Distant Relatives, the joint album by rapper Nas and deejay Damian Marley has secured top-10 spots in the US, UK, France, Germany and Canada on iTunes Reggae charts since its Tuesday release date, but it still can’t debunk Legend, the catalogue album by Bob Marley from the # 1 slot.

In fact, the album released on Universal Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings — has yet to crack the top-10 iTunes hip-hop or rap charts which would indicate early cross-over success. Up to Thursday, the album was charting in:

*the US at #2 which is the world’s largest music market; and

*Canada at #8.

However Legend by Damian’s father reggae icon Bob Marley remains at #1 in the US in addition to 15 other iTunes country markets despite being released over 20 years ago.

Singles from the Nas and Marley 14-track album are also charting in:

*Canada # 1 and #8 with Patience and My Generation;

*US at # 5 and #10 with Patience and Nah Mean;

*UK at #2 and #9 with Strong Will Continue and Nah Mean;

*France at #6 with Ancient People; and

*Germany #8 with Strong Will Continue.

On Tuesday, the 2005 single, Road to Zion from the Welcome to Jamrock album was charting in the UK at #8, it was the first collaboration between both artistes which sparked the Distant Relatives album.

Digital sales are significant as they account for one-third of global music sales and the Apple-owned iTunes is the leading online music store accounting for 70 per cent of world-wide digital sales according to Reuters and Billboard. The album has been categorised on iTunes in the genres of Reggae, Hip-Hop and Rap.

Rapper Nas and deejay Marley officially released their first video on Monday which aired on the US based show, BET 106 & Park. The duo stated on their Myspace.com page that the album is not aimed at being commercial, however it was highly anticipated for over a year.

“What we’re about to do right now is go back. Back to a time when rap’s greatest hits were created in basement soundrooms, not corporate boardrooms. When dancehall and hip-hop music was all about moving the crowd not moving units,” a joint statement read.

The youngest son of Reggae legend Bob Marley, Damian Marley has sold over 500,000 copies of his Grammy winning album Welcome to Jamrock in 2005. Nas has sold over 20 million albums world-wide spanning over a decade. The son of jazz trumpeter Olu Dara, Nas first reached an international audience when his track Halftime was tapped by producer MC Serch as the opening cut on 1992’s Zebrahead movie soundtrack. His first full-length album, Illmatic was released in 1994. Since then he has released eight solo albums and three compilation albums that have garnered 11 Grammy nominations.