in 2001 with my man Lure and since then we made a record, hundred gigs and so many mixtapes… so much music! Actually we’re recording our 2nd cd, while I’m working also with NYC underground label Nomadic Wax and many great artists. In these months I’m working with Ben Herson on “Mo’Glo”, a show on 91.5 New York Radio, where basically I mix world wide rap and reggae music.

2. What is Triburbana? What is its importance to the hip hop community? Its importance to the community at large?

TribUrbana is a non-profit cultural association I found in 2006 with other hip-hop and reggae artists. Basically we promote Hip-Hop Culture and Reggae good values through events, records and workshops. We made the biggest hip-hop event in Liguria -our region- ever; and we had some very good workshops with teens and youth workers since last year, when Mr.B a.k.a. berlusconi’s government cut almost any kind of financial resources to social activities like these.

We kept on building anway, and now we have a new office and a new studio that is considered the best place to make a hip-hop or a reggae record in our city; plus, we’re planning some big events for 2010.

3. Give us from your perspective the state of the italian hip hop community? Is it unified? What are the styles/themes going on? How similar or different is it from the American hip hop scene from your view?

Actually, Italy is living one of its worst moment in its history, not only due to berlusoni’s dictatorshit, but also due to people who still believe him and his bullshit. The state of Italian Hip-Hop community reflects the greatest part of the Italian society and it’s a product of a fiction-propaganda going on in the last 30 years through mr.b’s medias: not only the HH heads, but all the Italian community has definitely never been so divided and confused as in this moment. Too many people here aren’t able to see the whole big pitcure we’re living because they’re focused just on themselves as they were into the “Big Brother” TV series; at the same way, Italian rap is basically about braggadocio style, battling, posing, or self-mental-masturbation, and when rap is a little bit conscious and speaks about social problems, it’s seen as “communist”, “populist” or ignorant definitions like these. I know it’s incomprehensible, but it’s like that: after I’ve been travelling so much world wide, I can sadly tell you Italy is the 3rd world of hip-hop. Yo, we had and has very good mainstream and underground rap too, anyway, but it’s so damn rare!

Any kind of comparison between Italian and American Hip-Hop should be inappropriate because here it’s often seen/lived not as a culture but as a fashion or a teen-agers hobby, while there in the U.S. it’s a mass phenomenon, obviously. Well, we def could laugh at that, telling Italian rap is like the worst American soccer team!!!

4. Can you give us a brief history of the italian hip hop scene? When did it start? Name a few pioneers?

Hip-Hop Culture went to Italy with films like “Wild Style” and “Beat Street” in the early 80′s. Some Old School pioneers were The Next One a.k.a. Maurizio, Emilio & Marcella (Battle Squad), Dj Enzo, Dj Gruff, Mc Shark, Ice One; some of them are still pretty active. In the first 90′s Italian Rap music became a little bit mainstream thanks to artists like Frankie Hi-NRG Mc, Articolo 31 and Sottotono, but maintaining deep roots with punk mentality and the “posse movement” born in squat social centers. Due to Eminem’s “8 Mile”, Italian medias and major labels revamped interests in rap music, but actually our music business is just “floating”, I guess.

5. Who are some of your personal influences in the culture?

I’ve been influenced by so many artists, dj’s, mc’s and producers! The list is too long, but If you need some American names I can say: Cypress Hill, Public Enemy, Tony Touch, the whole Native Tongues, Gangstarr, Nas, the Dungeon Family, Reflection Eternal, Common, dead prez, KRS One, Non-Phixion, Scarface, Rakim, Wu-Tang, etc. I’ve def been influenced by SensaSciou (that means “Out of breath”), the very first rap/raggamuffin group of my city, who where the first to rap and sing in Italian and in genovese dialect, in the first 90′s.

6. From your perspective what is the relationship between hip hop from around the globe and America?

Hip-Hop gives voice to people and has been saving so many guys and girls everywhere. U.S.A. are Hip-Hop’s father, but wherever you go around the globe you can see different and beautiful sons growing up! I think that in the beginning Hip-Hop is very tied to the Old School original values wherever it lands, but if and when come the money, any kind of problems follow. HH’s is a philosophy and a way of living, and everywhere there’re scientists and dumb folks, poets and prostitutes, if you know what i mean.

There’s a straight relationship between hip-hop and food, to me: although I’m Italian, I never eat pasta when I go abroad, I’m always looking for local and traditional cousine because I’m curious, I like to try different flavours; at the same way, I love when rap is mixed with local and traditional music, language, dialect and instruments!! That’s originality! That’s true Hip-Hop!!!

7. Does hip hop in italy play a role in informing/educating the people on issues happening inside the state?

I wish it was like that! If any Italian mc’s spit a little about our reality, probably we wouldn’t have the mafia at the governament!!! I know just some few artists that are pretty conscious and focused on concrete social issues, but unfortunatly they’re totally underground like me and Zero Plastica. Even if Chuck D said that “Rap is the Black CNN”, here it’s seems more an Italian comedy, a bad fiction, an horror b-movie… That’s why I love to deal with International Hip-Hop!
8. Besides your crew of course, who are some of the hip hop artists from Italy we should look out for?

Actually If you want to listen to some good Italian rap, you def have to hear Colle der Fomento, Tormento, Cor Veleno, Groovenauti, Assalti Frontali, Ghemon, Mistaman, Fabri Fibra; there’re also a lot of dope aerosol-artists, b-boys and dj’s -as the Scratch Busters, IDA World Champions 2009-.

Mozambican Lyrical Activist Mohammed Yahya teamed up with Global Faction, in Association with Chiraag Parmar to tackle the issues that we tend to avoid in his powerful and insightful music video!

Check it below..

When events go wrong in our lives, it is tempting, almost human nature, to blame others. Upon realizing that things haven’t turned out as planned, taking into consideration personal accountability is perhaps the least desirable course of action. What would happen if we took a different route? One answer, among many lies within the tracks of the latest project from rap duo the Manhattentites. Comprised of solid beats, flows and lyrical content, this project revolves around a familiar theme of making a name for oneself. From observing the track titles I could not help but anticipate some inspirational material. What shield these inspirational tracks from predicability is a spirit of proactivity. MCs Mezmerize and Self Suffice don’t just mention changes in the community that need to be made; they urge them, express the dire need for them, become their advocates.

I enjoyed the first track, “Come On In” the most because I found it the strongest. Something about the song’s beginning- a brief “oldies but goodies” feeling melody laid softly over a piano suddenly crescendoes into a full blown beat – renders the track immediately attention grabbing. The verse, laying down disregard for haters considered a threat only amongst themselves, segues into a mind blowing chorus. It turns nearly universally familiar concepts like family, groceries and acts of maintaining the home into tropes of ownership, speaking to the power of self reliance. The narrators are confronted by the outsiders: “They ain’t gotta let us in we gettin in thru the back door/who you think built that back door in the back yard?” and rise to the occasion with certainty.

Granted the opportunity to write to Self, I gained a particular insight into the second track, “Which Way,” a steady jam describing how self conflict manifests into tension with others. The steady, jazz infused melody definitely takes a back seat to the lyrics. Sometimes the varied rhyme scheme and complex stories were difficult to follow, as the question posed is whether to follow the path seeking immediate gratification or stay true to oneself but getting little credit for it, at least initially. One particular line caught my attention: “I remember when Self Sufficient didn’t know he was a sole individual that was in control…” Was it “sole” individual or “soul” individual? So I asked him. It turns out this line plays with double entendre, or utilizing a word that has double meanings or interpretations. It turns out that Self creates a pun with three references- I expected nothing less clever. The first meaning of “He was a sole individual” refers to realizing the control we have over ourselves as we mature. The second meaning of “soul” refers to being a soul spitter, a term for a soulful Hip-Hop artist that Self pinned. The last meaning of sole refers to one of Self’s trademarks, which should be up to listeners to discover themselves. A narrative of such personal dimension could be misconstrued as difficult to relate to or even arrogant by listeners. However the underlying sense of sincerity and careful thought that remain throughout the track make it a meaningful one.

In contrast, “Feel You” engages listeners with universal subject matter- personal RESPONSIBILITY. The ongoing dialogue about people’s unwillingness to be accountable for themselves comes to the forefront and raises social issues: the lack of trust between government and citizens, the wait for justice, and how we ought to turn misfortune into power. I felt a little felt anxious hearing all this overwhelming subject matter brought to the forefront but song is balanced. The melody is pleasant as little chime-like rings mix with traffic noise in the background to create a real familiar sound. The singer’s voice sampled creates a nostalgia-inducing comfort. Overall, the phenomenon of how we often “do ourselves in” that the MCs comment upon is the truth.

In case you’re thinking this album is too heavy to enjoy, the final song is a pleasant surprise. Informed by Self that the song order on the album is worth noting, I found “Angel” a great song to end on because it departs strongly from the rest of the tracks but still has that sincerity that characterizes the rest of the album. As its name implies, the song has some romantic elements to it. My favorite line starts off the hook, “I don’t know why i was attracted to you…” which really represents how unconventional this piece. Unlike other “rap ballads” to which it might be compared “Angel” actually names some substantial characteristics that could make a lover attractive. Take a listen and decide for yourself.

I said this album made me think about personal accountability. We all need some realness in our lives so check it out.

The Good Dance – dakar/brooklyn

Part of the 2009 Next Wave Festival

Dec 16, 18 & 19 at 7:30pm

Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group and Compagnie 1er Temps

Choreographed by Reggie Wilson and Andréya Ouamba

Devoted to reinterpreting the movement languages of Africa and the Diaspora through a postmodern lens, Reggie Wilson creates fluid, grounded, and deeply expressive dances. Wilson and his Brooklyn-based company Fist & Heel Performance Group make their BAM debut with The Good Dance – dakar/brooklyn, a work representing the fruits of a collaboration with choreographer Andréya Ouamba and his Compagnie 1er Temps from Dakar, Senegal.

Combining Wilson’s formalist approach with Ouamba’s more improvisational style, the artists create a unique movement vocabulary as they draw from their families’ roots in the Mississippi Delta and the Congo to ask profound questions about migration and identity. Featuring an amalgam of African and African American music, movement, text, and vocals, The Good Dance explores the genealogy of culture to consider the influence—real and metaphorical—of Central African culture on world performance forms.

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House

70min, no intermission

Tickets: $20, 30

Costume design by Naoko Nagata

Lighting design by Jonathan Belcher

Haitian-born rapper Vox Sambou tackles the issue of the AIDS epidemic in his new video DiscriminaSida. The song is featured on his upcoming second LP, scheduled for release in 2010. Vox Sambou, a founding member of multilingual Hip Hop super group Nomadic Massive raps in Creole, Spanish, English and French. Accordingly, as well as to highlight the universal plight that is discrimination against people living with AIDS, the video is translated in three languages.

The theme of World AIDS Day 2009 hinges around leadership: Stop AIDS, keep the promise. World leaders are asked to be accountable for the discriminatory discrepancy between the commitments that have been made to halt the spread of AIDS, and actions taken to follow them through.

According to Sambou-“the discrimination is many-fold. There is a lack of knowledge about prevention; lack of basic resources especially in the northern part of Haiti, where I’m from; lack of inclusion of the sick in the society”. The perverse effect of this discrimination is that around 220 000 Haïtian children are orphaned because their caretakers are sick, cannot get treated and are ashamed or ostracised from contributing to society.

The video was directed by Dominican filmmaker Ariel Mota and was shot on the island of Kyskeya, today Santo Domingo. The Video is Available at www.voxsambou.com

Source:
Robints Paul, alias Vox Sambou
514-992-5235
 info@voxsambou.com

And if in the United States, the genre’s birthplace, the “intellectual” MCs are mourning the approaching death of the style as it celebrates its 30th birthday, what is happening here, in the Holy Land?
Well, to use something of a long-winded simile (don’t worry, it’s quite a common device in hip-hop), it appears that hip-hop in Israel is like a new immigrant who has managed to infiltrate into the country, but without a proper visa, without an “absorption basket” that affords him a safety net and without relatives who will help him acclimatize.

Here, the genre – which first saw the light of day, grew up and developed in the land where the possibilities are unlimited – is in a state of problematic breech birth, with its bottom already peeping out but its head still stuck deep in the dark of the womb. And the reasons for hip-hop’s absorption difficulties in Israel are many and varied.

This young country, which since the day it was founded has been fighting for its very existence, has an urgent and constant need for unity in the ideological ranks and the creation of an all-embracing consensus in thinking, which will help “us” fight the enemies “out there” effectively. And in Israel, the arts, including popular music, are also recruited to represent Israeli society’s ethos while giving unreserved support to the state institutions and shelving away criticism, doubts and questions in the locked emergency storerooms at the edge of consciousness.

In this way, certainly, the American hip-hop fan who has grown up on the sparks in the politics of Public Enemy, Ice Cube’s anti-establishment barbs or the subversion of ensembles like Dead Prez, Lynch Mob or Brand Nubian, would wonder at the fact that in Israel there are rappers whose songs are paid for by government institutions, and who sing in official campaign against drugs and in favor of road safety.

It appears that Israel is one of the only countries in the world where rappers are spokesmen for the government, the state and the army, which of course paves a more convenient way to being heard on the radio, certainly in a country where the radio station with the most listeners is owned by the government and belongs to the army.

Presumably those same wealthy people who own regional radio stations and television channels aren’t really losing sleep over a lack of political hip-hop on the airwaves or via satellite.

As on the television screen, in popular music including hip-hop the marginal groups in Israel are notable for their absence: When was the last time an Arab-Israeli ensemble was played on the radio? When did an angry Ethiopian rapper or an ultra-Orthodox hip-hop band appear on the screen? When was the last time a female – yes a female – Israeli rapper spat fire at the microphone and defended her gender?

Yes, there are a lot of all of these in Israel, but the distance from the centers of influence and funding does not afford them adequate exposure except in brief flashes as a gimmick on some unimportant talk show or as the topic of a documentary-anthropological film few people, if any, will get to see.

The concealment of the social and political aspect in the underground of Israeli hip-hop keeps many and important voices out of the public discourse, leaving the territory to the other half of the hip-hop equation: party songs, good times and escapism. And not that this is bad, but it is certainly less fascinating, varied or challenging.

Every fan of hip-hop knows that part of the mystique of the hip-hop and rap scene derives from the rapper’s ability to create for himself what some of the researchers of the genre call an “as-if personality,” a kind of alter ego, a mythical character whose adventures he delineates in his songs. Some of the lure inherent in the experience of hip-hop consumption is in the attempt to decipher and draw the thin and fuzzy line between imagination and reality, between the performer’s real life and the exaggeration and fantasy. Has Jay-Z really sold tremendous quantities of drugs? Is Too $hort really a wealthy street pimp who spends the greater part of the day getting free sexual services? Has 50 Cent really shot so many people? Did the late Notorious B.I.G. – “fat, black and ugly as always,” by his own definition – really smoke, deal and screw all that much?

The scientific answers here aren’t really important, but rap fans’ efforts to get to the facts through the screen of bytes and words created with so much virtuosity endow rappers with that aura necessary for the development of a successful career and an intriguing and attractive stage persona. To this is added the fact that in Israel the prevailing ethos is that of “the personal rock artist who writes about his life with absolute sincerity” that is – the constant expectation that the artist will always write with his heart’s blood, describing in his lyrics his genuine personal experiences in a way that is absolutely congruent with his real life, which prevents the creation of a real pop industry in Israel and wipes out any possibility of creating larger-than-life hip-hop characters.

We like our artists to be modest, simple, sincere, unpretentious, a bit unimaginative, a bit gray. In short: exactly the opposite of the flamboyant, boastful American rappers with deceptive biographies. In Israel it is impossible truly to create, and certainly to maintain, the pose of an American rapper for the simple reason that made-up names, myths and legends are foreign to Israeli culture.

Here everyone knows everyone else. We meet at the supermarket with a bag of dairy products, on the promenade with a child in the stroller or in a tent behind the scenes at some festival in the south with a dripping plastic cup in one hand and an egg-and-tuna sandwich in the other.

The inability to depict yourself as a legendary figure, possibly imaginary but always intriguing, also damages the ability to create fascinating and sustainable Israeli hip-hop myths.

There are also purely stylistic musical reasons for hip-hop’s acclimatization difficulties in Israel. It makes no difference how much hype there is in forums or on Facebook for hip-hop events – the simple and decisive fact is that black music in all its variety has never really been absorbed in Israel. Most Israelis have difficulty understanding and adopting the stylistic markers of black popular music and especially hip-hop. It makes no difference how often your aunts and uncles dance to the beat of some James Brown hit at a wedding, or how many times we hear Aretha Franklin’s “It’s raining men” or “Think” on the Galgalatz radio station, the fact is that the local audience is not familiar with the enormous catalogs of Brown, Franklin, Stevie Wonder, the O’Jays, Marvin Gaye or Isaac Hayes.

The Israeli audience, in any case, has always favored minor melodiousness, perhaps under the influence of Russian music and the pensive folk songs that helped establish what is known as “songs of the good-old Land of Israel” from the pre-state period, through the army entertainment troupes of the 60s to their heirs, the contemporary rockers.

It cannot be helped: The average Israeli listener will always prefer a British New Wave ballad or a melancholy guitar solo by Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour and the like. Play him a track of hip-hop, even the most classic of them, and most probably you will encounter the usual response of “but where’s the tune?” Or, in a worse case: “There are too many words here!”

At the textual level, too, Israeli hip-hop suffers from a worrying meagerness. Afro-American rappers benefit from a long verbal tradition of sharp witticisms, exchanges of verbal blows, the invention of unique types of slang and battles of sophisticated or humorous verbal improvisations. Local rappers have to try to invent new slang out of nearly nothing and forms of expression that hadn’t existed previously, and they can’t be found in biblical texts, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda’s renewed Hebrew or even Dahn Ben Amotz’s “modern” sabra language.

In any case, “Motherfucker” from Jay-Z or Snoop Dogg is always going to flow into the ear better than a sharp benzona (what Shakespeare would have called “whoreson”) from their Israeli equivalents.

Add to all this a monolithic, corrupt and slow-moving music industry, which operates in total contradiction to the essential immediacy of issuing rap songs and albums, the attitude toward rap as a passing gimmick, the fact that the tastemakers in the Israeli mass media do not yet appreciate rap and hip-hop with all the elements that accompany them as an “art form” – and you get a style that is teetering on a tightrope between reserved recognition and total scorn.

Even the Internet explosion, the home studio revolution, file-sharing, social networks and the ease of getting musical materials out into the world have in fact caught Israeli rap in an unripe phase. It is a style that, despite quite a number of promising and interesting works and steady growth in the number of those engaging in it, has not yet found its determined, clear and just voice on its way to integrating into the Israeli cultural fabric. The obvious question then is not, to paraphrase Nas, whether Israeli rap is dead. The real question is: Has Israeli rap been born yet? Only time (and good songs and successful albums) will tell.

Sagol 59 (Khen Rotem) is a rapper, musician and music critic. Originally published in http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1127414.html

Joining them for this conversation, moderated by MTV VJ Sway, will be key players in the development of both musical genres, including Kool Herc, Rakim, Daddy U-Roy, King Jammy, Jeff Chang, Pat McKay, Waterflow and DJ Red Alert.

The event will take place at National Geographic’s Grosvenor Auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at www.nglive.org, via telephone at (202) 857-7700, or in person at the National Geographic ticket office between
9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. Tickets purchased online can be picked up in the lobby prior to the event.

Hip-hop, now a multibillion-dollar industry, originated as a vital form of cultural expression in Africa that was translocated by the slave trade to the Caribbean and the American colonies. It blossomed a half century ago in the dance halls of Kingston, Jamaica, and soon migrated to the parks jams and recreational centers of New York City, where the culture became known as hip-hop.
This evolution forms the basis of the “Distant Relatives” music project, a collaborative effort by Marley and Nas, which will comprise an album set for release in early 2010, a documentary film, performances and a series of public discussions, the first of which is this event hosted by National Geographic.

An open-mic party will be hosted at popular Washington nightclub Zanzibar following the event. National Geographic ticket holders will receive free admission with proof of purchase. For more information on the Zanzibar event, visit www.zanzibar-otw.com.

This event also will be streamed live and broadcast online at www.natgeomusic.net.
About National Geographic Live

National Geographic Live is the performing arts division of the National Geographic Society, featuring live concerts, films and dynamic presentations by today’s leading explorers, scientists, filmmakers and photographers, covering a wide range of topics, including exploration and adventure; wildlife and habitat conservation; natural phenomena; world cultures and ancient history; and relevant issues such as climate change and sustainability. Proceeds from speaker series help fund future National Geographic initiatives in field research, exploration and education. For more information, visit www.nglive.org.

About Nat Geo Music

Nat Geo Music, a division of National Geographic Entertainment, was established in 2007 to inspire people to care about the planet through the power of music. Content developed by Nat Geo Music is utilized across all National Geographic platforms, including online media, radio, print media, film and television. The Nat Geo Music label, launched in January 2009, records, releases and promotes modern music from around the globe from a variety of artists and genres. The Nat Geo Music Channel programs music from every corner of the planet and showcases global legends, local stars and up-and-coming artists. For more information, visit www.natgeomusic.net.
About VTech

VTech is one of the world’s largest suppliers of corded and cordless telephones and a leading supplier of electronic learning products. It also provides highly sought-after contract manufacturing services. Founded in 1976, the Group’s mission is to be the most cost-effective designer and manufacturer of innovative, high-quality consumer electronics products and to distribute them to markets worldwide in the most efficient manner. For further information on VTech’s blogs and its array of products, please visit www.vtechphones.com.

About “Distant Relatives”

“Distant Relatives” is an album created by two great artists to explore and celebrate the correlations and deep-rooted connections between reggae and hip-hop, tracing both sounds back to the African motherland that is both the cradle of humanity and the wellspring of mankind’s music. Unlike all previous collaborations between Jamaican and American artists, “Distant Relatives” is neither a remix nor a featured guest spot on a single track but a fully collaborative effort filling an entire album, opening new avenues of musical expression. Who better to fulfill this long-overdue mission? The youngest son of the legendary Bob Marley, and a hip-hop icon since 1991: Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and Nas, whose success as a duo was proved in 2006 with the double-Grammy-Award-winning “Road to Zion.”